Hurricane Sandy
SATURDAY NOV. 3 Some media are reporting that there may be slow ramp up of the 2,3,4,5, and B,D,N,Q and J trains from Brooklyn to Manhattan starting Saturday.But if they're not ready, you can catch FREE BUSES ALL WEEKEND FROM BROOKLYN TO MANHATTAN AND BACK. They run 24/7. You can choose among three lines, starting and ending at Jay St-MetroTech, Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn and Hewes St in Williamsburg.
- Northbound: Stops at Bowery and Delancey; then up Third Ave. stopping at 9th St., 14th St., 23 rd St., 33rd St., 42nd St., and 54th St.
- Southbound: Along Lexington Avenue, starting at 54th St., stopping at 42nd St., 33rd St., 23rd St., 14th St., 9th St., and Bowery at Spring St., before going to Brooklyn.
THURSDAY NOV 1
East River Ferry service will run on two modified routes: a northern loop ( North Williamsburg, Long Island City, and East 34th Street); and a southern loop, (North Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO, and Wall Street/Pier 11). Regular fee of $4... free transfer between the "north loop" and "south loop" at North Williamsburg. In addition, NY Waterway will continue to operate its free bus service from E34thStreet on a limited schedule throughout the day. Every 15-minutes on the northern and every half hour on the southern loop. The last ferries will leave from E 34th Street and Wall Street/Pier 11 at approximately 6 p.m. Ferry stops in Greenpoint and South Williamsburg will remain closed until further notice. Buy tickets on-board, cash only. Get the NY Waterway ferry app free from www.nywaterway.com,Subways: Subways are running within the borough of Brrooklyn. No service between 34th St in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. Download the Hurricane Recovery Subway Map.
Shuttle buses: THERE ARE HUGE LINES TO BOARD THESE BUSES, during rush hours. Shuttle Buses will operate from Jay St-MetroTech, Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn and Hewes St in Williamsburg to 57th St & Lexington Ave via 3rd Ave. See Brooklyn-Manhattan Subway Shuttle Bus Map, and the bus routes currently in operation on the MTA Brooklyn transit map.
Bus service will be at near normal levels on Thursday on all local, limited and express bus routes.
Laguardia Airport reopened, so all three NYC airports are operational
Hurricane Sandy
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 31 Expect "significant sections" to remain disabled. Buses are running. No school until Monday, Nov 5 (and no school on Election Day Tues. Nov 6). Also Bellevue Hospital to evacuate today due to power issues. People should stay off the roads to allow emergency repairs, etc. Greenwich Village Halloween Parade will happen but next week "sometime."
Wednesday at 5 PM: All New York City public schools are closed for students through Friday. Cars traveling into Lower Manhattan using the four East River bridges will be restricted to High Occupancy Vehicles - 3 or more people per vehicle - for Thursday and Friday from 6:00 AM to 12:00 Midnight.
Wednesday at 12: 30 PM. Well, the drama is over and now its a long, wet slog. Everyone knows someone with a story. Stuck on the 5th floor with no power for days. Flooded basements. Lost cars. And, those who are able to seem to be zooming around like crazy today; the traffic in Brooklyn is intense.If you're trying to get hold of someone in Brooklyn and cannot, here are some tips. (Having Trouble Getting in Touch with Brooklyn Relatives After the Hurricane?)
What's closed today: Schools, public libraries, Bellevue Hospital ER, municipal offices, public recreation centers, major venues such as Barclays Center (Smashing Pumpkins concert postponed). Some Halloween events cancelled, others still on. (See Halloween is ON in Brooklyn.) Public parks are officially closed. Lots of downed branches in Prospect Park, so it's hard for cyclists and runners. The NY Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo are closed.
What's open today: The stock market, many stores, restaurants, and shops. Brooklyn Museum is open today. The Brooklyn Children's Museum is open, too.
- Trains: Limited subways will operate between Brooklyn and Manhattan Thursday. Yay! But: Plan on crowded, delayed rides. Bring sneakers in case you have to hoof it.
- Buses began running at 5 p.m. Tuesday on a Sunday schedule. No fare will be charged through Wednesday.
- Airports: LaGuardia is closed, JFK is open and so is Newark Airport.
- Driving: Alternate side of street parking rules suspended. The FDR is open from Brooklyn Bridge to 125th St. The flooded Brooklyn Battery Tunnel is closed, but East River bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg bridges) are open. Also open, a mouthful of other bridges: Verrazano-Narrows, Throgs Neck, Whitestone, Henry Hudson,, Ed Koch-Queensboro, RFK, and Tappan Zee. But, down on the waterfront, the Gil Hodges - Marine Park and Cross Bay Bridges remain closed. If you rely on PATH, fuggedabout it; no service.
- Commuter trains: Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road will begin limited service at 2 p.m. today, Wednesday.
- Ferries: No ferries, Staten Island or East River.
- Cycling: At your own risk. Traffic is nuts, and there are wet leaves and downed branches here, there, everywhere.
- CANCELLATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. NO school until Monday. No school for Election Day Tuesday.
- OVER 100,000 BROOKLYN CUSTOMERS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY: Ugh. Con Ed is hoping to have power back by Friday latest. Restoration to all customers in other areas served by overhead power lines will take at least a week.
- BEACHES AND PARKS IN BROOKLYN OFF LIMITS: Don't get hit on the head by a falling branch. City officials have closed Prospect Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fort Greene Park, Owls Head Park and all other Brooklyn parks until further notice. Ditto beaches.
- FLOODING IN BROOKLYN: Seagate, Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, also Red Hook, sections of Gowanus and DUMBO will be digging out for awhile..
- EVACUATION : Many people were evacuated, not sure of status of their return.
- LOOTING: Boro Prez Markowitz calls for more National Guard in areas that have been evacuated: Coney Island, Brighton Beach and others. (See story here.)
- LIBRARIES: Closed Wed, but open Thursday except in flood zone A areas.
- BLOOD BANKS: If you have an appointment to give blood please keep it. If you can give blood, please do: see www.nybloodcenter.org for further information.
- FOR INFORMATION: Check www.NYC.gov, or call 311 for regular forecast updates.
- GARBAGE: Will there be garbage pick up? Maybe: The city is making garbage collections as it can; there will be no recycling until further notice
- SEE A SOMETHING THAT'S A DOWNED LIMB, SAY SOMETHING: To report downed trees, do it online: go to nyc.gov/311.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30
TUESDAY, Oct 30
Tuesday afternoon: 2:30 PM. More news, good and bad. No school on Wednesday, Oct. 31.
Bad news: Two residents of Ditmas Park out for a walk with their dog were killed by a falling tree. (See ABC news report.) The Coney Island Aquarium was flooded and is closed until further review; DUMBO's awesome powerHouse books flooded too. The Park Slope Halloween Parade, one of the nation's largest kiddie Halloween happenings, is cancelled so the necessary cops can be elsewhere. It's Halloween and the kids are restless, but stay away from the city parks and treat all huge trees with droopy limbs like they are health hazards.
Good news: Transportation: Officials report that JFK will reopen and the Brooklyn Bridge, too. MTA will resume limited bus service at 5:00 pm, no fares. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Tappan Zee and NYS bridges are open. And, they're beginning damage assessment. The MTA says, "Thousands of MTA workers have begun to fan out through the system to inspect and begin repair of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, a massively destructive storm of historic proportions."
Bad news: Transportation: Subways and Battery Bridge Tunnel, now known as Hugh Carey Tunnel, still closed. Don't try to drive to beleaguered Breezy Point or the Rockaways over the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges bridges. It and the Queens Midtown Tunnel remain closed.
Good news: Other: Yes, you can go out now! Gothamist reports that DUMBO's lovely Jane's Carousel survived intact. The weather is very still. Nonprofit organizations and faith groups are beginning to mobilize volunteers to help out at hurricane shelters.
Many stores, shops and restaurants are stumbling open.
Not sure if this is good or bad news, but there's only a small increase in the numbers of Con Ed with power outages in Brooklyn.
Also, Governor Cuomo intelligently raised the issue of whether the design of NY Harbor needs a rethink in an era of rising sea levels. As in, a levee. Not that it did much good in New Orleans. Still, it's a good idea to plan ahead; horrible thought that Sandy wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Tuesday morning, 5:45 AM: The good news is the storm is mostly gone.That's about the only good news.
While Manhattan suffers power outages to a third of its customers, Brooklyn's still got Con Ed service to 90% of customers. A warehouse in Sunset Park (reportedly) broke into flames in the middle of the night. (*See correction) Flooding occurred in Red Hook, Gowanus, Greenpoint, Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach; trying to get details. (*Correction: The fire in a Sunset Park warehouse appears to have been a false rumor; I checked with the NY Fire Dept press office and they have no record. Apologies.)
Alternate side of the street parking is suspended and Mayor Bloomberg is asking everyone to stay inside again today. And really you can't leave the borough easily anyway; see below.
Transportation: The MTA has shut down all subway, bus, and commuter railroad service and likely will remain closed throughout Tuesday. PATH trains, East River Ferry service, Staten Island Ferry, Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service north of NYC and most of Eastern seaboard train service are cancelled, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was flooded and both it and Hudson Tunnel are closed, FDR closed from Battery Tunnel to 155th Street. All of Brooklyn's East River Bridges are closed except to emergency vehicles.
MONDAY, OCT 29
Monday 11: 28 PM: Still high winds. Curiously little TV reporting from Brooklyn on mainstream channels. 61,000 customers without electricity, according to Con Ed. Bond St. reportedly under water in areas. Bad news: restoring subway service could take till end of the week in some flooded stations.
Monday 8: 45 PM. Winds the same but things are flooding. Battery Tunnel flooded in worst environmental event since 9/11. Images on Twitter show Jane's Carousel in DUMBO surrounded by water.
Monday 5 PM. Nothing seems to have changed except you'd have to be nuts to go out in this wind. Blowing hard. Getting dark. Feels ominous the way the wind stills and then roars, like some madman.
Monday 1: 15 PM: Here's the latest news for Brooklyn on Hurricane Sandy. The risks are 1)high winds and 2)flooding.
Some Zone A areas are already beginning to flood, including the Gowanus Canal (yukky because sewage overflow ends up there), Red Hook near the historic warehouses. And Hurricane Sandy is hundreds of miles away still. But many stores are still open at midday: Chinese restaurants, liquor stores, bodegas, some supermarkets.
Take care; there's a coastal flood warning from now through 3 pm on Tuesday and high-wind warning through 6 pm tomorrow.
- WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW TO PREPARE FOR A HURRICANE
- CANCELLATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. NO school until Wednesday at earliest.
- POSSIBLE POWER OUTAGES: Stock up on food, batteries and water as there's the possibility of power outages. In that case, be careful about spoiled food in freezers and fridges, and use candles with caution. See 21 Ways to Get Ready for a Hurricane.
- SHUTDOWN OF MTA: NYC Transit buses and subways were curtailed beginning at 7 p.m as were Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad lines. Reopening has not been announced.
- BEACHES AND PARKS IN BROOKLYN OFF LIMITS: Don't get hit on the head by a falling branch. With Hurricane Sandy approaching, city officials have closed Prospect Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fort Greene Park, Owls Head Park and all other Brooklyn parks starting at 5 PM on Sunday until further notice. Ditto beaches.
- FLOODING IN BROOKLYN: High risk areas: Seagate, Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach.
- EVACUATION AND POSSIBLE BRIDGE CLOSINGS: Zone A areas include the low-lying coastal areas at risk for flooding abd include: Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Red Hook and Brooklyn neighborhoods along the East River in Brooklyn. The Verrazano Bridge is often closed during severe weather; stay tuned.
- SENIOR CENTERS, LIBRARIES: Senior centers are closing early Monday and will be closed completely on Tuesday. Ditto public libraries.
- DRAINS AND DEBRIS: According to the Mayor, "New Yorkers can help and do their part by sweeping and cleaning their driveways and keeping areas in front of their homes or businesses free of leaves, paper and debris."
- BLOOD BANKS: If you have an appointment to give blood please keep it. If you can give blood, please do: see www.nybloodcenter.org for further information.
- HALLOWEEN: If there's a lot of tree and street damage and debris, Halloween parades scheduled for Oct. 31 may be cancelled. Find another way to celebrate.
- FOR INFORMATION: Check www.NYC.gov, or call 311 for regular forecast updates.
Alternate side of the street parking is suspended and Mayor Bloomberg is asking everyone to stay inside again today. And really you can't leave the borough easily anyway; see below.
Transportation: The MTA has shut down all subway, bus, and commuter railroad service and likely will remain closed throughout Tuesday. PATH trains, East River Ferry service, Staten Island Ferry, Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service north of NYC and most of Eastern seaboard train service are cancelled, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was flooded and both it and Hudson Tunnel are closed, FDR closed from Battery Tunnel to 155th Street. All of Brooklyn's East River Bridges are closed except to emergency vehicles.
Monday 11: 28: Still high winds. Curiously little TV reporting from Brooklyn on mainstream channels. Some power outages, 61,000 customers without electricity, according to Con Ed. Bond St. reportedly under water in areas. Bad news: restoring subway service could take till end of the week in some flooded stations.
Monday 8: 45 PM. Winds the same but things are flooding. Battery Tunnel flooded in worst environmental event since 9/11. Images on Twitter show Jane's Carousel in DUMBO surrounded by water.
Monday 5 PM. Nothing seems to have changed except you'd have to be nuts to go out in this wind. Blowing hard. Getting dark. Feels ominous the way the wind stills and then roars, like some madman.
Monday 1: 15 PM: Here's the latest news for Brooklyn on Hurricane Sandy. The risks are 1)high winds and 2)flooding.
Some Zone A areas are already beginning to flood, including the Gowanus Canal (yukky because sewage overflow ends up there), Red Hook near the historic warehouses. And Hurricane Sandy is hundreds of miles away still. But many stores are still open at midday: Chinese restaurants, liquor stores, bodegas, some supermarkets.
Take care; there's a coastal flood warning from now through 3 pm on Tuesday and high-wind warning through 6 pm tomorrow.
- WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW TO PREPARE FOR A HURRICANE
- CANCELLATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. NO school until Wednesday at earliest.
- POSSIBLE POWER OUTAGES: Stock up on food, batteries and water as there's the possibility of power outages. In that case, be careful about spoiled food in freezers and fridges, and use candles with caution. See 21 Ways to Get Ready for a Hurricane.
- SHUTDOWN OF MTA: NYC Transit buses and subways were curtailed beginning at 7 p.m as were Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad lines. Reopening has not been announced.
- BEACHES AND PARKS IN BROOKLYN OFF LIMITS: Don't get hit on the head by a falling branch. With Hurricane Sandy approaching, city officials have closed Prospect Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fort Greene Park, Owls Head Park and all other Brooklyn parks starting at 5 PM on Sunday until further notice. Ditto beaches.
- FLOODING IN BROOKLYN: High risk areas: Seagate, Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach.
- EVACUATION AND POSSIBLE BRIDGE CLOSINGS: Zone A areas include the low-lying coastal areas at risk for flooding abd include: Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Red Hook and Brooklyn neighborhoods along the East River in Brooklyn. The Verrazano Bridge is often closed during severe weather; stay tuned.
- SENIOR CENTERS, LIBRARIES: Senior centers are closing early Monday and will be closed completely on Tuesday. Ditto public libraries.
- DRAINS AND DEBRIS: According to the Mayor, "New Yorkers can help and do their part by sweeping and cleaning their driveways and keeping areas in front of their homes or businesses free of leaves, paper and debris."
- BLOOD BANKS: If you have an appointment to give blood please keep it. If you can give blood, please do: see www.nybloodcenter.org for further information.
- HALLOWEEN: If there's a lot of tree and street damage and debris, Halloween parades scheduled for Oct. 31 may be cancelled. Find another way to celebrate.
- FOR INFORMATION: Check www.NYC.gov, or call 311 for regular forecast updates.
