Every hour I seem to think of someone else that I know whom I haven't heard from. I send an email, funny how we've arrived at the point where no one has a land line. The few I know who do still have one, it's hard to get through, the line just beeps a busy signal. Or the circuits are busy.
This storm, (and I am somehow irritated by announcers who call it "Super Storm Sandy" sounds way too cute and slick, has affected me not unlike September 11. I can't ever equate the tragedy and loss of life, the panic, the hour of that day to this storm, but there is something in my personal human condition that is overtaken by the event. Sure I've cancelled all my gigs this week, I'm privileged to have another home to escape to, and am with power while my own apartment building has been dark since 9pm on Sunday night. This is the inconvenient catastrophe and the longer it goes on the bigger the issues. For many it's the lack of water, a hot meal, any possible way of getting to work besides on foot if there is even a work to go to.
Many friends have offices flooded or still without power. Food supplies are drying up fast. How long can you go without flushing a toilet? When will if ever the salt water contamination be cleaned form the subway station. I personally have lost my place of work, my public stage in the NYC subway and main train terminal stations.
I hear limited train service will begin tomorrow, I hear of grid lock. I am happy Bloomberg has called for car pooling and only allowing vehicles with 3 or more people to cross bridges and tunnels. I remember after 9-11 how they tried to establish a commuter zone to limit traffic coming in and out of the city and how it was scraped after things returned to normal. Maybe now we can reconsider the benefits of such a plan. The 14th st sub-station is still out keeping most of lower Manhattan in the dark. The Staten Island ferry docks and terminals were damaged, not sure when they'll be running,
I am scheduled to perform in Grand Central tomorrow. I don't know how I can get there. Trains along the Hudson and Harlem lines are limited, traffic will be insane. All I can say New Yorkers is I'll be back as soon as I'm able.