On August 14, 2003, NYC experienced a complete power outage. This happened around 4 pm. Thank God it wasn't an hour later or I might have been stuck in the subway tunnels like some other folks were! Of course I didn't have a camera, but plenty of people did, and there are some great photos.
Along with approximately 80 million other people, I walked home from work. It took a while and was over 10 miles. It was also really hot. It was pretty amazing to see people flooding the streets. We must have looked like columns of ants swarming out of their nests. Traffic was not moving at all and lines to use the pay phones were interminable.
Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge was an experience. We were turned away from the pedestrian walkway so we took over the Manhattan-bound vehicle lanes. The weight and rhythm of all those people walking put a huge strain on the bridge. You could feel the bridge swaying back and forth under your feet. This was really freaking out some people, who hurried toward the center of the bridge, believing it was more stable there. Other people decided they'd rather walk in the Brooklyn-bound vehicle lanes and were scurrying along I-beams underneath the pedestrian walkway (suspended over the river) from one side to the other. Really wacky stuff. I saw almost no police the whole way. I did see Bloomberg's motorcade come whizzing back from Brooklyn to City Hall. He drew quite a response from the sweaty crowd heaving its way across the bridge on foot.
Most folks walking near me were relieved to step off the bridge and onto solid land. Traffic was still not moving in Brooklyn, at least not inbound. I headed down Court Street toward my apartment. Many groceries, delis and restaurants were open, trying to sell all perishable merchandise. Bars were open too.
Once the sun went down, I think folks started to get restless. It was hot. There was nothing to do. We bought some beer and sat out on the lanai in the dark drinking it. It was really strange to see no lights on anywhere. It was still noisy though. Plenty of helicopters buzzing around (as a general deterrent to potential mischief-makers) and sweeping the ground with their searchlights. The pizza joint across the street was doing quite a business, the line wrapped around the block. Things were pretty collegial in my neighborhood, a few barbeques, some block parties. Nothing ugly.
I'm just glad my apartment was within walking distance. People from Westchester and New Jersey ended up sleeping outside, on the Library steps, at the Post Office, standing up in bars. Pretty bizarre.
