UPDATED 11/2/2012
After enduring Superstorm Sandy, New York City is currently in the progress of cleaning up after her wrath and getting New York back to a functioning state. With extensive flooding and a lack of electricity still keeping much of Lower Manhattan out of order, the city is starting to question – how long will this go on?
There has been unbelievable traffic and lines hundreds of people deep to get the shuttle busses that are being offered free of charge while the NYC subway system works on becoming functional again. While some of the lines are running and shuttle service is being offered, plans from a “100-year flood”, on par with the damage from Sandy, estimate that the system will not be fully functional again for up to three weeks.
It has been said that the subway is going to be a patchwork system, with some lines opening while others remain closed. Some of the lines have been inspected and are reported to be operational – once power is restored – which should hopefully relieve some transportation woes by next week.
Another issue affecting transportation is the lack of gasoline in the region. The Governor was able to secure enough gasoline for emergency vehicles to resume work, but the lines at gas stations – or no gas at gas stations at all – means limited taxi service to the residents of New York who cannot rely on the shuttle busses to get them to and from work.
The cost that this will have on the economy of New York City will have to be determined, but the subway not brining workers, or customers, will surely be detrimental to many offices and businesses running as usual. The New York Times reports that the total damage of Hurricane Sandy in New York City alone could reach $50 billion – $30 billion in property damage, and another $20 billion from lost economic activity.
Our office at New York International is no exception. Much of our staff remains without power and – even worse – heat, in the suburbs of New Jersey, as does our office in Downtown Manhattan. Like many offices in New York City, we have been able to stay active with our employees working from home – if they have power and internet.
Power is still out for millions of residents in New Jersey and New York, including the residents of Lower Manhattan. These New Yorkers have slowly made their way north to find food, internet and other modern conveniences they can’t find south of 34th Street – an area that looks to be like an apocalyptic state. At night, the only lights you see are from the roofs of taxicabs, police cars and the generator stations scattered throughout the borough.
Consolidated Edison has reported that “a sliver” of Lower Manhattan will have power by midnight on Friday, with the entire section of Manhattan expected to have power restored sometime on Saturday.
Events in New York City, from business conferences to the Village Halloween Parade, have mostly been cancelled. The New York City Marathon is still scheduled to take place on Sunday, though inspection of the route will determine if the race will run as planned or if some adjustments are going to be required.
True New Yorkers are resilient and are not thrown off by the changes. While no official Halloween parade took place in the West Village, the neighborhoods on the Upper West Side and in many other neighborhoods around the city continued to organize Halloween street parties like every year, the main difference being that this year neighbors seemed especially glad to see each other and to exchange stories. Many have resumed going to work as usual in an attempt to get the city back on its feet.
It’s still strange coming from Brooklyn to Manhattan. In most parts of Brooklyn, you see a few tree limbs down and some garbage that has blown around, but much of it has already been cleaned up. The power is up and running, as is Internet and cable, and restaurants and businesses are open as usual. Crossing the bridges to Manhattan, you are greeted by a dark Lower East Side that seems to be deserted, residents flocking to Midtown or further North and traffic that will have you in a taxi for hours when it is usually a 15 minute ride.
In Midtown, the heart of New York, business is not back to normal; thousands of tourists are roaming Fifth Avenue – in front of closed stores. For New Yorkers this is really a more disturbing sign, as retail effectively never sleeps in a city in which a Sunday is the best day for many to go shopping.
Slowly the news filters in from the areas most affected by the storm, and we all get to realize how lucky we’ve been in many parts of the city. We know that the team around the Mayor and Governor will do all they can to get the city up and running but that it will take days if not weeks to restore the seaside towns of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
We always knew that living by the water in a metropolis comes at a toll. Only now we realize how much work and planning lies ahead of us to secure the future of this wonderful city.