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What Now?
Courtesy Torly Kid
1. Please join me in offering a big thanks to the businesses who managed to open this week. Many of them went well beyond the extra mile to make it happen, and it’s safe to say they didn’t do it for the money.
2. SPEND LOCALLY. I’m not going to do another rundown of who’s open—I’m guessing that businesses need to focus on getting back on their feet—so just go and find out for yourselves. (I am tweeting about openings, though.) And tip well.
3. Help out. I’ll keep posting volunteer opportunities when I see them, because it’s not over for many, many people. The Seaport, for instance, is devastated. So maybe tomorrow (Sunday) you should join New Amsterdam Market’s clean-up effort. Email volunteer@newamsterdammarket.
4. It looks like some buildings won’t be inhabitable immediately because of the diesel spill that happened in New York Harbor. If you have room, you might want to host a Tribecan for a while.
5. What did we learn? If we don’t think about it now, we’ll be doomed to repeat our mistakes next time something like this comes along. A few things that came to my mind:
••• Even if the rest of your “go bag” is spotty, have a lot of extra cash around; when power goes out, credit cards are useless.
••• Get a Twitter account and the app that goes with it. (Both are free.) When you need information fast—who has food, who has power, etc.—it’s remarkable. You don’t ever have to send a tweet to benefit. Just follow tribecacitizen (naturally) and I’ll promise to forward whatever information is locally relevant. I can’t stress this one enough. Click on that link to see what I mean. Don’t rely on Facebook—you no longer see every post in your network (or close to it)—and websites take too long to update.
••• We park our car in a garage that uses elevators to move vehicles to the basement and sub-basement. How many blackouts have to happen before we realize this hamstrings us? Yes, I know it’s a first-world problem, but this is a blog about Tribeca.
••• Make sure you fill a bathtub or have a lot of water around—being able to flush a toilet every now and then is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
••• I know there’s a lot more wisdom to collect—I don’t care how small it seems, please share it. Sometimes the little things can mean a lot. And next time a big storm is headed our way, I’ll be sure to remind you.
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And when they tell you to evacuate, go.
Amen about twitter.
If anyone wants to make a claim to con ed for food spoilage, go here:
http://www.coned.com/customercentral/lawclaims.asp
@KP: ahem…
“Claims for reimbursement for losses sustained as of result of power outages
caused by storms or other conditions beyond our control will not be paid.”
Thank you Erik for your efforts to provide current and relevant information – in this case your remote location was an asset.
I have a few more tips, some of which will seem obvious:
Have a cooler on hand and make extra ice during the warning/waiting period,
Gas up the car,
If you decide to abandon your residence, clean out the fridge and freezer before you go – the smell of rotten food lingers,
Carry a paper contacts list; if your cell phone battery dies you can still make contact if you can get to another phone,
Be a good friend and neighbour – Karma.
thank you for all your reporting during this week, i’ve always found TC to be fabulous but this week it was truly an invaluable source of information. thank you thank you thank you!!
@MVR. Oh. Missed the fine print.
Wouldn’t hurt for more residential buildings to talk investing in a substantial generator. Looking at non-gasoline powered options (e.g. natural gas a la Bloom Energy) would be a big step towards modernizing and a huge value add, if only to power emergency lighting, and hot water.
Our building has a limited generator – light in the lobby, stairway, over one door on each floor, heats the water, works the pump and, most importantly, keeps one outlet per floor on. We charged all our electronics. One floor opted for movie night. Taking care of water and public spaces really helps, and keeps the cost and complexity down. If you have cell towers on your roof, maybe you can negotiate to tap into that generator.
I am looking into small solar panels that could, minimally, keep a lamp on. No idea if this would work in a window. Anyone know about this? Solar lanterns don’t get great reviews.
Monoprice.com makes a good, cheap 5000aMh charger for anything that plugs in USB. You can charge an iPhone about 2 times, or an iPad probably once.
Thank you Erik for being the BEST source of information about all of downtown. That includes Notify NY and TV where the “journalists” have yet to discover that Battery Park and Battery Park City are not the same place. So, in addition to the excellent suggestions listed above I would add: check in with Tribeca Citizen frequently wherever you are.
Erik–
With so much work that needs to be done just to get our neighborhood back on it’s feet..was wondering what you thought the impact of Sandy will have on the current repiping project of Tribeca? I can only imagine that project will have to be put aside/ or delayed to deal with other matters…
What every household should have:
eton microlink FR160 wind-up radio/flashlight/usb charge for iphone.
mophie back-up battery/case
skylights and fireplace can also prove handy
(More) bad news for Asphalt Green…the never used gigantic gymnasium flooded and now the floor is being removed…I am going over to check it out.
Please join me this week at restaurants in our neighborhood to help jump-start our downtown economy. Local independents that consistently give to our raffles, our school events, and community fundraisers have been closed for a week and we want to help them make up for their losses so they can continue to serve our community. Bring yourself, your children, your parents and we’ll talk about the values and responsibility that a Jewish community has to support others. You don’t need to be an official member of Tamid – everyone is welcome – RSVP to me at dlevine@tamidnyc.org.
Wednesday night at Kutsher’s on Franklin St. at 6:15 PM
Thursday night at City Hall Restaurant on Duane St. at 7:00 PM
Friday morning at Zucker’s Bagels on Chambers St. at 7:30 AM
Ten percent of the receipts will be donated to the UJA Federation of New York Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. If you have a favorite restaurant or shop that will give 10% of their receipts to Hurricane Relief, let me know, we’ll support them. Thanks to Zach Kutsher (Kutsher’s), Henry Meer (City Hall), and Matt Pomerantz (Zucker’s) for your everything you do for our community – we look forward to seeing you later this week.
Thank you!
Thank you Erik!
@jc – I don’t think the eton will charge iphones and in fact can fry them?
@KP and MVR – you can contact your homeowners (maybe renters?) insurance and make a claim for food spoilage that will not require a deductible. Most big insurance companies cover that.