The dark object in the middle of the picture is the Freedom Tower minus electricity. The walk down from the 22nd floor of my apartment was memorable. The walk back up more so. Hurricane Sandy lived up to the hyperbole spewing from the TV.
I can only imagine how the unfortunate folks closer to the sea felt. There was a point in the storm where it became apparent that the warnings were actually understated and that this one was more than we prepared for. And somehow in its aftermath the City was different as well. After 9/11 there was a feeling of camaraderie in the City, but the jostling bordering on violence on Gas Lines or even at the supermarket showed that somehow we were different as well.
In 2011 downtown was closed and here in 2012 it may have well been. We were in the dark for just five days, and we left after two. We found hotel rooms in New Jersey but those long lines for gas became a troubling sight. Sure we all need gas if we’re driving but I think they were driven more out of anxiety than need. And while I still can not place a finger on what exactly makes 2012 so different than 2001, I know, and I think we all know that “order” was nervously close to disorder. Troubling.