How 'Superstorm' Sandy created a tale of two cities in New York

The boundary of the destruction caused by Sandy in New York City clearly divides Manhattan at 25th Street on the west side and at 38th Street on the east. Mark Hughes reports.

Half of the city is left in darkness by Hurricane Sandy Photo: GETTY

 

To the north of these invisible boundaries everything in New York’s most densely populated borough is open for business and life is quickly returning to normal.

Restaurants and shops are busy again, sidewalks are filled with tourists and the roads are teeming with New York’s iconic yellow taxis. The Empire State Building, perhaps the city’s most famous visitor attraction, has already reopened.

But in Lower Manhattan to the south, the contrast could not be starker. Hurricane Sandy has created a tale of two cities.

 

Almost nothing is open and, at night, this half of the city – currently dubbed the “black zone” - is plunged into darkness, with electricity yet to return. More than 200,000 downtown residents are without power, with the prospect of electricity returning until at least the weekend.

Every restaurant and hotel is closed. The streets are near empty. Mobile phones still do not work proprely.

Even the traffic lights have stopped working. Police officers stand at particularly busy junctions directing traffic while at others, New York motorists, not known for their patience or caution, are left to fight among themselves to determine right of way.  
Such is the cut off, that some banks in Midtown have reported people – presumably those from downtown - queuing to use power points in the lobby to charge phones and laptops.
New York’s senior senator Charles Schumer said: “The kind of thing we feared after 9/11 that Lower Manhattan would become a ghost town is happening – for a few days only – here.”
The invisible divide has prompted many downtown residents to flee their homes and temporarily relocate.
 
Ciaran Gorman, a computer programmer at a Manhattan bank, lives in the financial district. He left his home on Tuesday morning and checked into a hotel on 33rd Street with his girlfriend.
Since then his building has advised residents to relocate to locations uptown. Asked if he knew of others who had made a similar decision, the 29-year-old said: “I don’t know anyone who stayed.
“Everyone I know who lives downtown has moved to hotels in Midtown. All of my friends and colleagues, basically everyone I have checked on has got out and gone uptown.”

Mr Gorman decided to move after losing power on Monday evening. “We decided if there was no power then it was better to be out and have a bit of comfort rather than trying to rough it,” he explained.
He is thankful he did not delay. Many hotels in Midtown are fully booked after seeing an influx of storm-affected customers.
“I don’t think we would have got in anywhere if we left it any later,” Mr Gorman said. “I would have had to call on friends living uptown. There are some guys in work who were looking for hotels on Wednesday and the nearest they could get to Times Square was across the river in Queens.”
As if to reinforce the split, New York’s Subway will reopen today - but only above 34th Street. Inspectors face the daunting task of inspecting 600 miles of track for damage as well pumping seawater out of seven flooded tunnels. The closure of the subway has caused even worse traffic than usual in Manhattan, prompting Mayor Michael Bloomberg to announce that cars carrying fewer than three passengers will not be allowed into the borough on Saturday.
 
Many businesses in lower Manhattan are simply awaiting the restoration of power but in Seaport, at the very southern tip of the borough, a massive clean-up operation is underway.
The harbourside neighbourhood bore the brunt of flooding in New York and yesterday residents and business owners were beginning to assess the damage.
Diane Honeywell, 56, owns the Nelson Blue bar and restaurant. As she surveyed the wreckage of her building, which saw 6ft of flooding, she said: “I am destroyed. This will take months to fix.
“It cost us a million to build this business. Let’s see what it will cost to fix.”
Kit White, 61, owns a building which houses the Made Fresh Daily café. Sweeping water from the store, he said: “We are going to have to replace some of the walls because of the water damage. If I was being optimistic I’d say it will be three weeks, probably a month before this place can open again and that it being optimistic.
^{Vihaan Gadodia, two, is handed from a National Guard truck after being rescued in Hoboken, New Jersey (AP)}
“It’s a shame because this area and these restaurants were just establishing themselves. This will really set them back and some businesses will fold.”
His wife Andrea Barnet, 60, added: “This is so similar to 9/11. We are cut off and uptown is going on as usual.”
They are aware, however, it could be much worse.
On Wednesday details about the 24 deaths caused by Sandy in New York. They included police officer Artur Kasprzak, 28, who died on Monday night in the basement of his home on Staten Island, shortly after ensuring his family was safe in the attic. On Wednesday, around 500 patients were evacuated from Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital on 1st Avenue and 26th Street.
A 23-year-old woman in Queens died after stepping on a live wire after going outside to take photographs of a burning power line.
In Brooklyn two friends Jessie Streich-Kest, 25, and Jacob Vogelman were found dead after being crushed by a falling tree while walking her dog.
And the death toll could rise. In Staten Island two boys, aged two and four, are missing after their mother told police they were swept away in floodwater.
In a sign of things returning to normal however, Mr Bloomberg announced that the New York City Marathon will go ahead as planned on Sunday.