302Riz
10-01-2003, 07:04 PM
I figure this should be in my journal.
___________________________________-
Allright there children, Paulie is back online!
Alrighty, where the hell do I begin?
OK, Im guessing it was around 3:30 PM when the power started to take a dump. Everything got dim, the AC in my office shut off monitor shut off and my radio went dead. Then a few seconds later the power came back on full force and then everything just shut off. Bada bing bada BOOM. Dead, caput.
After I closed down the warehouse, I started my long trek to find food, water and shelter.
Yours truly works in downtown Brooklyn and I live all the way out in Massapequa, Long Island which is 45 miles away. Since I dont drive to work (traffic is insane) I take the Long Island Rail Road and the NYC subways to get to work.
So, Naturally the first place I head to is the LIRR train station which is Uptown Brooklyn on Flatbush Ave... A half hour walk from my warehouse in downtown Brooklyn. I asked around to what was going on and of course no train service. Im thinking since there is no train service they would atleast accomidate us by using Buses. Which they did later on but I didnt stick around to find out.
Since no transportation was readily available, next on the list was a hotel. Nearest one was by the Brooklyn Bridge so I had to do MORE walking. Which wasnt a short trip in the least. Now it was about 6PM a few hours after the blackout occured, and its starting to get dark out, so I quickend my pace. By 6:45 I found the Brooklyn Marriot but there was a problem. I could not get a room. They were only letting in people who already had a room and they wouldnt let anybody who didnt have a room use the bathroom or get a drink of water. (Good thing there were cops and locals giving out water and hosing down willing particpants to cool off )
So now I'm up sh*ts creek without a paddle. Cell phone service was down for most people, Veriozon was the only cell phone service that was not effected by the blackout. Unfortuneately I had T-Mobile so no phone calls for me. I couldnt reach my father or any of my friends, so I had to call my girlfriend collect (a shamelss plug for 1-800-CALL-ATT ) I tell her my situation and she tells me she will go to my house and tell my father what was up. He decides to pick me up at the Brooklyn Marriot Hotel, but I didnt know he was coming so I called my co-worker who lives on 29th Street in Manhattan. He told me I can crash at his place for the night. Which is a hike and a half from where I was.
So I gathered up what was left of my strength and begin to walk. The only way for me to get into Manhattan was to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Since they closed off the bridge to all traffic on the west bound side people were free to walk. So by now its 9PM and Im walking across the brooklyn bridge in absolute darkness. The bridge was crowded, I was bumping into people left and right. The view was incredible walking over the East River, seeing boats and helicopters hovering over manhattan and seeing bumper to bumper traffic in both directions on the FDR.
It took me about 25 minutes to walk the entire span of the bridge and by now I was exuasted sweating my ass off (it was still 90* at the time) and my feet and knees were cramping up big time. As I was walking uptown on Broadway, I pass Gracie Mansion (where the Mayor is supposed to live but Bloomberg still lives in his Brownstone Uptown) and city hall. Cops were all over the place directing pedestrian and car traffic.
I finally get up to Franklin Street and see a pay phone. I call my girlfriend collect again only to find out that my father is on his way to pick me up in Brooklyn! So now I had to walk alllll the way back to the hotel in Brooklyn. By the time I got back to the Marriot it was around 10ish. I found a place to rest and wait for my father.
A guy who was working in the parking garage next door popped a squat next to me and we started to bull**** for awhile. He noticed I was exausted and I told him I needed some water in the worst way. Because at that time all the stores were closed and the city cops ran out of water. So I was desperate. The guy says wait a minute and he comes back with 2 bottles of Poland spring water. Thanked him and just gulped down one bottle in a few seconds.
By 11PM my father shows up infront of the hotel I hop in the car and head home. By 12 midnight I was home safe and totally sapped.
All in all it was an unusual but fun experience. All the people were extremely cool and in good spirits. Everyone was very friendly and wiling to help out someone in need. The people of NY came through again There was no chaos or panic and there was one report of looting at a shoestore in Brooklyn. Other than that everything was OK. Since alot of people couldnt get a ride home or a hotel room, alot of people wound up sleeping in the streets.
Alot of people got stuck underground in the subways.Im glad I wasnt one of them .
___________________________________-
Allright there children, Paulie is back online!
Alrighty, where the hell do I begin?
OK, Im guessing it was around 3:30 PM when the power started to take a dump. Everything got dim, the AC in my office shut off monitor shut off and my radio went dead. Then a few seconds later the power came back on full force and then everything just shut off. Bada bing bada BOOM. Dead, caput.
After I closed down the warehouse, I started my long trek to find food, water and shelter.
Yours truly works in downtown Brooklyn and I live all the way out in Massapequa, Long Island which is 45 miles away. Since I dont drive to work (traffic is insane) I take the Long Island Rail Road and the NYC subways to get to work.
So, Naturally the first place I head to is the LIRR train station which is Uptown Brooklyn on Flatbush Ave... A half hour walk from my warehouse in downtown Brooklyn. I asked around to what was going on and of course no train service. Im thinking since there is no train service they would atleast accomidate us by using Buses. Which they did later on but I didnt stick around to find out.
Since no transportation was readily available, next on the list was a hotel. Nearest one was by the Brooklyn Bridge so I had to do MORE walking. Which wasnt a short trip in the least. Now it was about 6PM a few hours after the blackout occured, and its starting to get dark out, so I quickend my pace. By 6:45 I found the Brooklyn Marriot but there was a problem. I could not get a room. They were only letting in people who already had a room and they wouldnt let anybody who didnt have a room use the bathroom or get a drink of water. (Good thing there were cops and locals giving out water and hosing down willing particpants to cool off )
So now I'm up sh*ts creek without a paddle. Cell phone service was down for most people, Veriozon was the only cell phone service that was not effected by the blackout. Unfortuneately I had T-Mobile so no phone calls for me. I couldnt reach my father or any of my friends, so I had to call my girlfriend collect (a shamelss plug for 1-800-CALL-ATT ) I tell her my situation and she tells me she will go to my house and tell my father what was up. He decides to pick me up at the Brooklyn Marriot Hotel, but I didnt know he was coming so I called my co-worker who lives on 29th Street in Manhattan. He told me I can crash at his place for the night. Which is a hike and a half from where I was.
So I gathered up what was left of my strength and begin to walk. The only way for me to get into Manhattan was to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Since they closed off the bridge to all traffic on the west bound side people were free to walk. So by now its 9PM and Im walking across the brooklyn bridge in absolute darkness. The bridge was crowded, I was bumping into people left and right. The view was incredible walking over the East River, seeing boats and helicopters hovering over manhattan and seeing bumper to bumper traffic in both directions on the FDR.
It took me about 25 minutes to walk the entire span of the bridge and by now I was exuasted sweating my ass off (it was still 90* at the time) and my feet and knees were cramping up big time. As I was walking uptown on Broadway, I pass Gracie Mansion (where the Mayor is supposed to live but Bloomberg still lives in his Brownstone Uptown) and city hall. Cops were all over the place directing pedestrian and car traffic.
I finally get up to Franklin Street and see a pay phone. I call my girlfriend collect again only to find out that my father is on his way to pick me up in Brooklyn! So now I had to walk alllll the way back to the hotel in Brooklyn. By the time I got back to the Marriot it was around 10ish. I found a place to rest and wait for my father.
A guy who was working in the parking garage next door popped a squat next to me and we started to bull**** for awhile. He noticed I was exausted and I told him I needed some water in the worst way. Because at that time all the stores were closed and the city cops ran out of water. So I was desperate. The guy says wait a minute and he comes back with 2 bottles of Poland spring water. Thanked him and just gulped down one bottle in a few seconds.
By 11PM my father shows up infront of the hotel I hop in the car and head home. By 12 midnight I was home safe and totally sapped.
All in all it was an unusual but fun experience. All the people were extremely cool and in good spirits. Everyone was very friendly and wiling to help out someone in need. The people of NY came through again There was no chaos or panic and there was one report of looting at a shoestore in Brooklyn. Other than that everything was OK. Since alot of people couldnt get a ride home or a hotel room, alot of people wound up sleeping in the streets.
Alot of people got stuck underground in the subways.Im glad I wasnt one of them .