Community Chat

[CalminHeart]

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@NYCLatinaMe wrote:

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@CalminHeart wrote:

I do have to laugh about all the anxiety New Yorkers and its leaders have about the power outage.  Tens of thousands lose power once or twice here every winter and we deal with it because we know it's temporary.  

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The reason it is newsworthy and not laughable is the density and the way we live. First of all, no one knows how long till the problem is fixed.  In low denisty areas, you know what happpened: downed power lines, just put them back up.  Here, all the power lines are underground, and the problem was not obvious.  

I freaked out when I first heard about it, because I didn't know if it would spread to my neighborhood. How far would the problem spread?  

All of Broadway, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, etc. lost power.  Thousands of toursts here that weekend to see shows, and they missed them.  I saw some toursts on TV saying their hotels wouldn't even let them in to their rooms, their phones were out of battery life, and where to find a place to charge? 

What if you live in the 20th or 70th floor of an apartment building and have no food, and little water because the water pump is not working, and don't have the ability to walk downstairs, and you don't know when the power is coming back. If you go down, will you be able to come back up?  

Most of the retail stores and restaurants jn the area had to close and lost millions of dollars in business that Saturday night. Many of those tourists didn't have a place to get a bite.  

The subway was down, and this is a main way for people to get around.  No traffic lights in the congested streets.  2,875 were stuck in a dark subway tunnels. Yes the city rescued them in less than 3 hours, but I wouln't want to be stuck there.  Several hundred people rescued from elevators.  

So newsworthy and not laughable, but not the end of the world.  Thankfully it did not spread and did not last long.

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NYC is not that different from other cities.  It's bigger than most but not different.  Comparable things happen elsewhere and they survive when power goes out.  Or Imagine Puerto Rico, Texas and Louisiana after hurricanes and floods.  Imagine the midwest blizzards, 10-20 inches of snow and -40 degree below temps.  These took out power and people survived.  NYC will too.  

[ms traditional]

as someone else mentioned the media played this up - nonstop coverage for hours -  and then an exaggeraed rehash day after -  while Louisiana was in far worse circumstances.  it made New Yorkers look bad while i suspect most affected in the city got along just fine.

as a reality, folks everywhere experience multi-hour power outages due to electrical storms - high winds - other disruptions -  which are more akin to the NYC episode.  people need to prepared for this everywhere with flashlights, battery operated radios/tv's and computers/phones always charged.  

[NYC Susan]

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@CalminHeart wrote:

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@NYCLatinaMe wrote:

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@CalminHeart wrote:

I do have to laugh about all the anxiety New Yorkers and its leaders have about the power outage.  Tens of thousands lose power once or twice here every winter and we deal with it because we know it's temporary.  

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The reason it is newsworthy and not laughable is the density and the way we live. First of all, no one knows how long till the problem is fixed.  In low denisty areas, you know what happpened: downed power lines, just put them back up.  Here, all the power lines are underground, and the problem was not obvious.  

I freaked out when I first heard about it, because I didn't know if it would spread to my neighborhood. How far would the problem spread?  

All of Broadway, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, etc. lost power.  Thousands of toursts here that weekend to see shows, and they missed them.  I saw some toursts on TV saying their hotels wouldn't even let them in to their rooms, their phones were out of battery life, and where to find a place to charge? 

What if you live in the 20th or 70th floor of an apartment building and have no food, and little water because the water pump is not working, and don't have the ability to walk downstairs, and you don't know when the power is coming back. If you go down, will you be able to come back up?  

Most of the retail stores and restaurants jn the area had to close and lost millions of dollars in business that Saturday night. Many of those tourists didn't have a place to get a bite.  

The subway was down, and this is a main way for people to get around.  No traffic lights in the congested streets.  2,875 were stuck in a dark subway tunnels. Yes the city rescued them in less than 3 hours, but I wouln't want to be stuck there.  Several hundred people rescued from elevators.  

So newsworthy and not laughable, but not the end of the world.  Thankfully it did not spread and did not last long.

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NYC is not that different from other cities.  It's bigger than most but not different.  Comparable things happen elsewhere and they survive when power goes out.  Or Imagine Puerto Rico, Texas and Louisiana after hurricanes and floods.  Imagine the midwest blizzards, 10-20 inches of snow and -40 degree below temps.  These took out power and people survived.  NYC will too.  

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Of course.  I haven't seen or heard anyone imply otherwise.  It was a blackout.  They happen.  @NYCLatinaMe is correct - It was newsworthy and not laughable.  The worst part in any situation like this - no matter where it is - is not knowing how long it will last.  No one was hysterical over the thought that we might not survive.  No one carried on as though this was the worst thing ever.

And I would venture to guess that the anxiety you've attributed to NYC "and it's leaders" was far less than it would have been elsewhere.  We are very used to having things happen.  This was nothing compared to what we've been through.  Our coping skills are extraordinary.