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I gotta get outa this place, if it’s the last thing I ever do…

6 comments on I gotta get outa this place, if it’s the last thing I ever do…

I gotta get outa this place, if it’s the last thing I ever do…
: NPR tonight quoted New York commuters quite rightly taking the city to task for its half-assed evacuation in the blackout.

As the second anniversary of 9.11 approaches, it is quite sobering to see that we’ve learned little and prepared less. It took too many hours and too much difficulty to get people out of the city again.

The goal is simple: To get as many people out of the city as quickly as possible so they can get home and so they will not strain the services of the city for those who must stay.

This is not hard to figure out. What the city should be doing:

1. Enlist all boats — tour boats as well — to get people across the river from all available piers.

2. Get busses, and just busses, shuttling through the tunnels out of the city to predetermined points — shelters, meeting points, and places where commuters can get further transportation. Those busses should bring emergency workers the other way.

3. Set up shelters in the city with generators and supplies. It’s time to reinstitute Civil Defense shelters.

4. Have points throughout the city where people can get information — where, for example, police or city employees equipped with walkie-talkies and megaphones can tell people what is happening and what they should do.

I was one of those people in the city trying to get out on 9.11 and I was within a half-hour of being stranded in the blackout. I don’t want to face this again.

What have we been doing these last two years?

6 responses to “I gotta get outa this place, if it’s the last thing I ever do…”

  1. Nik Avatar
    Nik

    I have an inflatable commando boat and 9.9HP outboard motor in my closet and live a block from the Hudson. I didn’t buy it for evacuation purpose, but am always ready. There are also folding kayaks and kayaking is popular on the Hudson, though not in winter. It takes about two minutes to make the trip to the Jersey shore, where a short walk gets you to a busy road. There is a marina on 79th St. on the Hudson full of dinghys and houseboats.

  2. John Daley Avatar
    John Daley

    I agree wholeheartedly.
    I did get stuck in the city overnight during the blackout and shelter, some water and more importantly, information, would have been very welcome.
    All good suggestions. I would add as others have, that boosting cellphone infrastructure reliability would be important as well.

  3. Maraq Avatar
    Maraq

    Without sounding snotty, why is this just the City’s problem? Shouldn’t Jersey and the Port Authority have some responsibility here? When the lights went out, the Port Authority Bus Terminal closed their doors — why? They run the buses you want but they shut down for the night.
    If Jersey residents are “trapped” here in Manhattan, shouldn’t Jersey be prepared to save their residents with their own boats? I know a lot of people had to do some awful urban camping in parks and at the Post Office, but still, the City took care of its residents. Somehow I don’t think Jersey has any great plans to get me back to the Lower East Side if I’m shopping in a mall in Seacaucus and the lights go out.
    The City did what the City was supposed to — ran City buses up and down the avenues. Provided police protection, kept the fires out. Maybe the commuter tax isn’t such a bad idea after all.
    Again, this all sounds a lot snottier than I mean for it to. It is just, I’m not sure the City is the only entity to blame here.

  4. Forbes Tuttle Avatar
    Forbes Tuttle

    I’d have to agree with Maraq. I live in Manhattan, and everyone seemed to do just fine considering the novelty (for many of us) of something that hadn’t occurred in 26 years. Mostly people were helpful and courteous, with a topping of a few cranks. The biggest transportation problems seemed to be the Port Authority bus terminal and New Jersey Transit. And the Port Authority operates the Hudson River tunnels and bridges–so I’d look there first, rather than blaming the City. The commuter ferries (privately operated, no less!) across the Hudson River went into overdrive. In a way, it was really the summertime version of a crippling winter snowstorm in New York. Instead of not knowing when the snow would stop, we didn’t know when the power would come back on; hugely inconvenient, traffic and transportation at a near stand still, but people handled it. Besides, my parents went through the ice storm in upstate NY 5 or 6 years ago, they didn’t have power for 5 days–they figured out how to cope, and they’re in their 70s! Does that mean there are lessons to be learned, and contingency plans to have in place? Of course. But making sure people aren’t inconvenienced is not high on my list of government priorities. In fact, it doesn’t make my list.
    Enlist all boats…all boats? What will the penalty be for not participating in the mandatory practice drills?
    The tunnels were closed to inbound traffic–buses excluded. NJ Transit was taking passengers to the Meadowlands for connections. Putting such contingencies in place takes a few hours, which I think they did.
    Shelters-there are several Armories in the city that could be put to such use, as were used in the aftermath of 9/11–but this incident, for the most part lasted less than 24 hrs.
    Points throughout the city for information–jeepers–I’ve got a SONY Walkman radio, ever heard of one of those–SONY’s probably sold millions. At a last resort, there are police precincts and fire stations conveniently located throughout the city, where in an emergency, you can get information.
    If you don’t want to get stranded in the city, then don’t come.

  5. Zev Sero Avatar
    Zev Sero

    It may not be the City’s problem getting people to New Jersey, but it is the City’s problem getting people to Brooklyn and Queens and the Bronx. Information, *accurate* information, about which buses are running, where, would have been a great help. The cops I asked didn’t seem to know. And I still don’t know whether they were letting taxis into Manhattan, but if they weren’t then that partly explains why taxis were impossible to find. Taxis should have the same status as buses, in this respect. They’re not mass transit, but every taxi that takes 2 or 3 or even just 1 person out, is a plus.

  6. Tresho Avatar
    Tresho

    What would have happened in Manhattan if the power failure had occurred during severe winter weather?