Some of the subways are back. Here’s a map. Many buses have been running for two days. I rode the Roosevelt Island Tram yesterday.
Until Friday all New York City mass transit is free. A small mercy.
Don’t bring a car into the city. It’s gridlock. Also, they won’t let you in without a full village of African pygmies in the back seat. (Joke. Joke. They’re enforcing HOV rules.) Our airports are back. But La Guardia, which got flooded, is on limited service.
Hurricane Sandy will deliver in construction jobs what the stimulus bill was trying to, but Congress wouldn’t pass. There’s an irony here.
The benefit to Lowes (LOW), Home Depot (HD) and companies like Clean Harbors (CLH) and Cramer favorite Eaton (ETN) should be massive. Need to look at a bigger list today.
Remember the busted crane? It’s still dangling precariously 80 floors up.. Four entire blocks have been closed and everyone evacuated. Hotels, apartment buildings, Carnegie Hall, etc.
My friend, the crane expert, says the only way to get it down is to erect another crane. He emails me:
Hi Harry.
Cell phone problems? Power your cell phone off completely. Wait 20 seconds. Then it turn on. That’ll give it time to find a new, better cell phone tower. Do this when you fly somewhere and arrive at your distant destination.
Two things to buy online while you’re stuck at home.
+ The iPad Mini. Writes Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal:
The $329 price may well tempt some budget-conscious buyers who have lusted for an iPad. But Apple believes the lower size and weight, not the price, are the key attractions.
If you love the iPad, or want one, but just found it too large or heavy, the iPad Mini is the perfect solution.
For the full Mossberg article, click here.
+ The Vitamix 1782 TurboBlend, 2 Speed. All my kids have one of these food smasher-uppers. They take the yuchiest-looking vegetables and fruits and smash them up into liquid only serious vegetarians can enjoy (tolerate?). I believe our household is due for one shortly, too. Perhaps it will help me with the butternut squash soup that I wrecked the first time. Michael bought one for Anne’s birthday yesterday. Yes, only a Newton son would buy his wife a kitchen appliance for her birthday. Michael told me last night the thing is so powerful (two horsepower) “Throw in a shoe in and it will make soup.” One day I’ll have to eat his shoe soup. Click here.
Don’t put your backup generators where it might flood. Remarkably many firms did. I remember one famous story where a fellow put his pricey million dollar phone system under a bathroom. The toilets flooded.. It’s a good idea to test your backup generators at least once a week. The “big” problem with backup generators is they run out of gas from testing. I don’t make this stuff up.
Jon Stewart is back. Last night, Jon commented on our disaster. He was hysterical. He began by referring to blackened downtown Manhattan as “Little North Korea” and got progressively funnier.
The girl is selling “free-range rats” for the residents who can’t buy food at the closed supermarkets. Uptown, they’ve run out of mocha sprinkles. Please watch the episode. Click here.
Harry Newton who eyes nature’s wonders. She brought us a devastating storm. But she allowed this beautiful rose to survive.
I took this photo on Second Avenue at 60th in a small city park under the Roosevelt Island Tram.
Any New Yorkers having trouble with their cell phones? I have a 917# but live in Chicago and the last couple of days I’ve had trouble receiving calls but outgoing calls and texts have been fine. Curious if that’s possible living in Chicago with a New York cell # or is it just a Verizon issue.
Yes, New Yorkers are having trouble with their cell phones. Much cellphone equipment has been destroyed.
Harry, many thanks for the excellent update on the crane. I was wondering what happened to it or how they were going to get it down. I was tempted to watch a network evening news broadcast but went into convulsions the moment Brian Williams came on so I turned it off.