Picosecond's Blackout story


I was in New York for the blackout and believe it or not, I had a KICK-ASS TIME!!! It was like a big outdoor party, at least in my section on Manhattan.
I was at work when all the power went out. My computer and a couple other guys’ boxes were still running after everything else went dead; apparently we were on a circuit that included the backup generator, so we were sucking juice from it. After we shut down, we all just kinda hung out and chatted in the dark. This was a temporary thing, we figured – then somebody came in and said it’s not just our building. The whole block is out of power.
So a bunch of us run downstairs to see, and everybody’s outside their buildings, just looking around. The sidewalks were so packed, it was like a parade. Traffic lights were dead but there were already cops directing cars(props to ‘em for that). A bunch of us tried getting through to people on our celphones, but they were either down or overloaded. Somebody had a radio and that’s when we heard that not only was the WHOLE CITY out, but so was Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan – all the way out to Toronto, Canada. We were like, “Holy Fucking Shit!”
We all went our own way after that. I joined the massive river of people walking uptown, figuring I could hang out in Union Square till the power came back, and take the first train back to Brooklyn. Some funny shit went on: People stealing water from guys on delivery bikes, people climbing up fire escapes to escape the massive crowds. People were walking in the streets because the sidewalks were jammed – by Cooper Square, some asshole in a BMW honked his horn and tried plowing through a crowd of people. A couple of guys hit the BMW’s windows with their bags. The Beemer Man got out and was trying to be tough, like “Who the fuck did that? Which one of you assholes tried to break my window?” Somebody screamed out “It was ALL of us!” Then some old black lady screamed, “Yeah, what? Brooklyn in da house! Whatchoo gonna do, stop us? HAH!” Everybody gave Beemer Man the finger. Beemer Man(wisely) got back in his car and took off. There was some kind of chant going on in the sea of people, actually: This black lady would holler ”BROOKLYYYYYN!!!!” and people would holler back: ”YEEEEAAAAHHH!!!”
Cabbies were blasting news on their car radios and crowds would gather around to hear the latest updates. People would just turn to me and start chatting about what they thought was going on. The radio announcers kept saying things like, “It could be terrorism, but we don’t know yet.” Later, the papers told a bunch of stories about how “terrorism fears were allayed” by Bush and Mayor Bloomberg. I was there and out of all the people I spoke with, only one guy really thought it was terrorism in the first place. The rest of us used common sense – We figured that since the power had been out X amount of hours and there were no bombs going off, no missiles being fired, no Al Qaeda marching in the streets with AK-47s, it probably wasn’t. One guy I talked to said, “I’ll bet there’s terrorists scrambling right now, trying to figure out how they can use this – or how to take credit for it.” Another guy said, ”They probably fucked up something while doing repairs or changes. They’re just saying they don’t know what happened, because they don’t want us seeing how stupid they were – that would piss people off a lot more than if it was a terrorist attack.” The final verdict on what caused this hasn’t come in yet, but still, those were way smarter observations than anything I heard on the radio.

Anyway, I get to Union Square, and the first person I see is this guy Bob I knew in high school. Bob was with another guy named Bob, who was a cool guy and happens to have a pretty funny Website. I sat down with Bob & Bob, figuring it was safer to stick with people I know, even if I don’t really know ‘em that well. Later on my friend Rachel came & sat with us, and this girl named, I guess, Cullen(It was like “Colleen” but with one “e”) joined our party. She was from Tennessee and didn’t know anyone – she’d only been in NY for four days. We pooled our meager cash and bought beer, donuts & juice drinks. Then we just sat & watched the crowd go by, drinking and talking until the sun went down. When it did, people started making out under the trees and some musicians started a drum circle and people were dancing in the park. It was like this big hippie campout festival kinda thing. Rachel was bugging out because you could actually see stars in New York, for the first time any of us could remember. A guy named Reverend Billy put on a show for the crowd, and later this massive group of bike riders took over the streets – for a couple of minutes, there were a hundred people on bikes, just all around the park.
People were wondering out loud when the looting would start, talking about what they’d grab if they got a chance. We were joking that we should be ready when it starts – plan out what stores to hit, what escape routes we’d take, etc. I was just marveling over how different and how quiet the city was, with nothing but the lights from cars, lanterns & road flares. It should have been creepy, but somehow it wasn’t. I guess it was too amazing to be creepy. No looters meant it felt safe to go exploring the rest of the city, so Rachel and I walked around. She had a digital camera and we wandered all over, just taking pics of the dark alleys and stuff. I think she got a few really great shots. I carried her bag, and she let me smoke her cigarettes. I got free beer from some friendly bartenders, and later we got free ice cream cones from this old drunk who bought cones for everyone. Those Mr. Softee trucks must’ve made a huge profit – when night came, they were the only cheap food around.
Around 1am, we figured it was time to get home. First we tried catching a cab – I had exactly two dollars left, but lovely Rachel agreed to let me ride with her, and then I could go from there on foot. Problem was, no cabbies wanted to go out to Brooklyn. I talked to a cop, and they said no cabs are leaving Manhattan because they’re almost out of gas, and every gas pump & filling station in the city is electric. We tried calling car services but couldn’t get through. Buses were still running, but they were so full they weren’t making half their stops. Rachel decided to keep trying; I decided I was sleeping wherever. The streets were mostly empty by then – it was incredible wandering around SoHo and being the only person for blocks around, with hardly any light. I felt like I’d survived the Apocalypse, and I was the last person alive in the city.
Eventually I wandered back to Union Square. On the way I met this guy named Clayton,
Who told me about how he met these two drunk NYU girls and hooked up with them both. He said there was “threesome potential” but the girls were so drunk they peed on themselves, so that pretty much killed the mood. From what I smelled wandering around, there were lots of dark alleys that became temporary urinals. Clayton and I went off in different directions when we got to the Square -- it was like a refugee camp. Hundreds of people just crashed out on the lawn, on the steps, wherever, surrounded by empty bottles and plastic bags. I followed their lead, and went to the nearest empty park bench to lie down. My feet were in serious pain, but that was the first time I really noticed. I laid on that park bench and watched the moon for a while, listening to people chattering and musicians playing, with this cool breeze blowing on me. It was actually pleasant.
I guess it was around 4am when I went to sleep; I woke up at 7:05am, according to my celphone. The first thing I did was wander down to my work, just out of curiosity – plus my bank is two blocks away from it. If they were open, I could take out some cash and pay for a cab home. It was a longshot, but I didn’t have any other options. When I got there I talked to two security people who’d spent the night. They’d gotten specific orders not to let anyone in, which sucked because I really needed to use the bathroom. The banks weren’t open either. So I found a bush over in Battery Park, then sat down by the seaside for a while. I figured that since I was walking home, I’d better conserve energy.
Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, I met this really cool girl who was trying to bum rides back from hippies. She said, “I look for old guys with beards, who are driving station wagons that have hippie bumper stickers. Then I say, ‘Hey man, peace – are you going to Brooklyn?’ “
We traded stories, and she told me that the buses were running for free today. I could’ve kissed her when she told me that – no ten mile hikes for me today! I went to the nearest bus stop, and three bus rides later, I was within walking distance of my apartment. I finally got home around 12:30pm – first thing I did was use the bathroom. I’ve never been so happy to use a toilet. Then I cleaned out the fridge, pulled out whatever didn’t seem spoiled and called my relatives. After a nice long shower(with cold water – damn electric water heaters) and a big meal, the power finally came back on.
So overall, I had a lot of fun during the blackout. I saw the city in a whole new way, hung out with people I normally wouldn’t, and got to know a really cool(and pretty cute) girl a lot better, which is always a good thing.