Yesterday I got this pamphlet (above) in the mail. A bunch of us were working at my studio, and as I showed it to everyone we all cracked up at the idea. A hurricane in NYC? You gotta be joking. The idea of something disrupting this massive city from its daily routine seemed farfetched.
Weirdly enough, as things tend to connect recently, that same night, a strong thunderstorm hit the city. In the morning I woke up to Gali’s voice mail, describing the chaos in Brooklyn and possibility of a tornado touching down in Bay Ridge. Still unsure if it was actually a tornado, but the city definitely came to a crawl. Subway line delays, and people reporting hours of travel time to work. It was actually suggested by the municipality not to go to work if you needed public transport. Bridges and streets were jam-packed with cars. The weird thing is that this storm didn’t bring down the heat. It is even hotter and stickier today, in comparison to yesterday. I feel like I’m back in Hong Kong (only HK is even more humid…).
Gali told me she saw trees toppled over, sidewalks cracked and even a car bumper up high in a tree. Her neighbor decided to go to church today and thank god that the tree fell on the cars in the street and not on his house. However, the city had a powerful vibe, that ‘New York we’re all in this together‘ feel. People sharing their morning experiences in the streets. I couldn’t help but smiling. I love this city for moments like this.
I talked to this one guy on the street who described his morning adventures. He said there’s a reason this “tornado” hit where it hit, just like there’s a reason Katrina hit where it did. And so I truly wonder, what does it take for people to fall back on religious beliefs? And what catastrophe or disaster will make a secular person pray to god?
see the damage for yourself:
…a tornado may have touched down in Bay Ridge. Funnel clouds were spotted early this morning and a tornado warning was posted for Brooklyn, Queens and parts of Nassau County. We won’t know if the damage was caused by a tornado, microburst, or straight line winds until the National Weather Service sends out a forensics team to investigate. Now that the rain is gone, 2.5 inches in Central Park and at LaGuardia, 3.47 inches at JFK, we can expect a totally miserable day! Oppressive heat and humidity are in store, with a heat advisory in effect from one to six this afternoon. Today’s high will be around 90 degrees. The Weather Service is predicting a high of 94, but their forecasts have been running several degrees warm since last week. (source: gothamist)