NYC Blacked Out and Abandoned: Sandy’s Wake Creates Historic Photo Opp
Such a sad tragedy. Taking a good look at it from a bunch of sources should help us understand the reality on the ground of serious climate change.
NYC Blacked Out and Abandoned: Sandy’s Wake Creates Historic Photo Opp
t was the “zombie-like” traffic lights that first alerted photographer Colin Gray that something was seriously wrong in Manhattan. Instead of the bright red, orange and greens, the lights sat dormant.
Armed with just an iPhone and a point-and-shoot, Gray and a group of buddies had crossed the Williamsburg Bridge on foot to get a first-hand look at the damage. Hurricane Sandy had passed through the night before and when they saw the empty streets and abandoned subway stations, they quickly realized that they were witnessing a unique moment in New York City history.
For one of the busiest cities in the world, this level of desertion could usually only be seen with computer graphics in big-budget movies. While the city has faced previous blackouts in 1965, 1977 and 2003, each with their own set of problems and coping challenges, Sandy is the first time a blackout has been paired with flooding and evacuation.
“We had heard that the power was out but didn’t really understand what that meant until we got over there,” says Gray, who waited out the rain and wind in a part of Brooklyn that didn’t get much damage.