Quote:
Originally Posted by discreetgent
August of 2004: Another blackout in NYC, this one more similar in scope to 1965. People behave similar to 1965. Reports of crime and looting are rare.
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Actually I think you mean Aug '03. Ordinarily I'm not great on dates, but I happened to be in the City working on a project I remember vividly. In fact before I realized the severity of the situation, my first thought when the lights went out was how this f'd up the very expensive work I was doing and would would end up with the bill. To no avail, I pleaded with the people I'd assembled to hang around for at least 15 minutes -- surely the lights will come back on.
Maybe a commentary on how sometimes people, myself included, get so immersed in our own lives, we lose sight of the bigger picture. But I digress...
...Once we figured out the lights weren't coming on anytime soon...it became one of the most surreal scenes of my life...I fully expected complete chaos, but for the most part it was complete order....tens of thousands of people walking up and down Broadway...no trampling or pushing aside strangers. I really think the loss of 9/11 was fresh on the mind and had a lot to do with the situation.
I was one of the lucky ones. It was a couple mile walk to Soho but I already had a hotel room that I was occupying. While the hotel couldn't accomodate all of the requests from stranded people walking in off of the street it did allow people to stay/sleep in the lobby and restaurants, even offering blankets (ironically it was hot as hell in August and the a/c was out but I guess blankets afford a sense of safety/security0.
By nitefall people had sorted out where they would spend the night for the most part & most of the area residents had returned home. The outdoor cafes were full of people eating whatever did not require electricity to cook by candlelight. But allaround a calm; not a panic. I read a book by candlelight in my room before I got tired enough to sleep.
The only gouging I experienced was the $250* I paid a cabbie for what should have been a $50-60 ride to Newark Airport (which had power restored and flights resumed) the following morning.
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*One thing I was proud of myself for from a chaos-savvy standpoint was I realized early on that cash would be king as credit card machines would not be working, so as soon as I got back to the hotel I asked them to cash a personal check, which they did.
Link in transit. Thank you so very much.
No, though...right? 
