New York City, August 2003: The Big Blackout

The blog entry below was actually written on August 28, 2003, shortly after I took this trip:

NEW YORK CITY : August 14-17, 2003

We left for NYC on Thursday around 12:45 p.m. My friend Theresa was driving. She recently moved back here from NYC so was to be our guide for the long weekend. Also on the trip were Laura and her friend, Melissa.

Theresa picked us up in her 1994 Honda Accord. In the back seat behind the front passenger was Theresa's little girl, 4 year old Gwyneth, in her car seat. So the ride was going to be a little cramped for whoever was in the back, and the front passenger seat was the golden seat, with plenty of room. We stuffed all our luggage into the trunk and hit the road. I was in the front, Laura and Melissa in the back. I think Laura was in the middle. Gwyneth was pretty wound up. She had her Magna Doodle (which I think Laura ended up playing with more than Gwyneth) and her Barbie game, and we ended up listening to the "Sound of Music" CD and the Harry Connick, Jr. sings jazzed up versions of songs from movies. And the radio.

Actually, the ride wasn't bad. Theresa makes this drive frequently. She grew up in New Haven, Connecticut and her family is still there. Our plan was to drop Gwyneth for the weekend with Theresa's parents. They hadn't seen her for a while and so it looked like Gwyneth could expect a weekend of major spoiling by the grandparents and her aunt and uncle.

After about an hour on the road, Laura was already whining about being uncomfortable in the back so I switched seats with her. Melissa was still in the middle next to Gwyneth and I was in the back behind Theresa. After a couple more hours, we let Melissa go to the front and I moved to the middle and Laura on the window. We did make a couple of bathroom and food stops.

8/14 The Blackout

We got to New Haven, CT and Theresa's parents' house at about 5:00 p.m. Theresa's Dad was quite worried and concerned about us girls hanging out in NYC for the weekend, despite the fact his daughter lived there for 3 years. So we got a lot of Daddy-type warnings about watching out and sticking together. After unloading all of Gwyneth's stuff – clothes, laundry, toys, car seat, etc. we were ready to be off. Before we left, Theresa's mother told us, by the way, the power had gone out in the last hour. Now their house still had their electricity, but apparently NYC was out and a lot of other areas. Didn't think too much of it, actually. It had been pretty hot the last few days and was supposed to continue in the 90's, so sometimes in summer with too many air conditioners going and such, you get too much power usage and blackouts sometimes. Just figured it wouldn't last long.

We were back on the road and drove another hour to Stamford, CT to our hotel, the Marriott. Hotel had no power either. Slowly, we started to get more info. It wasn't just a run of the mill blackout. Seemed the power was out all the way over to Detroit, Cleveland, NYC and NJ, and up into Canada. The hotel had some lights in the lobby and stairwells running on generators. First thing you noticed right off in the lobby was it was hot – the usual freezing hotel air conditioning wasn't running. And the lines were pretty backed up since everything was being done manually – checking in and running charge cards without computers. Due to this, at first we were given a room that somebody was in already! Oops. At any rate, the hotel was giving away beverages for free so we grabbed some bottled waters. The elevators were running off the generators but the line was pretty long and Laura, with her elevator phobia even on a good day, wasn't about to ride it. Truthfully, I wasn't either with the power out. I've been stuck on an elevator once, and thinking about the generator and the long line turning into a very packed elevator, we all decided to do the stairs. Our room was on the 7th floor, and it was a very long way up when you're 41, out of shape, ex-smoker, 90 degrees, and dragging your luggage. But I was quite pleased that I actually made it all the way up, albeit with a couple of rests along the way. I don't think I could have done it if I was still smoking.

Anyway, we got to the 7th floor, passing many people on the way up and down. People were in pretty good spirits actually, but it was still pretty early. On the 7th floor, it was pretty dark in the hallways but there were hotel personnel on every floor with flashlights to help you out and manually open the door to your room, since the electronic keycards didn't work. That's how we found out there were already people in our room. So the guys in the hall got on their radios and asked for another room for us. We got another room on the same floor and they let us in. They told us that they'd be serving free buffet and Laura and Melissa wanted to swim in the pool. So we figured we'd do that after dumping our stuff. Once in the room, we opened the curtains and it was still light outside so we could see ok. Unfortunately, we thought the power must have gone out while the maid was cleaning this room, because the bed were made but the bathroom was obviously not cleaned. So we called for someone to come clean the room, and decided to go downstairs. Laura and Melissa went to the pool and Theresa and I went to the dining room for the free buffet. Course, when you offer free food, it's like the locusts come through. But we managed to eat enough still. I ate mostly a rice and chicken and vegetable dish and some bread and fruit. Since it was so hot, we couldn't get enough water. Actually, on Thursday, I think I drank 5 half-liter bottles of water when on a normal day I drink one, along with coffee. But really needed the water all day. Despite that, I was still getting dehydrated and my lips were getting chapped.

After the free buffet, Theresa and I went down to the pool. They had the generator providing low lights in the gym, and running the lights in the pool and the filter. Then, when it started to get darker, they got out the tiki torches to light the patio area around the pool. Laura and Melissa just swam the whole time, since it was hot anyway. They did come out to eat and I bought them some food at the shack by the pool. That wasn't free, and it cost $18 for a hamburger, a hotdog, and another bottled water. Oh well. This was our first vision of the woman later dubbed the "Crack Lady". She was wearing a bikini that was too small, so the top was riding up in the back, and the bottom was half-way down her ass so showing her crack, with her gut hanging out. Theresa thought she was pregnant but then she got into the hot tub so probably not (hopefully not). She kept doing these mega belly flops into the pool, way too close to other people, and splashing those of us around the pool. Later on, Laura and Melissa made up some songs about her that were pretty uproarious.

So Theresa and I sat on the lounge chairs around the pool, trying to use our cell phones which weren't working well. But I did manage to talk to Dad back in Maine and he said the power wasn't out there, and updated us some on the situation. A lot of people stuck in subways and elevators in NYC, and people having to walk miles on foot to their homes if they could, over the Brooklyn Bridge, or just hang in the City. It was strange to sit there, looking up at the hotel with all the windows dark and actually able to see all kinds of stars in the sky. We kind of figured the lights would come on any second, but after a while it had gotten really dark and we started thinking about light – we didn't have any flashlights to use in our room even. We noticed too that there weren't a lot of planes flying over at all.

We let Laura and Melissa swim until about 11:00 p.m. but then decided we were tired and wanted to go to bed. Maybe the lights would come on while we were sleeping. So grudgingly they got out of the pool. We got two little votive candles they had in the gym and started walking back to our room, up the stairs again. On the 7th floor we got a hotel guy to open the door for us. Outside our door, as they had at every room, they had left a glow stick. So we had 2 candles and a glow stick to see around our room.

Unfortunately, they hadn't cleaned the bathroom. We were just too grossed out thinking about taking a shower in someone else's filth, and not having any towels, that we called for the maid again. So we had our bathroom cleaned at about 11:30 p.m. I couldn't help having gross thoughts that the beds had just been made and not changed so I was sleeping on some unknown someone's skin flakes and there wasn't enough light to check for bed bugs. Oh, my anxiety. But we managed to get ourselves ready for bed. Without TV, Laura ended up watching a guy we called "the lawyer" in the office building across from our window. There were a bunch of guys there still working, evidently with a generator. We were speculating they might have been high finance types, but finally decided they were lawyers getting ready for a trial, hence their long hours even despite a blackout. It was a fitful night's sleep actually, because since the power was screwy, the smoke alarm would beep periodically. Laura said last time she checked, the lawyers were still there at 2:30 a.m. I kept waking up periodically. I think sometime in the later hours, like maybe 3 in the morning, the lights came back on briefly, waking me up, then went out again. I think it came back on for good around 5:30. I had set my alarm clock for 7:00 and the power had come back on. We were able to turn on the TV and see what was going on.

Friday 8/15 – Blackout Continues

We all took showers to get cleaned up. I was sitting in the bathroom when some water dropped on me and I looked up and water was filling the light fixture and dripping through the ceiling. Turned out the air conditioner was now broken so we called again for service and some guys came up. They actually repaired it and the ceiling rather than move us to another room.
TV said that none of the trains were running – not the Metro North from CT into NYC, or the subways in NYC. Some of the power had come back up in Time's Square but a lot of areas were still out. We kept trying to call Ellis Island and Madame Tussaud's, as those were the two places we planned on going on Friday and Saturday and were trying to see if either was open. We learned the blackout was huge – over several states – and America was blaming Canada and Canada was blaming Ohio. Now, as I write this a full two weeks later on 8/28, they still haven't found the actual cause. They did find out it started in Ohio, but don't know why it started.

Anyway, we started getting stories on the news. We were glad then that we hadn't opted to stay in the Marriott in Time's Square. They did not have a manual way to open the rooms so they tossed their guests out onto the street! Tons of people had to sleep on the streets in NY. They showed the footage on TV. One guy was telling a story that he and his brother were tourists visiting and were stuck on the street and some guy comes walking down the street with two twin size mattresses. The tourist asks what he wants for them and the guy says $200. The tourist said he gladly paid it, put them on the ground and he and his brother slept on them for the night. But mostly New Yorkers behaved really well. Lots of places sold food without overcharging people – it was going to go bad anyway – and gave away water and helped each other out. They eventually got people out of the subways and elevators. It was really hot but there was no looting or rioting. Think NY is a different city after 9/11 and they just hung together. It ended up that power wasn't restored to everybody around NY for 29 hours, but some got it before others and where we were in CT was only about 12 hours.

Watching the news, we started to get discouraged because it seemed the trains weren't going to be up and running at all, even later in the day, and we had come a long way. What bad luck to come all this way – not like we go to NY every day – and to lose a whole day. We just didn't want to let that happen. Laura would have been content to hang in the pool all day alternating with watching TV. But I wasn't up for that. Eventually, we got through on the cell to Ellis Island and they were closed for the day. We couldn't get through to Tussaud's. Finally, Theresa and I decided that we just have to go into the City. We just had to be there and check it all out, the day after. So we went to a nearby diner and had big breakfasts, then decided to drive to the west end of the City, up by Central Park, where Theresa's friend Edna has an apartment. We'd visit her, then go down to Time's Square and check it out, maybe shop at Sephora and Virgin Records, see if Tussaud's was open, get some food, get on TV?

Probably due to the blackout, we didn't run into any significant traffic problems driving in. Multiple calls from home (Dad, Peggy, and Theresa's brother calling to tell her he lied to her father and said she was staying for the day at the hotel, and then Theresa's father calling, etc.) We got to the City and parked on 91st street, and around the corner was Edna's building. She lives on the 17th floor. She had power, and so Laura had to suffer the elevator ride. Edna's apartment was nice, with a big central room, two bedrooms, kitchen, 2 baths, and a little terrace. Her view is basically Central Park as her backyard. Edna had been married once to an older man who was a photographer. He died – she's actually a widow but quite young – and the apartment had a ton of photographs on the walls of pictures of various celebrities that her late husband had photographed. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name, but he was famous for taking "jumping" photographs. So there was really famous ones, like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Marilyn Monroe, etc. Edna is now engaged to be married again to a guy, John Mooney, who is a comedian. He's not famous (yet), but is going to be in a Dunkin Donuts commercial coming out at Christmas time and on Comedy Central in October. His famous photograph contribution was himself with Martha Stewart at a wedding. He's actually a funny guy and kept us chuckling during the whole visit. Not like he performed or anything, but just a witty person.

After hanging out there a bit, we decided to take a cab down to Time's Square. Actually had a nice one which was air conditioned. Time's Square still had a ton of people around, though Theresa said it seemed "empty" to her. There was this little triangle median area which was just jam packed every inch with satellite dishes and cameras getting the same shot of the Time's Square Jumbo-tron (not powered) and the newsmen standing in front of it to broadcast their stories. Some places were open and some not because some had power or generators and some not.

Theresa & I, in unlit Times Square

We went up to Tussaud's to see if we could go in. It's on 42nd Street. One side of the street had power and one side didn't. Course, Tussaud's was on he side that didn't have power, so it was closed for the day too. So we went on back down the street and did some shopping at Sephora. Theresa got some foundation and a lipstick that was perfect - the gay guy working there took one look at her and chose the shade from about 500 choices and it was perfect. Virgin Records wasn't open. Then we went down the street to Roxy Deli to eat. It's a real Jewish deli, real expensive, but you get a huge amount of food. Instead of the usual basket of bread, you get a bowl of pickles. Laura got a BLT that was the biggest sandwich we had ever seen with a huge amount of bacon. The place is full of those caricature type pictures of celebrities, and there was one of Kirk and Spock. Then we went to Chinatown to get some knock off bags (I wanted a fake Kate Spade) but most of Chinatown was still closed.

So we then took a cab down to Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the giant hole where the World Trade Center used to be. I still cry about 9/11, and so got teary eyed while there. It is just still so sad and horrible to me the people that all died on that spot that day, for stupid reasons. Still very upsetting, and eerie to be there. I wondered if there were spirits. Anyway, the hole is really, really big. Think about two 100 story buildings being there and now not. There is a metal fence still around it and it's full of equipment and such. You can't go in, just can look in through the fence. There are some billboards with information about that day, and then some with the names of the almost 3,000 people that died there that day. It wasn't extremely crowded there, though there were enough people milling about. We heard one couple speaking Italian. I was surprised at the number of tourists from other countries there. I didn't think people would come from other countries, but I suppose NYC is full of tourists from everywhere and maybe they would just go down there. So we were there for a little while, just kind of separately having our own experiences. After that, we crossed the street to some vendors and I bought a NYC baseball had for Gianluca because I told him I'd get him a souvenir from NYC. Then we took a cab back up to Edna's, had a short visit at the end of the day, and then we drove on back to the hotel.

On the way there, Theresa took this road the Saw Mill Highway (or something like that) and I was shocked – absolutely shocked – at how many deer we saw on the side of the road on the way back. I thought here I live in Maine and have never seen a deer while driving, and here I am having to go to NYC and see deer! It was so cool.

Of course, after getting back to the hotel, we were all feeling pretty sweaty and hot so the girls and I went down for a swim in the pool. Again, the Crack Lady was there. But it was nice to cool off in the pool. Then I went back to the room while they kept on swimming till 11:00. Theresa and I were watching "Pride and Prejudice" on the tube. After the girls came back, Laura was checking out the lawyer. Again, he was over there but working by himself. Then we went to sleep. I certainly got a better sleep in on Friday night, I think just because everything was back to normal.

Saturday – 8/16 – Back to Normal

Saturday morning we woke up and immediately checked out the TV, and were really pleased to find that all the trains were running, including subways in NYC and the Metro North trains from CT to NY. So Theresa and I took showers first and headed downstairs to use the free breakfast coupons she had gotten the day before. She is a Marriott Gold Member and when she complained – in a nice way – about the dirty bathroom and then the broken air conditioner, they gave her 4 free breakfast coupons. She thought at any other time, she could have gotten more, but seeing as it was during a blackout, well, it was tough on everybody. So we were happy with the free breakfasts. It was a buffet so we ate enough, then went back up to get the girls and be on our way.

We went to the Stamford train station in the Marriott shuttle and bought our round-trip tickets. We got a 9:30 a.m. express train right into the city. Took about 35 minutes without stops. It was a pleasant and comfortable ride. We arrived at Grand Central Station. Grand Central is really big, and really quite nice. I guess in the last few years they have renovated and cleaned it up. It's quite beautiful. On the way down to a food area, you go down this sort of tunnel – though it has a row of giant chandeliers so it's a pretty big tunnel – and come to this area where the hallways cross over each other in a cross. Theresa told Melissa to stand in one corner facing the corner and Laura to stand in the opposite. Then she told Melissa to whisper something into the corner, which she did, and Laura turned around surprised and said she could hear her! So I tried it out, and sure enough you can hear someone whispering as if they were right next to you. The sound carries through the stone or something. It was pretty funny, one of those little unexpected tidbits you get on a trip.

We then took a train down to Battery Park to get the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty. You have to go through a security check to get on the ferry. Then it's a very nice ride out to Liberty Island. When you look back from the ferry, you see a beautiful skyline of NYC. Of course, it is the view where you used to be able to see the World Trade Center towers, which aren't there anymore, and it looks strange. Once at the island, we bought some water and walked around the statue. You cannot go in now, either the pedestal or the statue, since they have not reopened it after 9/11. But you can walk all around the perimeter and look up at it. It is really moving actually, to see it for real. It is big, and just looks really majestic. I'm glad the terrorists didn't take it out that day, because it really is the symbol of this country. There were history displays around it as well with information of how it came from France and how it was built and what is made of (copper – which is why it is green).

The ferry comes by again every 20 minutes so we hopped back on and went over to Ellis Island. Ellis Island is really nice. It used to be a tiny little island but they built it up so much over the years to add more buildings and dormitories and the hospital for the immigrants that it became quite big. In the 1990's, they began renovating the site and have restored it nicely, making a really nice historical museum. We started out with a 45 minute film about the immigrant experience and history of Ellis Island. Then we had a bit of a snack just to keep our energy up and then took the tour. Theresa and I both rented the audio tour (recording and headphones) and Laura and Melissa just went through it on their own. It is quite extensive and informative and there are all kinds of photographs and artifacts. Laura had located my grandfather Alphonse Pizzo's name on the wall so that was cool. The next project they have is renovating the hospitals, so the tour will become ever longer the more they manage to do. Anyway, after we each finished the tour, we met up and bought some things in the gift shop. At this point, it was after 3:30, so we had been there quite a while. So we then headed back out and took the ferry back to Battery Park. Now, much later in the day, the park was filled with all the illegal salesmen, selling knock-off handbags and watches, etc. Theresa and I had our picture taken with a person in a Statue of Liberty costume.

We then took the train back to Chinatown. What a difference a day makes. It was really full of people and sounds and crowded and busy. Theresa found a little outfit for Gwyneth and bought some special things in the Chinese bakery for her father. Then went to Little Italy, which sits right in the middle of Chinatown, to have dinner. I asked Theresa why Little Italy sits in the middle of Chinatown. She said that Little Italy used to be much bigger, but over time, people there began to move away and it got smaller and smaller. As it did, the Chinese immigrants were coming in as the Italians were moving out, so the balance began to change as Little Italy got smaller and Chinatown got bigger, until today basically Little Italy is one street. If you stand at the crossroads, you look down one side and the street looks like it's right out of China, and turn your head and look down the opposite side and the street looks like Italy. So we went to a restaurant and had our food, to get re-energized.

We took the Canal Street subway back to Grand Central, then switched to Times Square and walked to 42nd Street to go to Tussaud's. Again, what a difference a day makes. Wall to wall people. Everything back to normal. Going in, Tussaud's has a glass elevator you take upstairs and riding up, you have a view of 42nd Street, looking down on the masses moving about. The wax figures in the museum are as impressive as ever, and some of the exhibits are done well. They have the Garden Party of celebrities, then they have the decades displays of the famous through each of the decades of the 20th century. They have a very small French Revolution exhibit, since Madame Tussaud lived at this time and was making figures at that time. They have a "making of" exhibit explaining how they make the figures. They do have the political figures room as well, with presidents and other world leaders. Laura and I have been to the one in London, which is done better (they have a great Chamber of Horrors!), but that is the original site and they've had a long time to put it together. NYC I think opened in 2001 so it's newer, and some of the figures are not displayed in an optimal way. For example, I think they had too many really good figures wasted in the lobby, by the elevator, and in the lunchroom (Lucille Ball with The Rock? Princess Diana with John Wayne and Elvis? Michelle Kwan in ice skates next to the elevator, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand and Elton John in the lunchroom. Firstly, the figures in the lobby, while they look great, are unconnected to each other and not standing in any setting. Same with plunking Michelle Kwan near the elevator. Putting Benny Hill there in his elevator uniform did work, though. And while putting people in the lunchroom for people to sit with and maybe take photos having lunch together – fine, but too many. So while I think the majority of exhibits were done well, some were not. Also, Diana was in khaki's and a blouse – similar to that outfit she wore when touring the minefields. I think people prefer to see her glammed up in a gown and jewels, and definitely at the Garden Party or something. Put her with Fergie, who was at the Garden Party, two royal exes. Anyhow, at the end is a 360 degree domed movie which was pretty good as well, a technological wonder, so to speak.

After that, about 8:30 p.m. we were pretty tired having been on our feet for about 12 hours, and so we took the train back to Grand Central and caught the Metro North back to CT, then called for the shuttle back to the hotel. Again, me and the girls took a swim. I just swam to cool off, because I was very tired, and headed back to the room to relax. Theresa's boyfriend, George, had come and he rented another room so Theresa stayed with him for the night. The girls came back up after they got kicked out of the swimming pool because it was almost 11:00. They wanted to get a pay movie via the TV so they ordered "Phone Booth". I was asleep in about 15 minutes!

Sunday – 8/17 – Trip Over

Next day, I was surprised I wasn't hurting more. I was stiff but not bad. The girls, of course, wanted to sleep so I went down by myself to use a free breakfast coupon. We did well, actually, getting on the road by 9:00. We went to pick up Gwyneth, made a stop at McDonald's, and then hit the road again. We actually got home before 3:00. A friend of Melissa's came by to pick her up at my house and when she came in, she asked how was the trip to NY and Melissa said, "Awesome!" Considering we managed to fit in everything we had planned to do, and experienced the historic Blackout of 2003, I think it was.