By Kim Velsey 11/12/12 1:58pm

Hurricane Housing

Flood waters have rendered luxury rental 2 Gold Street uninhabitable for the immediate future.

Housing For Hurricane Victims Is Hard To Come By

At the outset of the third week since Hurricane Sandy hit, it has become clear that normal in some corners of the city will be a long time coming. From the beginning, it was obvious that rebuilding the homes that burned in Breezy Point, or were washed away by surging sea water in Staten Island, would take many months. But now a number of other New Yorkers, who had expected power, heat and electricity to be restored in a matter of days, are still living without.

City, state and national officials are scrambling to find short- and long-term housing for the many New Yorkers displaced by the storm, begging landlords to help them identify vacant apartments, reports The New York Times. Read More

By Colin Campbell 11/03/12 10:56am

restoration

Click to enlarge or click here for the full .PDF

Some Subways Now Go to Lower Manhattan

At a press conference at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan this morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo and MTA Chairman Joe Lhota announced most subway service in New York City will be returned by the end of the day. Notably for some commuters from Queens and Brooklyn, trains will now be traveling into Manhattan for the first time since before Hurricane Sandy struck last week.

“In literally under one week, 80% of the subway service has been restored from what was horrendous damage, and the worst damage the subway system had ever seen,” Mr. Cuomo said. “So that is just a great, great job. The service between Brooklyn and Queens and Manhattan is being restored immediately. The 4, 5, 6 and 7 trains will immediately begin to run. The F, J, D [and] M will run later this afternoon. The Staten Island Railway will have limited service beginning later today.” Read More

By Ian Lamb 10/31/12 7:27pm

Frankenstorm

No lights, no glow. (Ian Lamb)

Manhattan As Ghost Town

With these pics from last night, there’s not much to say (and it seems like there will be pretty much the same story tonight). We just went to the East River Ferry dock in Greenpoint to check out the skyline. As you know, usually there’s a halo of light over the city, but now it just stops around 34th Street.

The rest is a void. Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/31/12 2:05pm

commuting

subway map

Limited Subway Service to Begin Tomorrow; Here’s the Schedule

Update 11/1 8:22:As of Friday morning, there will be service on the M and No. 7 trains has been restored in Queens and Brooklyn, though there is still no subway service into Lower Manhattan. You can read more about the changes to the service here.

Original post: At a press conference earlier this afternoon, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and MTA Chairman Joe Lhota announced that New York City’s subway system will restore service on a number of lines, leaving out a swath of territory south of 34th Street in Manhattan. Lower Manhattan was left out, they explained, because of the mass power outage in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

“It’s been an extraordinary amount of time and a lot of work and a lot of lack of sleep, but we’re going to continue to do it,” Mr. Lhota said. “Our goal is to, every day, get this service back to normal, back to the situation we were used to last week, and if not, even better.”

View the working transportation lines below, including other parts of the MTA, courtesy of Mr. Cuomo’s office: Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/31/12 1:23pm

de-watering

Flooded. (Photo: Getty)

Army Corps to Begin Pumping Water Out of Lower Manhattan Tomorrow

According to Senator Chuck Schumer, the federal government will soon begin the arduous task of returning floodwaters back to the Atlantic Ocean after Hurricane Sandy’s surge flooded key transportation arteries earlier this week.

“In the past hour, I have received an update from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the federal de-watering efforts happening in New York City,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement this afternoon.   Read More

By Ian Lamb 10/30/12 8:28pm

Frankenstorm

A zombified cell phone cluster. (Ian Lamb)

People Clustering for Cell Phone Service, Pitch Black Hospitals Among the Oddities of Post-Sandy Manhattan

Special correspondent Ian Lamb tried to pitch in at Bellevue, but not being a doctor or a generator mechanic, he was turned away. Here is his report from the Middle to Lower East Side of Manhattan this afternoon.

There’s no power anywhere on the East Side until 42nd street. Drivers were surprisingly civil but it weirds me out. Every few blocks there’s a crowd of people who have found cell service; otherwise there is none. It’s all very 28 Days Later.

The whole of lower/downtown/LES manhattan was really creepy this morning. The weirdest thing was driving without any traffic lights or traffic cops. Everyone was being very respectful though, everyone stopped at every intersection. No animosity between pedestrians and drivers, for once. I think everyone was just in shock, though, because by the time I was driving out of Manhattan, everyone was back to being assholes. Read More

By Steve Huff 9/20/12 3:42pm

Celebrity Arrests

Lindsay Lohan, American Disaster.

NYPD Video of Lindsay Lohan vs. Pedestrian Incident May Help Starlet’s Case [Video]

Today the NYPD released surveillance footage of the Wednesday-night incident that left actress Lindsay Lohan accused of striking a pedestrian then leaving the scene. The video may be more useful in defending Ms. Lohan than prosecuting her. It shows a typical late-night street scene, several people milling around a parking area entrance. Ms. Lohan’s vehicle noses through then leaves the frame and no one seems alarmed or concerned. Take a look: Read More

By Steve Huff 9/19/12 8:33am

Celebrity Arrests

Lindsay Lohan (Getty Images)

Lindsay Lohan Arrested, Accused of Hit and Run in Manhattan

We know everyone will be deeply shocked to learn this morning that actress and Worst Case Scenario of the Decade Lindsay Lohan has been arrested in Manhattan after police say she struck a pedestrian while parking her vehicle, then left the scene. TMZ, that Grim Reaper of celebrity gossip websites, tells us what happened after Ms. Lohan allegedly struck the 30-year-old male around 2 a.m. ET: Read More

By Kim Velsey 9/13/12 7:15pm

The Rent

Tribeca is beautiful, but like so many beautiful things, you probably can't afford it.

August Is a Disgusting Month To Move In And Other Truths Found In Manhattan Rental Reports

Who wants to move in August?  No one even wants to be in the muggy cesspool of the city, let alone between two separate apartments. Indeed, August rental reports reflect the general malaise one is apt to feel when clutching a box damp with sweat at the bottom of a five floor walk-up. Or maybe Manhattan is now obeying the schedules of the Hamptons as the middle class flees?

Manhattan vacancy rates remained relatively flat in August. At 1.19 percent, they are basically unchanged from the 1.2 percent vacancy rate of July and slightly up from August 2011, when they were at just one percent, according to a report from Citi Habitats. Cause for celebration? Read More