Thursday, November 8, 2012

Surviving Sandy Part 2

Being from Arizona and deprived of all the awesome forces of nature except for dust storms - which are totally lame and super dirty - the thought of a hurricane approaching could quite possibly have been the most exciting thing ever.  So, of course the three of us just HAD to ventured outside.  Our apartment is about a block away from the Hudson River, and we wanted to see what it looked like pre-hurricane.  The pier had been closed/mandatorily evacuated, but we snuck on it anyway. We took pictures and used the binoculars to look across the Hudson at New Jersey.  It was started to get cold and windy!  After about 10 minutes we were kicked off by a patrolling squad car.  We were so daring...so brave...


The water hadn't risen at this point but it was starting to get agitated.


I remember looking across the river at Hoboken (the lights in the background) and noticed how we shared the same water front. I would never believe that within the next 24 hours part of that city would be under water.



We headed home for the night.  I have to admit that I woke up several times to look out the window to see the storm's progress.

The next morning the wind was blowing pretty steadily, but I ventured out to see if my breakfast place was opened and much to my delight it was!  I was surprised because the surrounding restaurants were dark.  I guess the employees couldn't get in to work.  It is amazing how public transit is the lifeline to the city and without it everything seems...well...dead.

I met my mom and we headed back home.  Adam's work was canceled for the day so the three of us hunkered down and prepared for the worst.  The news became the background noise that filled our apartment. After about 5 hours, we starting to feel the walls of our tiny place getting smaller and smaller so we decided to do what everyone should do during a hurricane and baked an apple pie!



And what would an apple pie be without vanilla ice cream?  Well not pie at all, quite frankly.  Unfortunately, we didn't grab any on our mad dash through the grocery store, but that did not stop Adam.  When a man wants vanilla ice cream...a man will get vanilla ice cream.  He got all bundled up and headed out into the storm to see what he could find.  

I snapped a picture of him coming home. He actually found a store that was open and had ice cream!  Well done. 


Well now we wanted wine to go with our pie...so guess who went out to get some...I think she just wanted to go out into the storm to be honest. :) I on the other hand stayed inside and took stalker photos of my crazy family going out during a hurricane. 



...and that, ladies and gentlemen, was the extent of our hurricane drama.  Strong wind gusts, lots of rain, and fun running outside.



We were so protected in our area.  We never lost power and didn't have an ounce of flooding.  So many people suffered indescribable loss, damage to their homes, and had to live without electricity for days even weeks. We feel so incredibly blessed.
  
The next day we ventured out to see the destruction of the hurricane.  This is part of Central Park. 


The Intrepid Aircraft carrier is the home to the Enterprise Space Shuttle.  I would not have known that if it weren't for the hurricane destroying it protective canopy that completely blocked it from outsiders getting a free peek at it. 



Charging stations were set up in areas that still had power. People were able to come and charge their electronic devices.  


You can see on the window there is a water line. That is how high the water got from the surge!!  This is an area near the Brooklyn Bridge.  If you look inside the window you can see that all their inventory was destroyed.  A week after the hurricane the store had still not opened back up.  Like I said we were so fortunate! 



On the bright side, my mom and I got to see Evita.  We were able to get student rush tickets in the second row.  I thought it would be too close, but the seats were perfect!  The understudy performed the role of Eva, and she was amazing. Ricky Martin just so happened to be playing the lead role, and he was great too!   



Overall, it was a very eventful couple of days.    








Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Surviving Sandy Part 1


Boy what a week...

It started off on Saturday when my mom came to visit us.  It was so great seeing her and I was so excited to have an exploring companion to share the city with! There were SO many things I wanted to show her, and I couldn't wait to get started!  In the back of my mind I was a little concerned about this so-called threat that hurricane Sandy was posing...

But it didn't stop us from having some fun. 

This is my mom, btw :)





We went on a food tour through Greenwich (Gren-ich).  It was AMAZING!  We stopped at many famous and/or authentic restaurants throughout the village.  From Murray's Cheese Shop and Palma's Italian Bistro to O&Co and Rocco's Bakery we tasted so much.  Mmmm.  Delicious! Highly recommend this if you ever go to New York.

Pizza, excuse me, Pie from Joe's.



Anyway, by the end of the tour we started to see the preparation for Sandy make its way through the Village.  Restaurants that were usually bursting at the seams with people had closed up shop for the day.  Windows were being boarded up and sand bags were being strategically placed in front of doorways.  There was an announcement made that they Subways were shutting down at 7pm, and while we were enjoying our prosciutto wrapped dates about 70% of the people on our tour found out that their flights home had been canceled indefinitely!  

Geez, Sandy, way to put a damper on our appetizer course...

After the tour ended we decided to go to the south end of Manhattan just so we could see it before the storm hit.  This was the area that was predicted to be hit hard by the storm and threatened to be swallowed up by the surge. When we arrived it was the first time I started to think that the hurricane was actually going to make landfall.  Bowling Green Park was abandoned, and the only people out on the boardwalk were news reporters. Just 7 hours prior my mom and I were there enjoying coffee, and it was packed with people.  Now it was totally empty! 

I was so glad that the three of us went there since I really wanted to show them a spot that I stumbled upon one day while walking around.  It is the 100 foot stretch of...I can't really describe it, but it is unlike any area that I had seen before.









 


























It is so beautiful! Little did I know that this would be the last time I would get to see this place before the hurricane ripped it apart. 

We went back to the subway and headed home on one of the last trains of the day.  We decided to "stock up" on supplies just in case and arrived at the grocery store at the same time as everyone else in Manhattan!  The lines were so long that they took up entire isles.  We split up.  Adam went and got a spot in line while my mom and I scavenged practically empty shelves for non-perishables, water, and whatever else we could find. Almost everything was gone.

So 8 gallons of water, fruit and cream oatmeal, 2 cans of tuna, tortillas, some other stuff, and a 6 pack of beer later we made it home.  Adam immediately filled up our pots, tea kettle, wine decanter, and all of our other containers with water - just in case.  At this point we had no idea what the next 48 hours were going to look like.

to be continued...