Aftermath 6, The Kindness of Strangers...

Sunday, I took off from work. The head cold won for a day...or at least I let it think it won for a day.  I slept in until about 8:00.  Yes, I set my clock back before I went to bed.  Every fall, I much prefer this to doing so after I sleep.  It somehow makes the night and that extra hour seem longer.  I can change the time when I'm in a quasi-somnambulistical state, forget I did, and then wake up at a regular time but feel like I've had more sleep.  Anyway, that amount of sleep, almost 9 full hours, seemed to get rid of the aches, most of the snot and a even a tad bit of the coughing.  I'd say by tomorrow morning I'll be closer to 100%.

I wanted to do something, and have wanted to do something all week, with my good fortune following this storm.  Knowing it'd be Wednesday before I could go anywhere that needed help, I opted to donate clothing Sunday because I heard my church was picking things up and taking them to communities in our area, Red Hook and other places on the waterfront.  I also wanted to go to church, even though I told my choir director I wouldn't be there for rehearsal.  Just felt like I needed to be there.  After the harrowing images and stories from this week, and knowing that some of my fellow congregants were affected, I needed to sort of touch base and hear everyone's stories.  Some of the members got up and spoke about their respective adventures throughout the storm.  One woman had a tree on her house and just happened to have taken her family out for dinner that night while the storm was just starting to get bad, so no one was in the house when it happened.  Another, our junior minister, was in the E. Village when the substation exploded on 14th Street. Sounded like it was pretty exciting and scary.  He was outside and, like many others, saw the sky light up blue before all the power went out. 

 I wanted to write a blog at some point sort of encompassing my entire experience with the storm and its aftermath and some reflections.  But it's hard to really know where to start and stop.  For example, the news coverage angle never really stops.  We went straight into election coverage and now there's a Nor'easter slamming the city as if Sandy wasn't enough...it's actually snowing outside right now.  WTF?

Two realizations have come from this experience.  One has to do with the over-arching dilemma of how inefficient and sometimes one-sided news coverage can be and even if it is thorough on some news outlets, how easy it is to assume the one bit of coverage you happen to watch is the entire picture.  For example, I've heard so many sound bites from angry Rockaway Beach residents (whom we've given a chance to shout at the camera and make their voice heard regarding the inefficiency or non-existence of the clean up effort) and, forgetting for a moment that they probably don't have electricity to watch TV coverage of the storm cleanup, it makes you think that, wow, the government is really dropping the ball here, or why hasn't their been any relief out there?  But, stay on the channel for a while, and you'll hear all sorts of reports about how quick and efficient the government response has been to the worst hit areas or how ordinary people are helping out in so many ways.  I saw a story that moved me quite a bit, the local Sikh community in Staten Island were some of the first people (in fact, maybe the first), to go out and serve food to people who were without power and whose homes were destroyed.  The Southern Baptists even came up to serve food to displaced residents in Staten Island.  So, there are amazing things happening and those sensationalized sound bites are merely one side of a story.

I also heard that the gas lines were crazy.  One man was arrested for brandishing a gun at a man who complained when he jumped the line.  But every interview our reporters have fielded from the lines, people seem to understand why the lines are there, why this is happening and they are not angry.  One man said, "so many others have it so bad, so what is it to me to have to wait in line for a few hours?"

It's interesting how people can take one bit of information and run with it without consideration as to whether that bit of information is truth, only a tiny piece of the reality, or a complete falsehood. This is a can of worms indeed so I won't go so far into it.  Suffice it to say that there are far more than even two sides to every story.  While some things as far as cleanup and relief have been inefficient and some bad things have happened post Sandy, I personally choose not to firestorm the government agencies and whomever else because I have had a chance to see several interviews with the local officials over the past few days and I see how big and multifaceted this clean up effort is.  Getting the subways back online in a timely manner itself is a massive feat of engineering and quite frankly, I think the MTA officials are genius for having the presence of mind to shut down the subway to safeguard the equipment.  We are up and running at almost full status as of just about a week later and I'm probably never going to be so quick to complain about a late train for at least a couple of months now that I've been listening to what goes in to keeping the system running 24/7 like it does...the inconvenience of being without it for a few days notwithstanding.  
 
I acknowledge however that I have a pretty comfortable spot to survey this all from and perhaps I would feel differently if my home had been swept away and I was dealing with a range of emotions over the loss and needed somewhere to direct that.  I get it.  But that's just my perspective and I'm aware that it can't be easy to lose so much.  At least three of my co workers had their homes flooded and are dealing with cleaning that up and salvaging what they can.   It's heart wrenching. 

The other realization ties pretty closely in and it has to do with my own reaction to the storm's effects on this community I live in.  I'll preface this by saying that I've seen this in rooms full of people watching news coverage of past storm cleanup efforts a dozen times before over the years.  Every time this argument comes up and I have to pause when I hear it.  Those people in the evacuation zones who are stranded without power, with destroyed homes, what are they even doing there?  They should have evacuated, it's their own fault, how can they expect government help, yadda yadda blah blah blah.   It's almost cliche at this point.   But, my response to that after being this close to a situation like this is this, and it comes straight from Buddhism: we should be compassionate toward people without judgement.  Especially since some of those people either couldn't evacuate because they are elderly, or maybe they weren't even in an evacuation zone but just happened to be affected or couldn't get out once the storm got bad and they closed the bridges so they hunkered down.  The point is, you don't know someone's situation and you can't presume to condemn them and say they are undeserving or they just want a handout.  If someone's drowning, you don't ask what they're doing in the water.  You jump in and try to save them as best as you can.  Ask questions later.  This is what I've seen so many in this city doing over the course of the last week and it's amazingly uplifting.  We as a society should be more like this all the time.  That's a slice of Ana's sermon on Sunday at the UU church.  Kind of this call to not stop at donating clothes and canned goods.  And I agree and I also think it should extend to more than just storm relief.  I'll leave it at that for now though.  I don't much care for proselytizing or grand-standing.  I just feel like we as humans are at our best when we are compassionate toward each other rather than when we are being isolationist or selfish. 

With that, I'm going to photograph this insanity outside my window and get back to troubleshooting my audio/MIDI equipment problems.  And also share with you a wonderful piece of news that I got last night as I was starting my shift at work:  I just booked another voice over gig!  My 9th paid gig in almost as many months and the first one I'll be going into Manhattan to record at a studio.  It's an internet ad for a young adult novel.  I'll let you know how that goes.  The session is Monday at noon.  Talk soon!

Aftermath 4, night commutes...

Another interesting commute tonight.  Here are some pictures:

Aftermath 2, Night Shots

After snapping these, I hailed a cab at 7th and Greenwich.  When I was at work one of the last pieces of video I took in at NY1 was footage of the lines for the shuttle buses that are trying to fill in the holes in subway service between 34th Street in Midtown and Downtown Brooklyn.  I didn't want to brave that even though I had been trying for the last few hours of my shift to work out the logistics of such a commute.  It seemed more trouble than it was worth.  I'd have to bus to the east side (if the M14D showed up) and then take a shuttle bus to Jay St./Metro Tech and grab the R train to Prospect Avenue.  No.  Cab was my best shot.  The company will pay for it after all. 

This cabbie seemed harried and worn out.  I told him, after getting in the cab (because you never tell them where you're going until you're secure inside the cab because they can't refuse you once you're inside), Park Slope, 19th Street between 5th and 6th.  He said, flatly, "I don't wanna go."  I sighed and said, "Look, I get it but I gotta get home."  Before he could speak, I said for him to take me to the Manhattan Bridge at least and I could walk to Jay St./Metro Tech for the R train.  He said he could do that then went on to tell me all about how hard it was getting gas and how hard it would be for him to get back to the city.  We shared war stories for the length of the commute and somewhere along the way in downtown he agreed to take me to Jay St.  Before I knew it we had passed Jay St. and he offered to take me all the way to Atlantic Avenue where the new Barclay's Center is now.  I negotiated a drop off on the corner of Pacific and 4th and hopped out right into the subway station.  There were uniformed officers on the mezzanine.  The emergency exit door was propped open, the turnstiles roped off.  Free subway and bus rides until this ordeal is over. 

I wandered into that subway station, eyes wide, realizing just how long it's been since I've been in a subway station.  A couple of days doesn't seem like much until you consider that every day of my life for the past 3 1/2 years, I've spent at least a half an hour inside subway stations.  I reached out and touched the tiled wall on the stairway to make sure I was really there.  When I hit the platform and walked down to the spot where my usual car comes to a halt, I heard it.  The characteristic sound of a train creaking around the corner of the tunnel and crawling into the station.  I've never been so happy to see the R train.  I left work at 9:23 and I hit the street level at Prospect Avenue at 10:10.  That's the most normal commute I've had in almost a week. 

One day at a time.  Good night.

Aftermath 3, Midtown...

Coming to you from a Starbuck's near Penn Station where there's electrical power and life seems normal.  I'm having to stand at a bar near the counter because it's pretty packed in here.  Even if not for the storm, this Starbuck's might be this way.  Crowded, nowhere to sit, wifi jammed up and slow.  But I'll take it.  And I'll take back what I just said, there is one thing out of the ordinary here.  I was just solicited by a man selling portable phone chargers, a clear sign that there's a new market for electricity in the city.  I saw footage on CBS when I dropped by work of people hooking up power strips to the wiring in the manholes and charging their phones en masse in the streets.  Crazy.

Crazy how we're all such slaves to our devices, our windows to the world.  We are not only starved without food, we are starved without information about the outside world and what's going on around our community.  It's not quite apocalyptic here but there is a bit of a sense of what it could be like without all the creature comforts that characterize modern living.  If we hadn't come to depend on so many of these things that run on electricity and depend on electricity (i.e. preservation of mass quantities of food via refrigeration and mass transportation), I don't think we'd be so lost without them.

Speaking of mass transportation, the reason I'm in town so early when I don't have to be in to work until 1:30pm, is that I had a ride with one of our reporters and her producer, my friend who lives four blocks from me.  The reporter was staying in Brooklyn with her sister because they had no power in Westchester.  Because of the mayor's carpool rule, or maybe just because of the sheer fact that there are millions of transit riders forced to drive, the traffic was horrendous.  Strangely, only until you got to the Brooklyn Bridge was it such.  Then, the road opened up and we made it to work from the bridge in only 10 or 15 minutes.   No one was on the West Side Highway.

I dropped by work, grabbed a banana, and checked in with people before setting out for the line between power and no power.  On the way, I ran into one of my co workers and I ended up going back to the hotel where she said there'd be food.  There was fruit and muffins and coffee.  I stayed for a sec chatting with her, noticing that the pool is actually above the lobby's glass ceiling, something I don't know how I didn't notice before.  Then, I came up here.  The walk was easy and it was interesting to see how things were.  People walking and driving around like normal but everything closed up until I got to the 30's.  There was an Episcopal Church handing out sandwiches on 9th Avenue around 26th Street or so.

No I stand here drinking an expensive OJ and leaning on the counter typing.  I have a free copy of the New York Times from today which I will probably read at some point, though I may go outside to do so, if I don't try to send off some long overdue emails.  Much more later on.  Hope you've been enjoying the pics and the updates.

Halloween...

Today, I biked to work.  It was a choice I made last night when I decided I didn't want to take another cab and wait to be reimbursed nor did I want to brave the limited bus service.  It took Katrina 4 hours to get in to work using the bus system.  No, I'd rather snake my way in between the cars on my bike than sit through that kind of ordeal.

Unfortunately, my bike was really in no condition to take such a commute.  But I was determined and, anticipating possibly having to use the bike a few more times before the subway comes back up, I decided to splurge and get a few things I knew I'd need: a bell, a light and, after the ride to yoga made my hands feel like ice cubes: gloves.  Yes, I worked yoga into the mix.  Because yoga was exactly what this stressful ordeal was missing.  A teacher that I most often take classes with posted to my Facebook page that she was definitely teaching in Brooklyn Heights this morning.  So, since I haven't been to class since last Friday, I knew I had to make that part of my day.  And it was the best class ever!  It felt like it anyway.   Just to have a moment of calm in the midst of all of this.

After yoga, I got some advice from my yoga teacher about where to go for a bike tune up and all those accessories I needed.  She's an avid cyclist and bikes everywhere so I knew she'd have the scoop on where to go.  First I hit a shop on Smith and Bergen for the light, bell and gloves and then, since she'd told me I could probably still get a free tune up here, I went to Bicycle Habitat on Lafayette St. in Soho.  The tune ups were not still free but the shop was at least open and, though there was a crowd, I got in pretty quick.  They had no lights but they had a lot of people on staff and bike stands set up, outside the shop even, giving people tune ups.  They were, of course, only taking cash and walking about the darkened store with flashlights to fetch things.  The guy who tuned up my bike, greased my chain and adjusted it for me, had a thick New York lifer accent and sported 3 foot long dreadlocks.  He was animated and seemed like he was having a ton of fun just helping people out who had no other way of getting around but their bikes.  He fixed me up, rather enthusiastically, in just minutes while we chatted about my bike.  Apparently, one of the first kinds of bikes he ever worked on.  $10 and I was out of there on the smoothest ride I'd had on that bike in, well, ever.

I skirted from there over to the West Side with little difficulty.   Only trick was there were no traffic lights so you had to be on alert and wait to cross avenues.  Most cars would stop, especially if they saw a crowd trying to push across.  Then, since I've never taken the Manhattan Bridge to work (beautiful ride, by the way), I sort of had to figure out as I went what the best route was going to be.  The trick?  Follow other bikers.  There were, after all, a ton of them out. Almost as many as the cars.  In fact, Mayor Bloomberg issued a carpool rule for all the bridges into the city to cut down on traffic in the city, especially since there are still no traffic lights below 39th Street.

Work was okay.   The most excitement happened when the news came in that they were evacuating Bellevue Hospital after losing generator power.  The newsroom was all a buzz with everyone running around trying to make sure we could get one of our reporters there ASAP. 

Biking home was probably the coolest thing today.  I stopped and took a ton of pictures along the route, to the extent that it took me an hour and 15 minutes to get home (30 extra minutes than it normally would have on my bike).  As soon as I stepped out into the night, I realized how spooky it was going to be.  Fitting that it's Halloween.  I had my light, which, as the guy who sold it to me said, would not illuminate my path but it would let people know I was coming.  As such, I could barely see the bumps in the road coming and cursed myself once for turning down a cobblestone road in pursuit of some other bikers who I thought might know the way to the Manhattan Bridge.  My bum really hurts right now.

When I crossed back over the West Side Highway after zipping down the Greenway to Tribeca, it became suddenly dark in between the narrow cross streets of that area.  I had the glow of a near full moon and the occasional passing taxi or other cyclist but beyond that I was straining my eyes to see a lot of the time.  Pedestrians would come up out of nowhere, often in Halloween costumes.  Bleeker Street was the darkest but the spookiest was turning onto the bike path on the Manhattan Bridge right where the mouth of the subway tunnel is for the N and Q trains.  I could feel an eerie warmth coming up from the tunnel, and tried to keep from looking down it as I climbed past it on my bike.  In the middle of the bridge, I had to stop and snap a wide photo encompassing both the darkened Manhattan side and the fully lit Brooklyn side, along with the almost full moon and Jupiter floating nearby.

Scary Commute, Halloween Best Shots

I reached a point on the bridge later on where the street lights suddenly came on and looked back a few times to see the sharp contrast, the line between electrified and powerless.  I had to refrain from taking another picture.  I had already wasted so much time and was fatigued.  The rest of the commute home was a breeze compared to all the turns I had to take in Manhattan and the busy streets I had to cross (Houston, Delancy, Bowery, all the avenues, Chrystie St.) and the cobblestones and the darkness and the distractions.  There was one funny moment on 5th Avenue in Park Slope when a woman dressed as a nurse/zombie was lurking in the street near a cab that had pulled over in the bike lane.  She turned to look at me and began to come towards me, fully in character, hungry for brains.  I shrieked and swerved.  Laughter erupted from the sidewalk from the rest of her friends.

Thankful for that final hill, up my street, being short but annoyed at the obstacle of trash cans blocking the gate to the back yard where I lock my bike, I was finally home.  Now, I'm exhausted and have to sleep then literally turn right back around and go into work again tomorrow.  This time, I'm carpooling with a co worker who lives nearby though I have get up much earlier than I normally would need to and will be waiting around for my shift when I get there.  Should be a much easier day, though, as I'll probably take a cab home on the company's dime.  With that, who knows what tomorrow will hold. See ya soon!

Aftermath 2...

Well, I'm home.  Had the smoothest cab ride and only a little trouble finding said cab ride.  Once I got in, I dropped everything and started filling Katrina in as I raided the fridge for something to eat.  I basically just threw a bunch of stuff in an omelette and made some toast.  I also finished off the bottle of wine from Sunday night.  Then I used the toilet which I did not have to manually flush and immediately jumped in the shower.   Hot (and then gradually lukewarm) water never felt so good.

Funny, I thought, how I'm making like it was such a big deal to be without power and running water for what amounts to slightly more than a day, something that can really be totally bearable if you have the right mindset...also if you're prepared for it.  I was not.  That made all the difference I think.  It's all about comfort levels really.  People go camping after all, on purpose, and expose themselves to a lack of hot water and amenities, after all, and they do this for fun.  I think the worst part of it was not knowing what kind of food I was going to have access to.  I could have survived a couple of days longer but I was coming down with a cold and moving back here was really the best option.  To sort of regroup and recuperate a little.  After all, since I'm pulling overtime tomorrow I'm working for six days straight now.  I'm going to need the rest. 

I don't know how I should prepare for tomorrow's shift.  I don't think I want to bike in, because I'd be biking back in the dark (remember there's no power in Manhattan still, read: no traffic lights) without a light on my bike.  But the bus service doesn't make sense and there's no efficient route into the city as none of the buses go over the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridges I don't think.  Plus, there's no way to heat up food at work so I can't justify bringing food in and will just have to be at the mercy of what kind of food they can get us.  

Still if this the most of my worries I'm probably fine. I keep watching the news and realizing so many people have it so much worse.  This is always the case in just every day life and I'm the kind of person who never takes for granted the good fortune I've had in my life.  Of course, one always needs  perspective and sometimes you can get caught up in your own problems but the truth of the matter is, I dodged a huge bullet with this storm that others did not dodge.  There are 50 homes destroyed by fire in Breezy Point Queens, major flooding and homes destroyed in Staten Island, widespread destruction from wind and flooding all over the city and 18 deaths confirmed in the city already.  The New York City subway system suffered the worst catastrophe in its history and millions of people are without power.  And this is only here in New York City.  Don't forget, this is a storm that was 2,000 miles long and probably affected countless people.  So, my heart goes out to everyone and I found myself earlier today wishing I could help out in some way.  I guess for now all I have time to do is keep helping with the news coverage.  I'm sure I'll find some way.

For now, I have to gather my thoughts and figure out how to get back to work tomorrow, bike or not.  I could buy a light perhaps but when will I have time.  I'm not going to bother packing more than snack food because I can't heat anything up at work anyway.  The microwaves are not hooked to generator power.

Either way, as more news comes in and as the subway system comes back online, I'll keep you all updated on the return to normalcy.    

Aftermath 1...

I woke up to gurgling noise from the bathroom.  We still have no water at the Dream Hotel and I just couldn't sleep anymore, my head buzzing with what I need to do.  I knew I was going to come here at some point and get some news (yes, without power, I still have the option of walking into the TV news station even if I can't turn on the TV).  And also food.  But I also had this to think about: without power, the situation at the hotel could only deteriorate.  Maybe they'd offer free food to the guests at the hotel as it all might spoil anyway, or maybe they wouldn't and I'd be forced to come in to work and hang around waiting for food to miraculously arrive.  Also, I need to assess what I'm going to do the next few days, get clothes, shower, and quite frankly, I don't want to have to continue to manually flush the toilet here at the station, nor do I want to keep climbing stairs as I go back and forth from the Dream to the Chelsea Market.  8 flights on one side, 6 on the other. 

I left my room after packing everything up and took only my camera.  Peering out the peep hole I realized that the lights were on.  Apparently, they do have emergency lighting in the hallway working...odd that they have it on now in the daylight and didn't last night. Whoever's managing this hotel should be smacked.  Even the stairwell was lit and I passed a few guests on the way down.  Some seemed to be checking out. 

When I got to the lobby there were tons of people sitting around digging on the continental breakfast piled on the bar...I thought about checking to see if it was being given away or if it was the same deal, $22, but I thought better of it.  Emergency lights were flashing on the alarms and a buzzer was going off.  It seems moronic that they wouldn't try to shut that off for the sake of the people holed up in the lobby.  I walked out on the street to the sound of sirens and some lingering heavy drizzle that came in waves.  Seeing people with shopping bags from the nearby Western Beef, I assumed it was probably open so I made my way there, not knowing what the situation at NY1 would be.  I wandered in not even having any idea what I would buy, more just curious what I would see...and smell.  There was distinct spoiled food tang in the air around the deli and produce sections.  They did have some refrigeration running but not much.  It seemed warm.  I left. 

Having left everything in my room this time except for the camera, I walked down to the river to shoot some photos where I was yesterday morning.  Luckily, the flood waters are receding.  Unfortunately, the debris they kicked up did not.  Judging by what I saw, the water almost certainly came up over the West Side Highway.

Aftermath

I wandered back to the station, called my dad on the way, snapped a few more photos (which I'll be posting as soon as I can get them off my camera) and now I'm at NY1.   There was a hell of a spread of food in the conference room, thank God.  Mostly snacks from the grocery store but also some McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts coffee, and, of course, pizza.  The four food groups of breaking news. 

I'm debating cabbing it or hiking (if I have to) back to Brooklyn after I charge my phone and call a few of you.  I'm probably going to give my room to someone else here who might need it, grab my bags and try to get back to BK sometime today. I've been offered an overtime shift tomorrow and I probably will take it because, let's face it, I need the money and they need the bodies here.  But it wouldn't be until tomorrow evening.  So there's a slight pull to keep the room and stay here but I'm not sure how much longer I can manually flush toilets without the water pumps running in these buildings and go without a hot shower or clean clothes, which I'm running out of.  I still have enough socks and underwear where I could manage but it's pretty compelling to try and get home and resync.  I can bike back here for sure but then I don't want to bike back late at night.  There's murmors about us getting reimbursed for all cab fare.  I'm thinking what an expense this must be for the company, putting us all up and feeding us and getting us transportation in to work. 

I'll update again when I decide what I'm doing and if I manage to get home somehow today.  Wish me luck.

Storm 7, Power Outage...

I was lying on my bed watching an episode of The Universe on my laptop, considering one last attempt at a nap when the power went out. This was around a quarter to nine. I noticed my phone showed a message from my sister asking if I was okay because they had turned off the power in Lower Manhattan. At that point, I almost got up to turn the TV back on to see what I could see. I heard a noise of wind outside that banged something over again and then, almost as if in response to the noise, the lights went off. "Oh shit. Now it's getting serious" is what immediately ran through my mind. I started frantically grabbing things (not sure why I was so frantic) and throwing them in my bag, mostly valuables, leaving only my clothes there. On some level I must've realized that the locks on the door might not work without the power and if I was going to be here at the station all night, I had better not leave anything that might get stolen. I'm not even sure this thought had time to run through my mind. All I was thinking was I'd better just get to the station where there's bound to be power.

A voice came on the intercom and just kept repeating, "may I have your attention please?" Out in the hallway it was dark except for the exit signs, the emergency lights the hotel promised never having come on. I breezed past the elevator bank to the stairwell, using the flashlight app on my phone to see in the pitch dark stairwell. A few floors down I was passed by hotel workers with flashlights who directed me to go down to the lobby. At the bottom, eight flights later, was another hotel employee directing me out of the stairwell into the lobby. It was quite busy with activity. Diners at the restaurant had their flashlights and phones out and people were milling about. I saw some of the employees checking out the electrical panels. I assume they were trying to get generators up or something. I thought about waiting in the lobby but decided against it.
Upon leaving the hotel, I could see there was no power in many of the buildings except for emergency lighting in stairwells and things like that. The wind howled and rain fell sideways though not as hard as it had done earlier. I jogged across the street, picking up the pace when I heard something rather large sliding down the street behind me, unsure what the wind had picked up and not wanting to find out. I slid into the entrance of the building where the security guard asked me where I was headed and directed me to a stairwell I've never had to use. On the way up I ran into two of the news assistants I work with carrying camera equipment up the six flights of stairs, having just come from shooting footage outside the market. They looked exhausted. The air was quite tense in the newsroom. At that point, I don't think we were on the air, but we were on backup generators for the essentials. Unfortunately, the essentials did not seem to include refrigerators holding all the leftover food they fed us today. The rumor is there will be no food delivery tomorrow. What we have is what we have. Hopefully, things won't be nearly as crazy and we'll be able to get some food here.

My boss told me not to clock in yet and conserve my energy for the long overnight shift ahead. But I couldn't relax. There's too much excitement. I took some pics out the window of the blackout and sat for a while watching all the activity outside, listening to the wind howling and to things shifting on rooftops and down side streets.

Power Outage Best Shots

Police cars were riding down 9th Avenue with their lights on and there were people walking around with flashlights. I heard someone say there was a group of people stealing sand bags from the front of the Chelsea Market and loading them into a minivan. I sat in the breakroom looking out that window for a while with the security guard who has been here all day. There was so much happening out there and we were straining to hear what the wind was doing and to see where the lights we were seeing were coming from. I've had goose bumps all night long from all the excitement. I tried to take something of a nap in the dark of the break room but did not succeed. When I finally did clock in, it was about 10:15. One of the first things I wanted to do was see a lot of the video that's been coming in all day. It's all pretty harrowing. As my coworkers read me in, I sifted through them all and found one that just blew my mind. This explosion happened at a Con Ed power substation on 14th street near the FDR. For context, we are on 15th street on the West side of Manhattan. The FDR snakes up along the east side. Check it out.



 I saw another video later of a substation four blocks from my apartment in South Slope doing the same thing. I texted Katrina to make sure she was okay. We still have power but I think she heard the emergency vehicles. So this is getting a little crazy now and I'm hearing that power might not be restored for a week. What does that mean for public transit? I don't know. The subway tunnels are flooded, the outer boroughs and beaches are flooded. I don't have any idea when things will be back to normal. I'm going to try and sleep the day away in the hotel tomorrow and maybe try to make my way home somehow. I need reliable access to food and can't count on that here. I was lucky today that I was able to get food. I'll try to keep the updates coming. Good night for now. Four more hours and I can leave. 

Storm 6, Noises Outside and Press Conferences...

I fell asleep for a few hours and woke up to near pandemonium.   I woke prematurely, having intended to nap until 7pm but I just lay in bed for a while.  What prompted me to get out of bed though was a loud bang from outside.  I rushed over to the window to try and see what had happened but was unable to see much beyond all the people on the opposite wing of the building peeking out their windows onto their balconies.  So whatever it was must have come from my my wing of the building.  The wind seems to be pretty fierce outside now.   I'm not even sure how high the water has gotten but I'm going to check soon.  Before I came back from work, someone said something about them expecting the water to rise high enough to reach 9th Avenue.  For reference, to those who don't know much about the area I'm in, 9th Avenue is the avenue I have to cross to get from the Dream Hotel to work.  Let's hope I can actually cross it later on tonight.

I read something on Facebook about a construction crane dangling near Columbus Circle and now I'm waiting for the press conference which is starting imminently.   The pictures look pretty crazy.  We have a tower cam at Columbus Circle aimed at the crane.  So far Bloomberg isn't talking about it yet.  Just general storm stuff.  I'll update more as soon as I see what it's doing outside.  I need to get dinner somehow.

Storm 5, The Flooding Begins...

Just got back from a jaunt along the Hudson River with my camera.  It's crazy out there.  The water level is higher than I've ever seen it...which isn't saying much because I've only ever seen it at normal levels before.  It's basically up to the bottom of the piers and spilling over onto the sidewalk.  It's eerie how slowly it rises as the waves come in.  Of course, I wasn't the only one with the idea to go down to the river to see the flooding.  Lots of people who I assume live in the W. Village were out there.  Kids were jumping in the water as it slid across the pavement, carrying with it years and years of debris and detritus.  I've posted the pics on Picasa here:

Hurricane Sandy, First Flooding Pics

Additionally, here are some pre storm photos from yesterday in Greenwich Village

Hurricane Sandy Pre Storm 2

and pics of my room last night!

Dream Hotel, Best shots

I remembered that the Media Ingest department here has USB adapters for compact flash cards so I was able to transfer the pics onto my laptop and upload.  I even sent a few to the assignment desk to see if they'd put them on the air.  More updates to come.  It's raining sideways now.  Glad I'm back inside!

Storm 4, Dream hotel...

I didn't get into much detail last night about the amenities here.  This place is incredible.  The rooms are quirky with neat little fixtures all around and push button controls for all the lights in the room.  The lights which always dim slowly when you turn them off.  The hotel's circular windows are probably the most noticeable thing about the building from the outside and the theme of circular things seems to permeate throughout the room.  In the two cabinet-like closets there are little notes telling you what you can use and alerting you that the mini bar is equipped with a touch sensitive device that will be able to tell if you remove anything for more than 60 seconds, at which point you basically bought it.

The bathroom.  Wow.  Never mind the fact that Con Edison shut off the steam to the city and we have no hot water, it's pretty luxurious in there.   They're pretty big on water conservation here so the toilet has one of those two button flush options.  The sink is stainless steel and the shower curtain is made of a fine chain-like material.  I'll really have to upload pics.  There's no slot on my Macbook for the data card from my Canon camera so I'll need to find a mini USB cable somewhere.

The TV was on when I walked in with a message addressed to me, welcoming me to the room.  Techno pop was playing on a loop.  My co workers and I navigated the menus listing all the hotel amenities, joking that we were going to find the one free thing and take advantage of it.  What was it?  Ice. But you have to call someone.  You can't just go down the hall and fill a bucket.

Anyway, turning the TV on this morning and checking my messages was how I found out about Con Edison shutting off the steam.  The sent a message to everyone's inbox with that information and an apology, saying they have no time frame for when it will be back up.  I bravely took a cold shower and now I'm watching, of all things, NY1, as I type this.  It's time for me to get out into the storm.  I think it's okay to take the umbrella in the cabinet to use.  The note only says it's $35 if you want to take it home with you.  I'll update once I see what it's actually doing outside.  May see if anything is open for breakfast that isn't going to bankrupt me like the restaurant downstairs might.  Wish me luck!  They just said this might be the worst storm in the city since 1938.  Let me go see what the hub-bub is about.

Storm 3...

This place is insane and I really wish I could show pictures now.  You'd see the ridiculously comfortable bed, the ridiculous amount of luxury added at a premium.  They have my credit card so I'm afraid to touch anything.  Two of my co workers came to my room and, lucky they did, because, if they hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known not to even touch anything in the mini bar or closet.  Touch the even robe hanging in the closet and they'll know and charge you $100.  At least, that's the rumor I heard.  I didn't want to find out.

I just got back from chatting with two Puerto Rican guests in the bar and am ready to just crash.  As expected, the storm isn't doing much yet.  I felt a few tiny rain drops on me outside briefly about a half hour ago but nothing more. For now, it's time to sleep.  I'll check back in tomorrow at the height of the storm if I can.

Storm 2...

The air was tense when I got here and it hasn't let up since.  Been watching the influx of my fellow employees with their suitcases, most of us preparing to hunker down in the Dream Hotel across the street.  I get out of here in just under an hour and I don't have to be back until 11pm tomorrow night for the overnight shift.  I had the presence of mind to buy a bottle of wine and an opener at the wine store downstairs just before they closed, so I'm prepared to stay up late partying with my co workers.  Should be a blast but I don't intend to drink nearly as much as I did at the gala the other night. 

The prognosis for this storm is sounding worse and worse, at least last I checked.  It seems the storm surge is the worst part of it for us, since we have high tide and the full moon making it potentially worse.  Plus, it's going to come in from the Verrazano straight and from Long Island sound into the harbor at the same time.  So it could get dicey. I'm not worried about my apartment in Brooklyn or this part of Manhattan but it might make for some good photos tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don't have any way of getting them off my camera unless I can get home.  Which I don't plan on doing.  I'll update more tomorrow morning or afternoon. 

Storm 1...

Getting prepared to leave my apartment for what could be a couple of days.  It's now just under 6 hours until the MTA is going to shut down the entire system in order to get the trains to safety and the tunnels clear in case of flooding.  It's almost certain that I'll be staying in a hotel in the city tonight if not cabbing it home on the company's dime.  I just ran home to take care of a few things, not the least being the cat.  Also, it occurred to me in case the windows leak like the mushroom apartment last year, I'll want my guitar cases, which usually line the window wall next to my bed, out of the way.  Microphones and electronics too.  It also occurred to me to pack more food in addition to the several changes of clothes.  I work overnight Monday into Tuesday during the worst of it so I've been told for sure I'll have a hotel room after I get done Tuesday morning (possibly not until 8am!).

At any rate, it occurred to me that if I do end up stuck in the city, I'll have time to kill and not much to do (granted I'll have my lap top).  So, I'm bringing my camera and plan on documenting some things.  So watch up here for pics of what I see.  For now, that's all.  I'm going to give myself a little extra time to get into work in case there's a panic and the trains are running slow.  This should be exciting.  Meanwhile, here are some pics of the foreboding calm this morning from my kitchen window. 

Hurricane Sandy pre storm