"Surviving the New York Blackout 2003"

 

  • It started like any other trip, taxi to QQC, flight to LA,then a short hop to NY for 48hrs. We arrived  at the Hotel around 1800 as always and some of us decided to get ready to go out for drinks and dinner.
  • The next day got up around 1000 and went for a coffee and walked around a bit, same old story!!! Went back to my room around 1300 and watched a bit of TV. Around 1600 the power went off and I thought it was just a power failure "been there done that" I waited a while figuring that it wouldn’t be long before the power would be restored, but surprise! surprise! that was not the case. By now it was 1700 and the sun began to dwindle against the NYC sky line. I thought to my self ....soon this room was going to get pretty dark.... so I decided to take a shower and head down to street level. Well,another surprise... "no water either"!!! so I just brushed my teeth and washed my face with bottled water.
  • Emergency lights were on in the corridors but the lift was obviously not working, so I decided to walk down the stairs (from the 29th floor). The walk down was going ok until I reached the 19th floor where some how their were no lights at all (I mean it was pitch black) I thought to my self "I'm going to brake a leg or worse", then all of a sudden it hit me, I took my Mobile phone from my pocket and with just the light from the screen I was able to reach the foyer ( how's that for crew ingenuity!!).
  • The foyer was packed with people and Hotel staff were handing out bottles of water "Oh did I mention that there was no airconditioning either" people just sitting or laying down all over the place, I walked out side to the street and people were just everywhere, shops were closed, traffic lights were out, everyone including my self didn't know what was happening. For many, the first minutes of the "Great Blackout of 2003" were haunted by the memories of nearly two years ago, talk about a terrorist attack here and there, but no one really knew!!!. As night descended among us, candles and torch lights were part of NYC night life.
  • The city's famous skyline formed an eerie silhouette against a moonlit summer night. Stars could be seen for the first time in recent memory.Unlike the "1977 blackout", which was marked by riots and looting, the city was mostly calm, remarkably little panic as New Yorkers dealt with the latest calamity to befall the city — and carried on.
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  • I headed towards a local bar, they were serving drinks (under dimlit lights of candles) to bewildered and by this stage very tired New York office workers. I asked the barman for a cold beer, but I had to settle for a "BUD",and as I sat on the kerb along side other patrons, I saw Doug Truman and Capt Rob Clifton heading towards me,they were walking around the city when the lights went out,they decided to join me for a few cold ones as they had no chance of getting to the hotel rooms either.A few minutes later Paul Ellis, Pailin, Monica and Susie joined us also, it was beginning to look a lot like a crew party ( Alfresco).
  • By around 2200 some of us were getting a bit peckish, but where do u go when a city is at a complete standstill!!!! Some of us decided to take our chances and go for a walk to see what was out there in the "darkness"!!!!.To our surprise and disbelief the only thing available was the good old fashioned New York hot dog and pretzel ( and you had to line up for hours just to get that) Hot dogs never tasted so good!!!
  • Heading back to our hotel we came across many people sleeping in the street unable to commute home due to no public transport what so ever. Upon arriving at our hotel we discovered that they had managed to power one lift to go up only, we had to line up for about an hour or so just to return to a hot and dark room. As the lift door opened at respective floors, other guests (including Liz and Kim, other crew) were drinking and partying again under the dim light of candles and  torches (the lights were low, but the spirits were high).
  • By daybreak as the sun rose between the man made mountains of the city, a beautiful and radiant day was beginning to take shape, incapturing one of the most dramatic events in the city's history. It was around 1400 when the power resumed. The city was up and running with the hum of air conditioners and blare of television sets, I enjoyed the simple pleasure of a hot shower once electric water pumps got going.
  • After nearly 29 hours of chaos and an inconvenience for 50 million people, New York and its citizens were getting back to normal. There were still a few glitches, but the "Blackout of 2003" was officially history.
  • On our last night in New York the Crew got together and enjoyed a scrumptious and long awaited dinner at Carmine's restaurant, I have to admit I will return to New York just to eat there again, but just in case I will bring a torch.......

The crew "Capt Rob Clifton,F/O Peter,CSM Doug Truman,CSS Paul Ellis,F/A Liz Robson,Kim Dart,Susie Plsmiris,David Brechin,Paul Nisted,Monica Villar-Avila,Steven Gonzalez,Michael Wright,Virginie Dulac-Daley,Malcome Blunt,Pailin Aranyanak,Regina Iglodi,Tony Nucifora"

By Gonzo 21/08/2003