east harlem. morning after hurricane sandy.

this man and the cabbie below are pointing to the water level in their cars last night.  they both watched in shock from nearby buildings as the storm surge swept the street.

these men were cleaning up the driftwood and flotsam  on 1st ave in the 90s  among which was the new yorker poster.

1st ave was under at least 3 or 4 feet of water during the flood and apparently few people had expected or prepared.   hundreds, or thousands of cars were swamped on the streets and in parking lots.  i overheard one man describe looking out his window to see 3 cars floating in the street below.  "look," he said, gesturing at a small lot and a dozen soggy vehicles, "it's a b m w!"

fdr drive was closed. police were occasionally discouraging pedestrians but more often ignoring them. eerie... post apocalyptic.

this car was half on the sidewalk, where it appeared to have floated, with widows open.  there was a baby seat in the back.  it was full of storm debris and water. 

the open widows made me feel like it'd been left in a hurry.

i  was trying to imagine what happened, when three nurses came out of the hospital on the same block.
"oh... that's the car...!" one of them said to the others.

i asked. they said they'd watched from the windows as people in the car tried to drive it out as the water level climbed.  it was too late. they were overwhelmed and stranded, but an ambulance crew, presumably aware because of other people watching in the building, made it through the rising waters and rescued them.

it was clear there were many even more frightening stories.  this car was also flooded.

but, at least, there was a belated offer of help!

from the new yorker re. new jersey governor, republican superstar, chris christie on president obama

Appearing on the networks this morning, Christie, for the third day in a row, heaped praise on Obama’s handling of the storm. “The President has been outstanding in this,” he told the “Today” show. On “Morning Joe,” he said, “It’s been very good working with the President. He and his Administration have been coördinating with us. It’s been wonderful.” Speaking on CNN, Christie said that he had been mightily impressed by Obama’s accessibility throughout the crisis. “He gave me his number at the White House, told me to call him if I needed anything, and he absolutely means it.” Christie also pointed out that Obama didn’t once bring up politics in their conversations, and added, “If he’s not bringing it up, you can be sure that people in New Jersey are not worried about that, primarily if one of the guys running isn’t.”

sandy

a crane, 8 stories high, has fallen and is dangling from the roof of a building directly across from rare violins of new york (mike and tatzu run the rare violins restoration shop.)  we're really hoping it doesn't come loose in the 70 mph winds and come crashing through the windows.

crane can be seen on huffpo, with photos, and on daily beast.

am update- we were lucky. though our lights flickered and dimmed at times, we still have power and are safe.  many others not as fortunate.  new york and new jersey are reeling.

halloween season in sleepy hollow country

we took the train to brewster and rode back to tarrytown through sleepy hollow.