Update from NYC
Sep 11th, 2001, 03:03 PM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Update from NYC
I know this is a travel board but I am writing this as it may alleviate some of the fears of people wondering how family and friends working in Manhattan are going to get home.
Everything in NYC is shut down this evening. Not too many people in the streets and there is little traffic. Just returned from taking my son’s wife (she was on the 49th floor of 1 WTC when the plane hit) to a subway station at 47th and 6th where she took a train to Brooklyn. There is subway service that will get people to the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. I drove through the midtown area to get to the subway. Times Square and the surrounding area is deserted.
All bridges in Manhattan are open for traffic leaving the city - no traffic allowed into the city. Two bridges in the Bronx (Whitestone and Throggs Neck) are open in both directions. The Verrazano, in Brooklyn, is open to traffic going to Staten Island. The Staten Island ferry, located about one half mile south of the WTC has service taking passengers to Staten Island - no passengers can come into Manhattan. There is also ferry service to New Jersey. Getting home from Manhattan is slow but the upside is that people will get home.
Cell phone service has returned to near normal and telephones are working although you might get an occasional “circuits are busy” or a delayed dial tone. Calls to the downtown area east of the WTC is being troublesome at this time. I keep getting disconnected when trying to talk to my wife’s sister who lives at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side.
Just received a call from my son who informed me his wife arrived home. The trip took about 20 minutes longer than usual but, under the circumstances, that was pretty good. She is happy to be home after a long trying day.
Everything in NYC is shut down this evening. Not too many people in the streets and there is little traffic. Just returned from taking my son’s wife (she was on the 49th floor of 1 WTC when the plane hit) to a subway station at 47th and 6th where she took a train to Brooklyn. There is subway service that will get people to the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. I drove through the midtown area to get to the subway. Times Square and the surrounding area is deserted.
All bridges in Manhattan are open for traffic leaving the city - no traffic allowed into the city. Two bridges in the Bronx (Whitestone and Throggs Neck) are open in both directions. The Verrazano, in Brooklyn, is open to traffic going to Staten Island. The Staten Island ferry, located about one half mile south of the WTC has service taking passengers to Staten Island - no passengers can come into Manhattan. There is also ferry service to New Jersey. Getting home from Manhattan is slow but the upside is that people will get home.
Cell phone service has returned to near normal and telephones are working although you might get an occasional “circuits are busy” or a delayed dial tone. Calls to the downtown area east of the WTC is being troublesome at this time. I keep getting disconnected when trying to talk to my wife’s sister who lives at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side.
Just received a call from my son who informed me his wife arrived home. The trip took about 20 minutes longer than usual but, under the circumstances, that was pretty good. She is happy to be home after a long trying day.
Sep 11th, 2001, 03:16 PM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Yes, just to add to the above - my daughter works in Manhattan and was able to get home to Larchmont by about 5:30 PM EDT. She saw the second of the World Trade towers collapse and has been pretty much in shock ever since, but she was able to make it home and it seems that people are slowly able to trickle out of the center of the city.
Sep 12th, 2001, 04:19 AM
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Latest from NYC as of 8 am.
I live on the Upper West Side (95th Street). Things are very quiet on the streets and vehicular traffic is minimal. On a normal day traffic would be building up. During a period of 2 minutes I counted 16 cars going north and south on Broadway. During the same period I saw ten people walking on 94th from Amsterdam to Broadway probably to get to the subway entrance at the corner of 94th St and Broadway. It would appear that most people, considering the light pedestrian and vehicular traffic, will be staying home.
The area below Chambers Street is shut down tight - no cars, no pedestrians except those that live in the area and they will not be allowed anywhere near the Trade Center area. No one will be allowed to go south of 14th Street in a car. Subway service is back to near normal but no stops will be made in Manhattan after Canal Street. Those trains going to Brooklyn will skip the stops in lower Manhattan. Commuter trains from NJ, Long Island and Westchester will be operating but I suspect many suburbanites won’t be coming into the city. Bridges coming into Manhattan will be open for traffic leaving the city only. The tunnels are closed in both directions. Coming into the city, the NY Thruway is closed at exit 8 (about 5 or 6 miles north of the city line). The Staten Island ferry will not be carrying passengers so people on that island can only get to the city using an express bus, assuming they are operating. I suspect most of those people will be staying home
Schools, public and parochial, are closed and all matinee performances of shows have been canceled. I expect evening performances will be canceled as well.
One note on phone service. My wife’s sister lives at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan side. Phone service to that area has not not working since late afternoon yesterday. Spoke to her earlier in the afternoon but have not been able to get through since. Just tried to call her and couldn’t get through. If you are trying to contact someone in lower Manhattan be advised it is probably due to a disruption of service
It is going to be a quiet day in the boroughs and in the area north of the Trade Center where rescue and clean up efforts are going ahead at full speed. It will be a good day to reflect on the events of yesterday and how this dastardly attack is going to impact on the lives of all Americans and the peoples of the entire world..
I live on the Upper West Side (95th Street). Things are very quiet on the streets and vehicular traffic is minimal. On a normal day traffic would be building up. During a period of 2 minutes I counted 16 cars going north and south on Broadway. During the same period I saw ten people walking on 94th from Amsterdam to Broadway probably to get to the subway entrance at the corner of 94th St and Broadway. It would appear that most people, considering the light pedestrian and vehicular traffic, will be staying home.
The area below Chambers Street is shut down tight - no cars, no pedestrians except those that live in the area and they will not be allowed anywhere near the Trade Center area. No one will be allowed to go south of 14th Street in a car. Subway service is back to near normal but no stops will be made in Manhattan after Canal Street. Those trains going to Brooklyn will skip the stops in lower Manhattan. Commuter trains from NJ, Long Island and Westchester will be operating but I suspect many suburbanites won’t be coming into the city. Bridges coming into Manhattan will be open for traffic leaving the city only. The tunnels are closed in both directions. Coming into the city, the NY Thruway is closed at exit 8 (about 5 or 6 miles north of the city line). The Staten Island ferry will not be carrying passengers so people on that island can only get to the city using an express bus, assuming they are operating. I suspect most of those people will be staying home
Schools, public and parochial, are closed and all matinee performances of shows have been canceled. I expect evening performances will be canceled as well.
One note on phone service. My wife’s sister lives at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan side. Phone service to that area has not not working since late afternoon yesterday. Spoke to her earlier in the afternoon but have not been able to get through since. Just tried to call her and couldn’t get through. If you are trying to contact someone in lower Manhattan be advised it is probably due to a disruption of service
It is going to be a quiet day in the boroughs and in the area north of the Trade Center where rescue and clean up efforts are going ahead at full speed. It will be a good day to reflect on the events of yesterday and how this dastardly attack is going to impact on the lives of all Americans and the peoples of the entire world..
Sep 12th, 2001, 05:37 AM
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
I live in the West Village and the streets around me have been closed to all but emergency traffic. Last night I heard sirens through most of the night. I awoke this morning hearing jets flying overhead. The streets are empty as everything south of 14th Street has been "closed". But once again today we have a clear & beautiful day and we will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and continue on in the name of freedom and democracy.
Sep 12th, 2001, 05:48 AM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
The world needs a few more parking lots. i.e., the countries that harbor madmen/terrorists should be leveled. These idiots feel like they've just earned a ticket straight to Heaven with their suicide mission - I'll bet they were very surprised in their meeting with Satan!
