My Second Blackout in New York

[andyfox]

As a kid, I as walking home from religious school when the lights went out in 1964. I remember walking in to a candy store and asking what happened; the response: "I'm just a candy store owner, what the hell do I know?"

Fast forward 39 years. On a mini-vacation in New York, out go the lights again. This time, thoughts of foul play crossed everyone's mind. I was on the 34th floor of the Essex House; down 34 floors I went to get my wife and son, weho were strolling 5th Avenue; they arrived, somewhat shaken, in the lobby a few minutes after I did.

The hotel staff was wonderful, providing water, flashlights, food and whatever help they could. A diabetic man was stuck in the elevator bbetween floors; elderly, and unable to speak much English, it took quite a while for them to get him out; I understand he is OK after spending time at the hospital for observation. Many citizens were at the street corners helping to direct traffic. The sense of togetherness and comraderie was palpable.

We trekked back up the 34 floors and dined on crackers and nectarines. We prepared as best we could for the coming darkness. The view out our window of the shadowed city was at once beautiful and terrifying. We fell asleep for a few hours, and were fortunate to be able to get a flight out of Newark on Friday evening. Quite an experience.

Hope all 2+2ers who were caught in the blackout are none the worse for the wear.

[Zeno]

Glad it was no worse for you than what it was. Shows how dependent and vulnerable we all can be. Hope the trip was somewhat enjoyable anyway.

-Zeno

[Ray Zee]

after the 64 black out, they had a big explosion of babies 9 months later. remember the song where were you when the lights when out.


black outs should be no big deal to most people. there is no reason not to have some kind of lighting and food and a cooking source, and of course lots of water. if people dont at least keep this stuff around they are going to be in sad shape someday waiting on the govt. to bring them supplies.

[Rick Nebiolo]

Andy,

During the blackout in the sixties there was lots of looting and such. Why do you think it didn't happen this time?

~ Rick

[andyfox]

I think there was more looting during the 1977 blackout than the one in the sixties, but still you bring up a good point. I heard the mayor say there were 10,000 policemen on the streets; I doubt there were anything near that number in 1977 and 1964. (Crime in general, I believe, is down in New York City.) I also heard the mayor say that the city was more prepared this time. I'm not quite sure what he meant, but I assume they were able to deploy more police and give more cogent instructions on the radio about how to handle things. They told people to go home immediately while it was still light. (There's a great picture I have in the N.Y. Times of the Queensborough bridge loaded with pedestrians.) Perhaps the fact that the blackout started this time during daylight helped. (I remember it was dark when the 1964 blackout started, I'm not sure about 1977.) I imagine that the experiences of the past have guided training for possible future events.

Perhaps, too, the "spirit of the times" is different now, especially in New York. While the construction going on at Ground Zero, where we had visited earlier in the day, kind of disguises the devastation, we all got lumps in our throats there and eye contact with strangers produced, at least it seemed to me, a sort of comraderie. I might be all wet about this, but perhaps some of this spirit is present in a greater percentage of New Yorkers now than it was in those days.

[andyfox]

I think there was a bit of apprehension about the blackout this time that there wouldn't have been pre-9/11. There was an initial fear that was palpable. In the hotel I was in, the announcements, after a couple of hours, took great pains to say that all indications were that this was NOT appararently related to terrorism.

The great density of people in Manhattan during a workday makes a blackout more frigtening there, I think, than it would/should be elsewhere. I usually travel with a lot of "stuff," mostly because of my recent medical history; I'm now going to add a pocket flashlight to my list.

[andyfox]

Well, obviously the blackout put a damper on the trip, but I still found New York the ugliest and most beautiful city. The visit to Ground Zero was quite emotional. I enjoyed strolling around Soho, where my father had had a factory in the 1950s and early 1960s. The food in New York is a zillion times better than it is here in La-la land too. And thought the humidity was pretty oppressive, Central Park is still wonderful.

BTW, we had lunch at Mickey Mantle's (mediocre food), but lots of great memorabilia about the Mick and the Yankees.