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I got stuck in a movie theater on Second Ave, missing the end of The Magdalene Sisters. It took me YEARS to find out how the film wound up.
It took 8 hours to get home to Jersey City via a kindly man with a big cigarette boat ferrying about 40 people at a time from the Chelsea Piers direct to Newport. As we arrived home, the lights came on (about 10 PM.)
Of course that was childsplay compared to the mess for some of the City that was the 1977 blackout.
While walking in the unbearable heat of last week, I had flashes of a recurrence. We dodged a bullet.
Lucky you! I didn't get power back on until noon the next day. Remember looking down on broadway at around 4 am that night and seeing the street lights come on around the 49th street area just two blocks shy of my apt and going ugggh! Had to wait another 7 hrs for the power to reach my area grid. Could've been worse. I think the Kips Bay area was one of the last places in Manhattan to get power back. I recall the Sheraton had it's own generator so they had electricity through out the night (at least in the lobby area) whereas over at the Marrriot, they kicked everyone out!
The worst part was not being able to flush my toilet. Was so jealous of my friends who lived in walk ups and having at least the ability to use the toilet. Could've been worse. My commute from work to my apt. was only 8 blocks away and my apt was only on the 7th floor. Felt bad for those who needed magnetic cards to enter their apt & couldn't because evidently you need electricity for that. And at least while hot, it didn't rain. So, all things considered, it could've been much worse. Didn't hear of any incidents of looting or mayhem like the '77 blackout.
I was at Macy's 34th Street and walked home to the 150's in Harlem. Couldn't get a cab and the buses were packed and didn't stop.
Some of my relatives were entertaining out of towners and got stuck at the top of the Empire State Building! Since 9/11 was still fresh on everyone's minds, he told me people panicked and rushed towards the windows to see if any airplanes were headed their way!
I can only imagine if you had the bad luck to be stuck on the subway or in an elevator.
I was at work & thought it was just us. Thought we blew out a fuse or something but then we looked out the window and saw all the stores black and people streaming out. It was only later that we realized it was the entire Northeast area & that the blackout was much bigger than we thought.
I was off from my day job that day. Took a nap in the afternoon, woke up sweating and confused as to why it was quiet (when I nap during the day, I like the TV to be on so I don't fall too deeply asleep). Hopped in the shower assuming it was just my apartment, and headed into the city to work my night job, waitressing at a comedy club. While in the shower, I heard on a radio playing outside that it was covering the NE. Went into the city anyway, because no one knew how long it would be. Got to work, we had no power, but had a hell of a lot of beer that was about to get warm! We had a full staff on that night, since it was supposed to be a busy show. We all sat around for a few hours drinking beers and playing cards by candlelight. The bar up the street was open and had great specials on food - they could cook it with their gas equipment but were going to have trouble storing it. I was there for a few hours when my sister (who I worked with at the time) burst into the bar saying she had just spoken to our parents, that power was back on in the Bronx, and they were in pool. My only reaction was check please!!!! Headed to the Bronx, stopped at my apartment to turn my AC on, then went to my parents' to go swimming. My office was closed the next day since they still didn't have power, so I got a bonus day off. Thankfully, it was a fun experience for me overall, so good memories here.
I was at the same job, same desk....and when the lights and all went out, I checked the traffic lights, that how I knew it wasnt just our office building.
This was obviously after 911, and then someone put the care radio on in the garage, we learned the whole east coast had no power.
I unplugged my power strip, grabbed my bag and go to the front door, the big boss was there, i said ok, im gone.
I walked right out. I remember the people that were told in tower 2 everything was fine, go back to work.
that wasnt happening to me.
I stayed home the next day, rode my bike and about 4 in the afternoon the lights went on along Bath Avenue......
I went to work the day after that, and am still there all these years later............
I was in third grade and I still remember using candles to light up the bathroom for a bath .
People were buying candles like crazy...
Glad to see I'm not the only young one here. The only thing I remember was how hot it was and staying with my grandma because my mother was stuck at work.
Oh my goodness. I remember it well. At that time, I lived and worked in Manhattan, but that day I went to Queens to have my curly hair straightened at a Korean beauty salon. Wouldn't you know it? The lights went off in the middle of the process so I had a mass of frizz instead of stick straight hair. Not to mention the fact that I had to walk all the way back from Jackson Heights across the 59th Street to downtown Manhattan. There were very few people going across the bridge into Manhattan, but hordes of people were coming at us from the other direction. I was happy to get home safely. Then I had to walk up 14 flights of stairs to my apartment. But who's counting?
I walked home from Manhattan to Queens in sandals with small heels and had sore and blistered feet for a few days afterwards. Luckily I still had a dial-up corded home telephone so I was able to call people outside the area to tell them I was okay when I arrived home. Also I had running cold water (so I had no problem flushing the toilet!) being in a 3rd floor apt. in a 6 story building.
I was one of the many people walking over the 59th Street Bridge back to Queens. I also remember walking around our neighborhood that evening, listening to the Yankees-Orioles game on my Walkman, thinking how lucky they were that they still had power in Baltimore.
i was at work, luckily I had just moved from Brooklyn to Spanish Harlem and it was not that far to walk.
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