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Of all the harrowing images–flooded subway stations, submerged bridges, downed trees, monster waves–nothing, nothing has been as terrifying as this video of the East Village Con Edison power station exploding. Yes, exploding. Read More
This reporter spent most of the day hunkered down on Cadman Plaza, inside the boxy Brooklyn headquarters of the Office of Emergency Management. As in most city buildings, employees are encouraged to use the stairs. “Burn calories, not electricity,” a sign on the door to the stairs reads. In both stairwells in the three-story building, The Observer spotted these motivational signs. No wonder everyone has been so prepared for the storm. Read More
For the past few hours, New Yorkers’ eyes have been trained on the skies, or at least their TV and computer screens. No, they are not watching out for the eye of the storm but the crane that Hurricane Sandy has dislodged in Midtown Manhattan. The boom of the crane attached to the billionaire-beloved One57 snapped back earlier today and has been hanging precariously ever since, but it has yet to break free, and the hope is that will be the situation until the storm passes.
At a press briefing this evening, Mayor Bloomberg said all buildings on West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues have been evacuated, as well as “exposed buildings” on the same block of West 56th Street. Among the buildings evacuated were a hotel and some apartment and office buildings. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but better safe than sorry,” Mayor Bloomberg said.
The accident occurred at 2:35 p.m. today, according to a statement from Lend Lease, the general contractor on the project, the tallest apartment building in the city, at 1,005 feet, and also home to the most expensive sale ever, more than $90 million for the penthouse.
Mayor Bloomberg said the surrounding area had been secured, with steam, electricity and gas all being shut off to prevent any additional damage should the crane’s boom come loose. Read More
We know many people are not leaving the evacuation zone, and that many of them got there in the first place thanks to developments fostered by the Bloomberg administration. At this morning’s press briefing, The Observer asked the mayor if it was wise to continue encouraging development in these flood-prone areas. Should people really be living on the Williamsburg and Queens waterfront, even along the fetid Gowanus Canal, which the administration pushed to rezone. The mayor saw no reason to change course.
“People like to live in low-lying areas on the beach, it’s attractive,” Mayor Bloomberg said. “People pay more, generally, to be closer to the water even though you could argue they should pay less because it’s more dangerous. But people are willing to run the risk.” Read More
A mandatory evacuation from the Rockaways will still cost you $3.25.
The mayor announced earlier today that all city employees are expected to come into work today at the discretion of their departments. The same goes for a few unlucky MTA and Port Authority employees manning the city’s bridges. While weather conditions may become so severe that the bridges have to be shut down, for now, the toll booths are manned, and tolls remain in effect. For once, the banks are being kinder than the toll man. Read More
Hurricane Sandy is doing more than just canceling your plans, it is also wrecking late night tv. Jimmy Kimmel had planned to host a week of shows out of BAM’s Harvey theatre in downtown Brooklyn. But alas, tonight’s show was called off, the Times reports.
Part of the problem was the logistics of getting a live studio audience when the subways, tunnels and bridges close and people are being urged to stay home. Read More
We already know that lots of people have decided to hunker down in the safe-sounding Zone A (we would have gone with something like Zone of Watery Death to really get people moving ). Mayor Bloomberg really wishes they would get a move on, but there’s not much time left to do so.
“If you are still in Zone A and can find a way to leave, leave immediately. Conditions are deteriorating very rapidly, and the window for you getting out safely is closing,” the mayor said at his morning briefing. Read More
If you happen to live on the city’s now-glitzy skid row, you should be high and dry, at least for the time being, so fear not for a slip-up during the mayor’s storm update this morning. If you caught it, Mayor Bloomberg said the Bowery had flooded, when in fact he meant The Battery, according to his staff.
“There has already been some flooding already in the Bowery, as well as the FDR and some of the Rockaways,” Mayor Bloomberg said. “We expect surge levels of 6 to 11 feet. A surge of 9 to 10 feet is possible along Coney Island and the Rockaways. And a surge of 11 to 12 feet may occur at the Battery Monday evening.” Read More
“This is the most nervous I’ve ever been about a storm,” The New York Observer was told by the last man on Earth you’d ever want to hear those words from. “There’s just too much uncertainty.”
To illustrate that he’s not being hyperbolic, he said that this was also the first time he had ever brought a dry suit on a job, mentioning that if we were to follow him the next day, we should be very aware of the possibility of contracting hypothermia and the potential loss of some digits.
Not to mention the flying debris. “I wish I had brought a helmet,” the man said. He is not joking. Read More
The Observer decided to take a morning stroll through the streets of Dumbo, the area of Brooklyn between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges that borders the East River. By the time we returned to our apartment we were just grateful we didn’t die from falling debris. The wind propelled us forward, at times so strongly that we wondered if we should maybe just turn back. At the end of Bridge Street, where it dead ends at the river, water was beginning to crest over the barrier, rising higher than we’ve ever seen it. Read More
