Hurricaine Sandy

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The more I think about it the more I feel they should postpone the NY Marathon. It really is in poor taste to be setting up power generators in Central Park while people are still in the dark in lower Manhattan and the boroughs.
 
Is a funny Sandy story allowed?

My friend on the upper east side is 77 years old, lives alone on the ground floor, and is still recovering from injuries after being hit by a car earlier this year so I was really worried about him through all this. He's fine, though, and told me that on Monday before the storm hit a young guy rang his doorbell carrying a huge suitcase of Viagara which he was offering to people at a 50% discount since people would likely have nothing else to do once the power went out.

My friend himself is like a Seinfeld character and has a lifetime of such stories, and I'm never quite sure if he makes this stuff up or not, but I think it's true.

Anyway, my heart goes out to you guys in Staten Island (and everywhere else). I lived in Manhattan for 15 years, the last 6 in the East Village, and I still think of it as "my city", and know tons of people displaced right now.
 
Hewson said:
Absolutely...amidst all the tragedy some humor can only help. Did your friend purchase any little blue pills?
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He did not because he says he has the testosterone levels of a 20 year old. :D He is such a character. He also claims to have seen a drunk guy Monday afternoon walking around totally naked except for a baseball cap, happy as a clam and muttering something about "I'm drunk and this is how I'm gonna get through this!" Everyone was so busy getting themselves prepared that no one paid any attention to him.

He's full of tall-sounding tales like this but having my own share of weird NYC stories from over the years, I totally believe him.
 
For sure. He is an inspiration to me every day. He couldn't get out of his apartment for two days because of a tree on his stoop that he couldn't negotiate. He ran out of food (because he couldn't carry much at a time when he was stocking up and he's used to eating all his meals out so didn't have anything to begin with) but he just shrugged and said, "There are so many people worse off than me; I have water, shelter and heat, I won't die without food for a few days."
 
Pearl said:
ETA: Some areas are literally crying out for help. NY 1 News just showed people in Rockaway Beach begging for anything - food, fuel, water, etc. They have nothing and they say they're being neglected by FEMA, the government, everyone. This could spiral out of control.
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i was going to comment on this but had spend timegetting a senstive-on-time matter much of last night....

i've tried to google but hve have found no comments yet.... bt i wonder if Mayor Bloomberg refusing FEMA aid set up the pontential for problems becauseone of the main poinst of FEMA is to be standing by in place as close as possible to bring aid to people once the storm is over.

They could have been stationed in some higher ground, away from the shore areas in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island to be able to move in much quicker.

And there was a place in ?Brooklyn last night on the news that although sorrounded by water on 3 sides was not considered a Zone A area. And they got hit.
 
Unico :wave: :hug:

i think i started a post to you...but my signal can be iffy...and probably never got posted...

good luck next week for your campus.... i feel bad all that equipment and space
for people like you learning a physical health service for people... you're paart of the solution. This will slow you down some.

I've heard very little about Conn's dificulties and i listren to various radi & tv news channels altho only broadcast media.
 
I just got back from spending a day volunteering at a location that was taking in donations. It was so amazing and uplifting to see how generous people are, because we were inundated with clothes, coats, toiletries, you name it. It got to a point where the coordinator closed off donations until further notice because there was just so much! And other places are saying the same thing.

While it was chaos to sort through the donations, there were some heartwrenching stories when some came to get whatever they could get. One teenage boy had such a devastated look on his face and his eyes had a faraway look in them. Another woman was in tears seeing all the donations because she was overwhelmed by the generosity. She told us she had lost everything because her house was destroyed. Her father passed away recently and she had a recording of his voice, and that's gone. She also has lupus. There was no way I couldn't get teary-eyed.

I am very much against the marathon taking place. I think it is completely tasteless and callous of Bloomberg to ignore complaints and protests and go ahead with the race. He says its going to bring money and lift the spirits of New Yorkers. First off, there is no where for the runners to stay because hotels are filled with people without homes. Also, there is a lot of anger that generators are being used for this race rather than for places without power.

It all makes me want to say, "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Bloomberg!" to echo what a bold person yelled at Dick Cheney during the Katrina crisis.

Thank you, joyfulgirl and everyone else, for thinking about Staten Island. We hardly get noticed and we would still be overlooked if it weren't for Borough President James Molinaro. A big thumbs up to him :yes:
 
elevated_u2_fan said:
The more I think about it the more I feel they should postpone the NY Marathon. It really is in poor taste to be setting up power generators in Central Park while people are still in the dark in lower Manhattan and the boroughs.
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It's such bullshit. There is a shortage of gas, which people are waiting for 4 hours to get. The city is going to take 40,000 runners on busses to Staten Island. What a fucking outrage. As a runner, I understand the efforts involved with training, but I don't even think I could continue with this race if I had signed up. And they think they're doing something now that NYRR has said it is a benefit event. Really? 40,000 people should be going down there to rescue the stranded or help distribute supplies.

dazzledbylight said:
Unico :wave: :hug:

i think i started a post to you...but my signal can be iffy...and probably never got posted...

good luck next week for your campus.... i feel bad all that equipment and space
for people like you learning a physical health service for people... you're paart of the solution. This will slow you down some.

I've heard very little about Conn's dificulties and i listren to various radi & tv news channels altho only broadcast media.
Click to expand...

Thanks! The university opened its doors and is offering free meals to all students through the weekend. As much as I enjoy a free meal, I'll leave the resources to those who need it (like people who can't return to their off-campus apartments, etc.)

It'll be interesting to see what the labs will be like next week. I've heard nothing so far about damage assessment.

And thanks for thinking of me! CT had some homes destroyed, too. But thankfully nothing quite as devastating as Staten Island. I think by Monday 95% of people should have their power running.
 
Hey Unico! :hug: Sorry for not doing this earlier.

Devastation is devastation and its tough to go through days like this. But we'll all make it.
 
What is stopping them from postponing the Marathon for an extra week or two? Is it the winter weather they're afraid of? I guess at the very least they can double up its efforts and perhaps use it as an incoming shipment of supplies and distribute stuff during the race maybe?

I'm curious as well for those who live in Manhattan and perhaps live in a relatively large building without power -- do you flashlight it up the stairs or do some buildings have their respective low electric backup generators about the roofs or something?

My sister and her husband were lucky enough to be able to get out of Manhattan after the storm since they're in lower Manhattan, and went to Maryland for a conference or something along those lines.


Hopefully they'll have the power back on soon.
 
unico said:
It's such bullshit. There is a shortage of gas, which people are waiting for 4 hours to get. The city is going to take 40,000 runners on busses to Staten Island. What a fucking outrage. As a runner, I understand the efforts involved with training, but I don't even think I could continue with this race if I had signed up. And they think they're doing something now that NYRR has said it is a benefit event. Really? 40,000 people should be going down there to rescue the stranded or help distribute supplies.
Click to expand...

I agree that the marathon should be postponed... but to be fair, the city busses don't use gasoline.

They're saying that they ran it after 9/11... and pointing to a lot of the sporting events that occurred right after 9/11 that did, indeed, lift the city's spirits.

But it wasn't the same week as 9/11... Mike Piazza's home run was 10 days later. The marathon is 6. If the crisis wasn't still going on, I'd be fine with it running. But it is.

They should move it to next week. They should cancel the Knicks game tonight as well. If a runner has to be "inconvenienced" by having to wait a week, too fucking bad.

It is an absolutely huge money making event for not just the city, but many of the small businesses along the route. So I don't think it should be canceled, because we do nerd that money right now... but definitely should have been pushed a week.
 
Pearl said:
Hey Unico! :hug: Sorry for not doing this earlier.

Devastation is devastation and its tough to go through days like this. But we'll all make it.
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Hey no worries! I'm glad you're safe. Sorry to hear all the hardship going on down there.

Headache in a Suitcase said:
So billy joel Steven Tyler and jimmy Fallon? Together? Haven't we suffered enough?
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You forgot Christina Aguilera.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
I agree that the marathon should be postponed... but to be fair, the city busses don't use gasoline.

They're saying that they ran it after 9/11... and pointing to a lot of the sporting events that occurred right after 9/11 that did, indeed, lift the city's spirits.

But it wasn't the same week as 9/11... Mike Piazza's home run was 10 days later. The marathon is 6. If the crisis wasn't still going on, I'd be fine with it running. But it is.

They should move it to next week. They should cancel the Knicks game tonight as well. If a runner has to be "inconvenienced" by having to wait a week, too fucking bad.

It is an absolutely huge money making event for not just the city, but many of the small businesses along the route. So I don't think it should be canceled, because we do nerd that money right now... but definitely should have been pushed a week.
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Oh! I didn't realize that the busses used didn't run on gasoline. That's kinda cool, but I'm still mad about the race.

I am in agreement with you. I think the race should happen, but perhaps next week. I think the residents still need time to recover.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
I agree that the marathon should be postponed... but to be fair, the city busses don't use gasoline.

They're saying that they ran it after 9/11... and pointing to a lot of the sporting events that occurred right after 9/11 that did, indeed, lift the city's spirits.

But it wasn't the same week as 9/11... Mike Piazza's home run was 10 days later. The marathon is 6. If the crisis wasn't still going on, I'd be fine with it running. But it is.

They should move it to next week. They should cancel the Knicks game tonight as well. If a runner has to be "inconvenienced" by having to wait a week, too fucking bad.

It is an absolutely huge money making event for not just the city, but many of the small businesses along the route. So I don't think it should be canceled, because we do nerd that money right now... but definitely should have been pushed a week.
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NY 1 said to postpone the marathon will be too much work and even cost too much money.

Whatever. There won't be too many runners this year, so it will be a huge flop.
 
unico said:
Hey no worries! I'm glad you're safe. Sorry to hear all the hardship going on down there.
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Thanks! :)



unico said:
You forgot Christina Aguilera.
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When she first started out, she kind of made a big deal that she was born on Staten Island. Honestly, she better not bring that up tonight because she left the Island as a toddler and hasn't been back since. She has no real connection here or any memories of here, so I would find it exploitive of her to mention being born here.
 
Wa-hoo! Watching CNN's breaking news on this!

Doesn't help my view of Bloomberg though. He really seemed callous during this.
 
unico said:
You forgot Christina Aguilera.
Click to expand...

No... those three will be performing together. Why? I don't know. I believe they're doing a Neil Young song too, which is odd... but my "source" at NBC wasn't sure.

Bon jovi is doing who says you can't go home... billy Joel does Miami 2017 alone, Tyler does dream on... Bruce hasn't soundchecked yet
 
I guess the backlash made Bloomberg change his mind. I get the New Yorkers we must go on attitude - but no. Just wrong. The generators thing, the police resources. No way can that be true, that police resources would not be diverted from recovery. Not logistically possible.

I am so grateful right now to have heat and light and a roof over my head. Feel so sad for those who don't.
 
Pearl said:
I just got back from spending a day volunteering at a location that was taking in donations. It was so amazing and uplifting to see how generous people are, because we were inundated with clothes, coats, toiletries, you name it. It got to a point where the coordinator closed off donations until further notice because there was just so much! And other places are saying the same thing.

While it was chaos to sort through the donations, there were some heartwrenching stories when some came to get whatever they could get. One teenage boy had such a devastated look on his face and his eyes had a faraway look in them. Another woman was in tears seeing all the donations because she was overwhelmed by the generosity. She told us she had lost everything because her house was destroyed. Her father passed away recently and she had a recording of his voice, and that's gone. She also has lupus. There was no way I couldn't get teary-eyed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that. It's heartbreaking, but also good to see generosity.

Good for you for helping others now.
 
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