It was easier for us who were home at the time. I heard of very wild parties going on in Tompkins
Square - a bonfire and music mostly - but younger style than in our garden - with my guy and 2
others with guitars and one with bagpipe were playing their own songs and an international
repertory (I even found myself singing "Internationala" in Romanian. On the roof, a neighbor was
telling the story of a paparazzi event with Tracy Lords.
It was ugly to see the peddling of flimsy flashlights for $10 or water for $ 5 but on my street we
had plenty of stores selling candles and water in their doors at regular prices and giving free
matches.
Heroes: WNYC for their 24h transmission via telephone by flashlights (they usually have 5-6 h a
day)
Rep Marty Markovitz of Brooklyn who stood on a soapbox with a loudspeaker at their end of the
Brooklyn Bridge greeting people coming home: "You've made it! You are in Brooklyn- the capital of
USA! You are safe now! Everything will be all right. The next day he told people to throw the
largest block party with the contents of their freezers.
New Yorkers who self-appointed themselves traffic agents (traffic lights were dead too)
The guy who bought the last ice cream but gave it to my little girl refusing the money (and the
guy who left the line saying: "I can't take it from the pretty girl with the nice eyes - )
jeers: Bloomberg who tried hard to pull a "Giuliani" but spouted one inane statement after
another "Go home, open your windows - it's hot" and, when proven wrong about power coming
back on the 14: "well, Con Ed told me that, because nothing is broken. If it were, this could have
taken months to fix. As it is, who cares? A few hours, a few days - no big deal!"
He also did nothing for people at higher levels who lacked water .
Pataki - for blaming Canada as South Park recommended and being his usual removed and
ineffective, the same day he pledged NY's support to Arnuld Scwatzennegger..
bush - for not bothering to interrupt his vacation for this and extremely vague, delayed
statements. WNYC said: "he said people must be taken care of - so Bloomberg dispatched
thousands of policemen" (bushco understanding of being taken care of)
My super for turning off the emergency lights on the corridors (they are for emergency only)