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16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019

The most recent of the Great New York Blackouts occurred.

Remember it very well. Hot, humid day. I was working in my office on the 18th floor at 110 William Street in Manhattan. At about 4:30 my computer and the office lights all went off. As we were all still jittery from 9/11, we got our things together and walked down the stairs to street level. That was when we learned that the power outage was not just in our building.

Not knowing how extensive the power loss was and with no way to find out, I decided to use the same route home that I used on 9/11 - walk across the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn, head down Adams Street to Atlantic Avenue, turn left and walk to the LIRR terminal on Flatbush Avenue. On 9/11, I hopped a Far Rockaway LIRR train and made it home easily. But when I arrived at the station, I saw people sitting on the stairs and it was dark.

By then I saw that the power was gone in Brooklyn too so I decided to try to walk down Atlantic Avenue all the way to 94th Avenue in Jamaica and then to Sutphin Boulevard, where I could take a Q44 to my mother's house. I didn't realize how far that really was. by 7:30 pm, it was starting to get dark and I'd only gotten as far as the East New York LIRR station. Fortunately, just then a gypsy cab picked me up and the driver took me home for $40.

What's your story?

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(1647977)

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by AlM on Tue Aug 13 15:43:04 2019, in response to 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019.

What's your story?

Three (?) days of boredom at home. First night was fun, dinner by candlelight at a local restaurant, but the novelty soon wore off.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Catfish 44 on Tue Aug 13 18:19:14 2019, in response to 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019.

I was in the Queens Center Mall about to pay for a shirt and pants at the Gap when the lights flickered on and off and the fire bells made a sickly ding ding. The lights were out and people were screaming outside the store in the main mall. So decided to split and hopped in the 1971 Volvo 1800E that I was driving at the time and I heard the news about the extent of the blackout. I stopped off at a friend's house and when it started getting dark I headed home. My wife and son came home and we spent the evening waiting for the power to come back on. It was about 1 am and I woke up to almost every light in the house being on. So I turned on the central a/c and watched tv the rest of the night into the morning. The Rockaways were certainly one of the first places to have restoration. I recall the helicopter highlighting the peninsula having electric lights again.


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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by SLRT on Tue Aug 13 19:41:58 2019, in response to 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019.

Unlike in the earlier blackouts I wasn't anywhere interesting.

I had just arrived at what is now the Stop and Shop on Montauk Highway in West Babylon. My wife called me to say the electric was out and I said I would like at it at as soon as I returned.

What I got in the store only emergency lights were on but they said we should shop quickly before the backup power ran out and they couldn't operate the cash registers. They said they couldn't sell anything without the registers. "Can't you write and total the sales on the back of the bags?"

Nope.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by FYBklyn1959 on Tue Aug 13 20:04:56 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by SLRT on Tue Aug 13 19:41:58 2019.

Lightweights

During Hurricane Wilma in 2005, I was without power for 2 1/2 days (and believe me, that was one of the shorter times from what I heard). On the second day, I walked up to a CVS, and the manager and a few associates were there to take your order and you could pay cash if you had exact change. I did so, and walked back home, and the power was restored like 15 minutes after I got home. 2 1/2 days was enough, believe me. I was in NYC for the '65 blackout, but that was just overnight, as when I woke up the next day the power was on (my mother said it came on in the wee hours). I fortunately missed out on the '77 and the '03 blackouts.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by SLRT on Tue Aug 13 20:17:05 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by FYBklyn1959 on Tue Aug 13 20:04:56 2019.

Of course we don't call Hurricane outages "blackouts" but they can last quite a while.

A big swath of Long Island east of Amityville was knocked out by Hurricane Gloria. We were out five days and were lucky.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Catfish 44 on Tue Aug 13 23:32:29 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by FYBklyn1959 on Tue Aug 13 20:04:56 2019.

For Sandy I was without power, heat, or hot water from the night of October 29th until November 19th.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by SLRT on Wed Aug 14 06:30:12 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Catfish 44 on Tue Aug 13 23:32:29 2019.

Where were you?

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by RIPTA42HopeTunnel on Wed Aug 14 08:46:53 2019, in response to 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019.

I remember thinking I forgot to pay the electric bill :). I unpacked a hibachi that my aunt had given me when she was moving so I could make dinner and noticed the attachment for the propane bottle was missing. So I walked up to downtown Flushing, where every store and restaurant was setting up shop on the sidewalk to stay in business without power.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Dan on Wed Aug 14 09:24:56 2019, in response to 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019.

I was at home when the blackout hit. First I thought it was a local Staten Island blackout. I shut off my main circuit breaker. It was a hot day so I slept in my basement with a few flashlights and a battery powered radio. The next morning at around 6am I woke up and turned on the main breaker, and the lights were back on.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by MorningsideHeightsM100 on Wed Aug 14 09:34:57 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Catfish 44 on Tue Aug 13 18:19:14 2019.

I seem to recall hearing that when the 1977 blackout happened, the Rockaways was like, literally, the ONLY part of NYC that had power.

Was/is it on the LIPA/LILCO/PSEG LI grid??

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by MorningsideHeightsM100 on Wed Aug 14 09:47:37 2019, in response to 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019.

I was at 120 Broadway (the Equitable Building) on the 36th floor when it happened.

I had a co-worker that, like myself, experienced 9/11 first hand, and the haunting images came back. She grabbed my hand and yanked us to the emergency exit where we ran (not "walked") the 36 flights to the street to see that the whole neighborhood was out of power, and everything was still standing --- again --- we were flashbacking to 9/11 so when we got to the street we were relieved it was NOT a terrorist attack.

A bunch of us decided to go and have a few drinks while we could (figuring if power was out they were gonna only have cold beer and liquor for a little while, given it was like 95 degrees out that day)
so we ended up at O'Hara's until about 7. At that point my coworker and I walked up to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked the whole way to Ocean Ave. and Flatbush Ave. She split up with me at that point (because she was heading east, and I was heading towards Bay Ridge).

As the day grew into night, it became very spooky not seeing any lights besides the headlights of cars and buses and trucks. I did manage to get on a bus finally somewhere by Kings Highway and ended up by the end of the B82. I don't remember much more besides finding a B64 (which was still running down Bath Ave to 14th Ave.) to 7th Ave (across from the recently closed Nathan's) and walked the few blocks from there.

OMG....I did so much walking in dress shoes...I've never walked that much before in my life...I still have issues with my feet ever since.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 11:00:58 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by MorningsideHeightsM100 on Wed Aug 14 09:34:57 2019.

I believe so, yes. The Rockaways have always been an odd bird. The house numbering system is identical to Nassau County, i.e., with a single digit, instead of the nearly universal Queens system of XX-XX, XX Street/Avenue/Road. In 1915 and 1917, several eastern neighborhoods in the Rockaways, including Far Rockaway, attempted to secede from Queens County and wanted to join Nassau County but their attempts were vetoed by NYC Mayor John Purroy Mitchel.


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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by JayZeeBMT on Wed Aug 14 11:05:07 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 11:00:58 2019.

I beg to differ. The house where I grew up in Far Rockaway was a hyphenated address, just like all other Queens addresses.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 14 11:15:21 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 11:00:58 2019.

Incorrect. The east-west streets use hyphens for the addresses and are grid-numbered based on the cross streets just like the rest of Queens.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by BILLBKLYN on Wed Aug 14 12:23:31 2019, in response to 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Tue Aug 13 15:33:52 2019.

I worked for 2 days straight.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Aug 14 12:41:56 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by SLRT on Wed Aug 14 06:30:12 2019.

Rockaway

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Aug 14 12:43:17 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by MorningsideHeightsM100 on Wed Aug 14 09:34:57 2019.

Yeah we had LILCO

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Aug 14 12:48:03 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 11:00:58 2019.

Can you explain that address thing another way?

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 13:31:19 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by JayZeeBMT on Wed Aug 14 11:05:07 2019.

What was the house number?

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 13:34:53 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Aug 14 12:48:03 2019.

Check out this website.

https://stevemorse.org/census/changes/QueensFormat.htm

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 14 13:38:28 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 13:34:53 2019.

This article says nothing about the Rockaways, does not answer Mr. Hunter’s question, and I’m 100% sure he knew all this already.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 13:54:54 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 14 13:38:28 2019.

He wanted to know more information about the Queens numbering system. The article stated that the Queens numbering system covered about 80% of Queens. And unless you are Mr. Hunter, you are not in a position to state whether this answered his question or whether he already knew how the system worked.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 14 14:00:23 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 13:54:54 2019.

No, he didn’t. He wanted you to clarify your post.

Yes, I am. I can read and I can learn things by reading.

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Aug 14 14:05:51 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 14 14:00:23 2019.

Thank you again

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 14 14:07:58 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Catfish 44 on Wed Aug 14 14:05:51 2019.

You're welcome

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Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003

Posted by FYBklyn1959 on Wed Aug 14 14:56:30 2019, in response to Re: 16 Years Ago Tomorrow - August 14, 2003, posted by Mitch45 on Wed Aug 14 11:00:58 2019.

In 1915 and 1917, several eastern neighborhoods in the Rockaways, including Far Rockaway, attempted to secede from Queens County and wanted to join Nassau County but their attempts were vetoed by NYC Mayor John Purroy Mitchel.

Interesting. A lot of things would be different today. I assume if that had happened, the Board of Transportation (or was it the TA by then?) would not have bought the Rockaway line from the LIRR.

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