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my blackout adventure
I was in New York City (meaning Manhattan) for the blackout. My experience wasn't that interesting really, although I was fairly freaked out at the time, albeit in a low key way. The first time I have gone to New York in months and months and the power goes out, what the hell.
As I mentioned in my last thrilling entry, I had gone up to the city for the day with my friends Mike and Crista and their two kids. They had come out from Chicagoland for a wedding on Long Island, and had spent Wednesday night in my area. The plan was that I would drop my car off at the Hamilton NJ train stop, ride up to the city with them and walk around and sightsee, then once we were done I would take the train back to my car and they would drive off to their hotel on Long Island.
We had gone for a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (we decided not to go out to Liberty Island since the statue is closed) and walked by 'Ground Zero'. After that we were sort of at a loss for what to do next. We had gotten kind of a late start to the city and it was already mid-afternoon. The kids got curious about a small, old cemetery on Wall Street and we were wandering through there around 4. It was interesting to see the old tombstones and wonder what the people of that era would think if they could see the insanely huge city around them today. After we had been in the cemetery a few minutes a man in a blazer and tie came and told everyone they had to leave. One the way out we heard someone say there was a power outage.
I was a little surprised to think the power was out in this area - in my imagination at least it was some rich, important area, where lawyers and stock trader people worked, the kind of place where a power outage would be costly. Wouldn't there be back ups, redundancy, separate systems for things? The implications of the outage dawned on us slowly - oh, look, no traffic lights. Wow, all the buildings are emptying out because there is nothing for any of the people who work in them to do anymore. Gee. Hmmm guess we can't get any soft serve ice cream now.... How far does this go on, a few blocks? How long will it last, an hour maybe? We started walking to the parking garage where my friends car was parked, and Mike talked to a coworker back in Chicago on his 'radio cell phone' (some Motorola thing I think, I am not sure) and learned how widespread the outage was - Detroit and Cleveland were mentioned.
We still didn't know how long the outage would last, but it seemed like we should get their car back and go. We knew New Jersey still had power (at least the area where I lived did) and that Long Island did not have power. No trains were running, so they decided they would give me a lift back home. I think they also wanted to be out of the blackout area. Mike and Cooper had to stand in line for awhile for the car. I sat across the street with Crista and Eli and watched the crowds walk by. Mike heard somewhere that the bridges were closed, but no one seemed to know if the tunnels were closed or not. It didn't make sense to us that the bridges would be closed, but if that were true it seemed unlikely that the tunnels would be open. But, we decided to head for the Holland tunnel and see what was what.
On the way into the city we had talked about how we should have just taken a train. As it turned out the minivan was our big savior. Also on the way into the city Mike had seen the lowest gas prices they had seen on their trip, so he had stopped to fill up. Compared to so many other people who had nowhere to go in the city, we were incredibly lucky - we had a vehicle with air conditioning and a full tank of gas, a radio, and bottled water. We also had three cell phones, including one with a 'radio' function that wasn't dependent on the local cell service. Another thing we had going for us is that Mike is a very good driver - assertive without being an asshole, attentive and patient. Without the minivan, I dunno. I guess we would've had a long hot walk (with small kids in tow), no water, and maybe even a night in the city with nowhere to stay.
We eventually ran into a police roadblock where we were informed the Holland tunnel was closed, as we had kind of figured it would be. The bridges were still open however, and we weren't that far from the Brooklyn bridge. It took us more than an hour to get to the bridge - which was 5 blocks or so away. I was probably not the best crisis companion... I kept muttering about how paranoid the power outage was making me. It just blew my mind a little that we could've fucked up this bad, again, and let something like this happen. Whole cities without power? What the hell. Everyone seemed amazingly well-behaved however - the streets and sidewalks were crowded but I didn't see anything untoward or antisocial going on. I think we still felt an underlying need to get out of the city while it was still light though... maybe it was just me. If I had a place there - if this had happened in Chicago when I had an apartment there for example - I might've been able to enjoy the novelty. I did feel privileged to see the hopefully once in a lifetime image of Manhattan without power and the crowds thronging the streets. Also now I can look back and marvel how well everything went (for us at least), considering the circumstances. Maybe I am too paranoid....
The trip to the bridge took quite awhile. We saw what looked like random civilians directing traffic, but it was working. Of course in any situation where cars are lining up a few people have to try to bull their way in at the head of the line, but for the most part things were reassuringly civil. At the entrance to the bridge we ran into the police and what I think may've been the National Guard, but I couldn't tell. They were regulating the flow of people and cars onto the bridge. The ride across the bridge was probably about the most amazing part of the whole thing... there were just so many people walking across it, I can't even convey... and when the car came to a stop at one point I felt this sickening wiggly sensation in my stomach, which seemed to be some kind of motion generated from all the people walking on the bridge.
Once we were off the bridge things seemed more normal. We saw a few hitchhikers but the minivan was pretty full already. We were driving on freeway-type roads then, across Brooklyn and Staten Island and back into New Jersey. We hit traffic congestion maybe once more, but nothing like what we had seen in Manhattan. We finally got back to the town where I live around 9, ate, and got home at 10:30. It all felt pretty overwhelming... I think there was a lot of anxiousness to get out of the city (considering if we'd stayed we would've been sleeping in their car or on the pavement somewhere) followed by giddy relief once we were on the highway. Something about the blackout and being in it made a big impression on me, despite the relatively small real impact that it had on me. Hmmm.
Overall we were very lucky. I sort of wish I had been able to observe things without feeling too involved in them... like watching out of a window somewhere. But, nothing bad happened to us and we were back in my apartment running the air conditioning and watching television that night. It was very nice of Mike and Crista to get me home... I don't think they wanted to head over to Long Island where there was no power but, still, I was glad I didn't have to wander around in the city feeling anxious til the trains started running again.
As I mentioned in my last thrilling entry, I had gone up to the city for the day with my friends Mike and Crista and their two kids. They had come out from Chicagoland for a wedding on Long Island, and had spent Wednesday night in my area. The plan was that I would drop my car off at the Hamilton NJ train stop, ride up to the city with them and walk around and sightsee, then once we were done I would take the train back to my car and they would drive off to their hotel on Long Island.
We had gone for a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (we decided not to go out to Liberty Island since the statue is closed) and walked by 'Ground Zero'. After that we were sort of at a loss for what to do next. We had gotten kind of a late start to the city and it was already mid-afternoon. The kids got curious about a small, old cemetery on Wall Street and we were wandering through there around 4. It was interesting to see the old tombstones and wonder what the people of that era would think if they could see the insanely huge city around them today. After we had been in the cemetery a few minutes a man in a blazer and tie came and told everyone they had to leave. One the way out we heard someone say there was a power outage.
I was a little surprised to think the power was out in this area - in my imagination at least it was some rich, important area, where lawyers and stock trader people worked, the kind of place where a power outage would be costly. Wouldn't there be back ups, redundancy, separate systems for things? The implications of the outage dawned on us slowly - oh, look, no traffic lights. Wow, all the buildings are emptying out because there is nothing for any of the people who work in them to do anymore. Gee. Hmmm guess we can't get any soft serve ice cream now.... How far does this go on, a few blocks? How long will it last, an hour maybe? We started walking to the parking garage where my friends car was parked, and Mike talked to a coworker back in Chicago on his 'radio cell phone' (some Motorola thing I think, I am not sure) and learned how widespread the outage was - Detroit and Cleveland were mentioned.
We still didn't know how long the outage would last, but it seemed like we should get their car back and go. We knew New Jersey still had power (at least the area where I lived did) and that Long Island did not have power. No trains were running, so they decided they would give me a lift back home. I think they also wanted to be out of the blackout area. Mike and Cooper had to stand in line for awhile for the car. I sat across the street with Crista and Eli and watched the crowds walk by. Mike heard somewhere that the bridges were closed, but no one seemed to know if the tunnels were closed or not. It didn't make sense to us that the bridges would be closed, but if that were true it seemed unlikely that the tunnels would be open. But, we decided to head for the Holland tunnel and see what was what.
On the way into the city we had talked about how we should have just taken a train. As it turned out the minivan was our big savior. Also on the way into the city Mike had seen the lowest gas prices they had seen on their trip, so he had stopped to fill up. Compared to so many other people who had nowhere to go in the city, we were incredibly lucky - we had a vehicle with air conditioning and a full tank of gas, a radio, and bottled water. We also had three cell phones, including one with a 'radio' function that wasn't dependent on the local cell service. Another thing we had going for us is that Mike is a very good driver - assertive without being an asshole, attentive and patient. Without the minivan, I dunno. I guess we would've had a long hot walk (with small kids in tow), no water, and maybe even a night in the city with nowhere to stay.
We eventually ran into a police roadblock where we were informed the Holland tunnel was closed, as we had kind of figured it would be. The bridges were still open however, and we weren't that far from the Brooklyn bridge. It took us more than an hour to get to the bridge - which was 5 blocks or so away. I was probably not the best crisis companion... I kept muttering about how paranoid the power outage was making me. It just blew my mind a little that we could've fucked up this bad, again, and let something like this happen. Whole cities without power? What the hell. Everyone seemed amazingly well-behaved however - the streets and sidewalks were crowded but I didn't see anything untoward or antisocial going on. I think we still felt an underlying need to get out of the city while it was still light though... maybe it was just me. If I had a place there - if this had happened in Chicago when I had an apartment there for example - I might've been able to enjoy the novelty. I did feel privileged to see the hopefully once in a lifetime image of Manhattan without power and the crowds thronging the streets. Also now I can look back and marvel how well everything went (for us at least), considering the circumstances. Maybe I am too paranoid....
The trip to the bridge took quite awhile. We saw what looked like random civilians directing traffic, but it was working. Of course in any situation where cars are lining up a few people have to try to bull their way in at the head of the line, but for the most part things were reassuringly civil. At the entrance to the bridge we ran into the police and what I think may've been the National Guard, but I couldn't tell. They were regulating the flow of people and cars onto the bridge. The ride across the bridge was probably about the most amazing part of the whole thing... there were just so many people walking across it, I can't even convey... and when the car came to a stop at one point I felt this sickening wiggly sensation in my stomach, which seemed to be some kind of motion generated from all the people walking on the bridge.
Once we were off the bridge things seemed more normal. We saw a few hitchhikers but the minivan was pretty full already. We were driving on freeway-type roads then, across Brooklyn and Staten Island and back into New Jersey. We hit traffic congestion maybe once more, but nothing like what we had seen in Manhattan. We finally got back to the town where I live around 9, ate, and got home at 10:30. It all felt pretty overwhelming... I think there was a lot of anxiousness to get out of the city (considering if we'd stayed we would've been sleeping in their car or on the pavement somewhere) followed by giddy relief once we were on the highway. Something about the blackout and being in it made a big impression on me, despite the relatively small real impact that it had on me. Hmmm.
Overall we were very lucky. I sort of wish I had been able to observe things without feeling too involved in them... like watching out of a window somewhere. But, nothing bad happened to us and we were back in my apartment running the air conditioning and watching television that night. It was very nice of Mike and Crista to get me home... I don't think they wanted to head over to Long Island where there was no power but, still, I was glad I didn't have to wander around in the city feeling anxious til the trains started running again.
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I thought that the 13th was when Mars was supposed to be closest to Earth, and it did seem big and bright then, but apparently the 27th is actually the day. So, should be interesting. Wish I knew someone with a telescope. I missed the Perseids this year.