Murmurs in the City

My commute on Thursday showed a marked change from the Wednesday commute.

On my way up from the train, I saw that the line for the shuttle bus was much less crowded than Wednesday.  I was a couple of hours later, so it could have been that too.

Again, I skipped the shuttle bus and hoofed it across the Manhattan Bridge.  I could definitely feel yesterday's 10+ mile commute and my pace felt brutally slow.  There were more people crossing the street by daylight but by the time I got to Canal Street I could see that most stores were still closed, but a couple of places had found generators and I saw one of the stalls had reopened in complete darkness.  It was not a huge improvement, but it was a sure sign of life.

I turned up Sixth Avenue and my legs gave out.  I saw a line for the bus and hoped to catch one uptown.  After three packed buses went by I gave up and started walking.  I walked up to the village and saw that Grey's Papaya had opened to serve hot dogs (gas stove).  None of the $1 pizza joints seemed to be open yet.

It was at Lenny's Bagels on 6th that I saw my first real sign of life.  It wasn't the tourists or electricity, but rather the fact that Lenny's was giving away a sandwich and drink to anyone who walked by.  I wish I knew who paid for it.   It was a site to behold.  New Yorkers of all stripes were standing around having a snack and talking.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and listened to the stories of the workers who were fixing buildings and removing debris. I heard moms and dads talking about normal everyday things to their kids in strollers.  It felt like the first edges of community reappearing.

The power turned on in the 20s as I headed north to rehearsal.  By the time I got to 34th Street, all memories of the quiet was gone and New York City was in full swing.

After the early end to rehearsal I walked over to Lexington and 52nd Street to catch the shuttle bus back.  The line wrapped around the block and after about a half hour I found myself standing on a packed, jerking bus racing its way down to the Manhattan Bridge.

The trip was much less eventful than Wednesday and I could see that power had been restored to more swaths of the city.  I saw lights all down St. Marks and then through to Chinatown.

Oddly enough, the commute ended up taking 3 hours in (thanks to my exhausted legs and the lack of bus services) and just over 2 hours home. exhilarating exhilarating I definitely did not want to repeat that night run.  As exhilarating as it was to experience the solitude and darkness of a city, I don't think I had the physical endurance to make it safely back.

As I mentioned, the next post will be some thoughts and reflections that Kitty and I have shared with each other as we have lived through the hurricane.