The Power Outage In Carroll Gardens NY

[Guest guest]

Finally back online w/ the rest of the world. We had fun.

 

We were on our way to one of our borough's public pools, Red Hook, when the

outage happened. What I noticed was that none of the traffic lights were

working and we had a lot of trouble crossing four lanes of highway traffic.

Traffic was so congested that we just picked our way through it. Hubby and I

looked at each other, shook our heads and said 'Wonder what's up?'. But like

all New Yorkers, we just kept plugging onward!! Arrived at the pool and found

out the news there from the small crowd and the city workers. They let us swim

for about 1 1/2 hours before the outage really hit them and the filters couldn't

run. That's when we headed home and realized what a great lot New Yorkers still

are. Citizens helped the Bridges & Tunnels Authority folks w/ traffic control.

Just walking past the projects on our way home you could hear people checking in

w/ each other. All that really worked at first was Nextel walkie-talkie phones.

So a lot of people were in touch with their family members that were walking

home from the city.

 

The lines for carry-out pizza were around the block. Restaurants worked 'til

night fall, too dark after that. However, I really give credit to those

restaurant workers - you could feel the heat generated by the ovens. They kept

working - God bless them.

 

We accepted an invite and brought our hot dogs and stuff to our neighbor's next

door - grilled and chilled all night by candle light. They were grilling

anything in the fridge that wasn't frozen solid. Still had a rack of ribs going

at 10pm last night!! Their kids and our swam in their pool in the dark 'til

about 10pm. Watched folks walking home from work - how anyone could ever not

wear comfortable walking shoes to work since 9/11 I don't know - everyone was

safe, calm and in very good spirits in spite of aching feet. Elderly folks went

over to neighbors to eat together. Younger folks brought them candles and food.

Our kids read by candlelight 'til about 11pm. We showered in candlelit

bathrooms. Definitely some interesting ways of creating light in houses. One

guy had a generator hooked up to his truck's battery. Another guy made an oil

lamp out of a clean mop and a punched metal waste basket. I can't describe it

worth a darn. Wish I could have taken a pic. Just about everyone had big

candles on their stoops and sat outside watching the stars. Folks looking for

Mars - is it Mars that can be seen so clearly right now with even a cheap

telescope? Lots of folks on fire escapes with candles - giggling and talking

softly into the night.

 

At first I relied on my son's Star Wars light saber to make my way around the

house to find our candles when we returned home from the neighbors. Oh, and his

He Man sword. That was funny for all of us!!

 

Our cat was very cool. I'm sure she wondered what all the fuss was about.

After all, they are perfectly suited to the night aren't they?

 

I felt bad for anyone living in two-fare zones from the city. My ex and his

wife left Manhattan on foot at 4:30pm and did not arrive at their baby

daughters' daycare 'til 9:30pm!!

 

I wonder how many babies will be born nine months from now....

 

Dale

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Glad you and the family fared well, Dale

 

 

> I felt bad for anyone living in two-fare zones from the city. My

ex and his wife left Manhattan on foot at 4:30pm and did not arrive

at their baby daughters' daycare 'til 9:30pm!!

 

 

Yep, my Uncle had to walk down 19 flights of stairs to get out of his

midtown office, then walk home to Rego Park, Queens, then walk up 12

flights of stairs to his apartment and THEN had no running water. As

of this morning he was still without power (and water).

 

>

> I wonder how many babies will be born nine months from now....

 

ROFL - when there's no TV to watch ....

 

 

>

> Dale

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

[Guest guest]

Not to mention how many moms were 'forced' to have natural birth yesterday is

what me and my peers are giggling about

I do hope anyone who was in a hospital for any special needs and issues wasn't

hurt further by this though.

 

My SIL finally got water this afternoon on the upper west side of Manhattan. I

sure hope your uncle found some water, something to stay hydrated. We've not

had an a/c in our new apt so the we'd grown accustomed to the heat (or it just

didn't bother us as much as it did some folks). I am grateful we had plenty of

cold water in our taps.

 

Dale

-

Chris

Friday, August 15, 2003 3:18 PM

Re: The Power Outage In Carroll Gardens NY

 

 

 

>

> I wonder how many babies will be born nine months from now....

 

ROFL - when there's no TV to watch ....