OMG what an evening
and not in a good way.
I work in Jersey City, right on the banks of the Hudson, right where the Hudson meets New York Harbor. I left my office at 5...the sky was overcast and the wind was picking up.
It takes about 10 minutes to travel from Jersey City to the World Trade Center via the PATH train, and then there's one short block down Vesey Street to get to the E train -- the NYC subway. By the time I got to the Trade Center, the sky had grown very dark, I could see lightning and there was a lot of thunder. I was grateful that it wasn't raining yet, knew the rain would come soon, and hoped the rain would hold off until I was safely in the subway station. felt the first drop of rain just as I was walking down the stairs....
Here's the story from the NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/16/2010-09-16_fastmoving_storm_packing_tornado_conditions_tears_across_new_york_city_with_wind.html
got on the subway, got a seat, and got to Penn Station without a problem. Hello Long Island Rail road...Got onto the 5:53 train, got a seat, took out the iTouch and the nook, and settled in for the ride home....
and the train went NOWHERE!!!!
The conductor announced that there was a fallen tree on the tracks at Woodside and that he didn't know when we'd be leaving Penn.
Half an hour later the train was cancelled.
by now Penn Station was so overcrowded -- the police not having implemented their crowd control procedures until the place was wall-to wall people. there was no LIRR service in or out of Penn, or through Brooklyn, or ANYWHERE west of Jamaica Station. The railroad recommended taking the E train to Jamaica, but it was impossible to even get near the entrance to the subway....had I known what was going to happen, I would have stayed on the E train in the first place, but...
while I was trying to figure out what to do, a woman approached me....she recognized me from the railroad, knew we road the same train and got off at the same station. she didn't have a clue how to get home...I took her with me. we walked over to 6th avenue -- by now it was 6:30 and the storm was over. we took the F train to Queens, changed to an E in Forest Hills, and arrived in Jamaica around 8 PM.
we were so lucky! there was a train in Jamaica station headed for our station, albeit the train was as crowded as a sardine can -- at least there was no fear of falling, there wasn't room for anyone to fall down!
on a normal night I should have been back at our station by 7:00, didn't get there until 9 -- and it was raining.
and I had to stop and pick up dinner for myself, so I didn't get home until after 9:30.
grrrrr......
but the subway turned out to be the better choice -- service was not restored to Penn until after 11:00.
I work in Jersey City, right on the banks of the Hudson, right where the Hudson meets New York Harbor. I left my office at 5...the sky was overcast and the wind was picking up.
It takes about 10 minutes to travel from Jersey City to the World Trade Center via the PATH train, and then there's one short block down Vesey Street to get to the E train -- the NYC subway. By the time I got to the Trade Center, the sky had grown very dark, I could see lightning and there was a lot of thunder. I was grateful that it wasn't raining yet, knew the rain would come soon, and hoped the rain would hold off until I was safely in the subway station. felt the first drop of rain just as I was walking down the stairs....
Here's the story from the NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/16/2010-09-16_fastmoving_storm_packing_tornado_conditions_tears_across_new_york_city_with_wind.html
got on the subway, got a seat, and got to Penn Station without a problem. Hello Long Island Rail road...Got onto the 5:53 train, got a seat, took out the iTouch and the nook, and settled in for the ride home....
and the train went NOWHERE!!!!
The conductor announced that there was a fallen tree on the tracks at Woodside and that he didn't know when we'd be leaving Penn.
Half an hour later the train was cancelled.
by now Penn Station was so overcrowded -- the police not having implemented their crowd control procedures until the place was wall-to wall people. there was no LIRR service in or out of Penn, or through Brooklyn, or ANYWHERE west of Jamaica Station. The railroad recommended taking the E train to Jamaica, but it was impossible to even get near the entrance to the subway....had I known what was going to happen, I would have stayed on the E train in the first place, but...
while I was trying to figure out what to do, a woman approached me....she recognized me from the railroad, knew we road the same train and got off at the same station. she didn't have a clue how to get home...I took her with me. we walked over to 6th avenue -- by now it was 6:30 and the storm was over. we took the F train to Queens, changed to an E in Forest Hills, and arrived in Jamaica around 8 PM.
we were so lucky! there was a train in Jamaica station headed for our station, albeit the train was as crowded as a sardine can -- at least there was no fear of falling, there wasn't room for anyone to fall down!
on a normal night I should have been back at our station by 7:00, didn't get there until 9 -- and it was raining.
and I had to stop and pick up dinner for myself, so I didn't get home until after 9:30.
grrrrr......
but the subway turned out to be the better choice -- service was not restored to Penn until after 11:00.
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