The Blackout of 2003 − 14 August, 2003
It was a normal day in downtown Manhattan and I remember it being around 2:30 p.m. when my computer and all the lights in the building shut off. Our first thought was that our building went out. Within 15 minutes, the streets filled up and you could hear crowd noise. We looked out the windows and we'd never seen the streets so packed.
Rumors were flying, was it another terrorist attack? People were talking on cell phones and the news spread quickly that it was the entire city in a blackout. I remember while standing out in the street that tons of guys were looking up at this one apartment on the second story of a building across the street.
On the balcony was a woman in the smallest bikini I had ever seen. She was amazing and she was bursting at all the right places. She was prancing around in heels and performing a show of sorts for everyone. It was funny and strangely erotic at the same time. The weather was hot and she was definately dressed for it. While I was watching this unfold, my boss (a woman) interrupted me and told me that I could head home and call the company hotline the next day to see if we were open the next day.
I'm glad she told me at that point. I walked briskly to the Battery Park Ferry, since I couldn't walk to Port Authority unless I wanted to get home around midnight. When I got to the ferry, the line was about 4,000 people long, seriously. After 2 hours, I was on the Weehawken Ferry and I looked back and I swear the line stretched the length of Manhattan. Since the subways didn't work, it was the only way besides a taxi or car, out of the city for anyone downtown.
I caught a shuttle at the Weehawken ferry dock on the Jersey side and made it home around 6:30 p.m. I found out later that that was great time. My roommate got home around 9 p.m. and he left his office at about 3 in the afternoon. When I did get home, I realized that Jersey got hit too. I listened to the radio, which still worked for some reason, and I found out that the entire eastern seaboard was without power - something about a Canadian power plant in Toronto. I'll never forget that the entire block I lived on was outside talking and being cordial.
It was as if it wasn't Eastern Jersey for the night. I even heard people were walking around the Village in NYC and there were candles everywhere and folk singers had their guitars out and were playing for money. Someone even remarked that it was really cool to just chill out and enjoy life.
Sometimes I think power outages are exactly what this world needs.
Rumors were flying, was it another terrorist attack? People were talking on cell phones and the news spread quickly that it was the entire city in a blackout. I remember while standing out in the street that tons of guys were looking up at this one apartment on the second story of a building across the street.
On the balcony was a woman in the smallest bikini I had ever seen. She was amazing and she was bursting at all the right places. She was prancing around in heels and performing a show of sorts for everyone. It was funny and strangely erotic at the same time. The weather was hot and she was definately dressed for it. While I was watching this unfold, my boss (a woman) interrupted me and told me that I could head home and call the company hotline the next day to see if we were open the next day.
I'm glad she told me at that point. I walked briskly to the Battery Park Ferry, since I couldn't walk to Port Authority unless I wanted to get home around midnight. When I got to the ferry, the line was about 4,000 people long, seriously. After 2 hours, I was on the Weehawken Ferry and I looked back and I swear the line stretched the length of Manhattan. Since the subways didn't work, it was the only way besides a taxi or car, out of the city for anyone downtown.
I caught a shuttle at the Weehawken ferry dock on the Jersey side and made it home around 6:30 p.m. I found out later that that was great time. My roommate got home around 9 p.m. and he left his office at about 3 in the afternoon. When I did get home, I realized that Jersey got hit too. I listened to the radio, which still worked for some reason, and I found out that the entire eastern seaboard was without power - something about a Canadian power plant in Toronto. I'll never forget that the entire block I lived on was outside talking and being cordial.
It was as if it wasn't Eastern Jersey for the night. I even heard people were walking around the Village in NYC and there were candles everywhere and folk singers had their guitars out and were playing for money. Someone even remarked that it was really cool to just chill out and enjoy life.
Sometimes I think power outages are exactly what this world needs.
