I was working in lower Manhattan during the 2003 cascade effect blackout, which lasted roughly 18 hours. I feel obligated to reply-guy that the NYC of 1977 was clearly a snapshot of an evolving culture. The blackout I experienced was a lot of fun. All the streetlights were out, so anyone willing stood in the intersection and directed tra…
I was working in lower Manhattan during the 2003 cascade effect blackout, which lasted roughly 18 hours. I feel obligated to reply-guy that the NYC of 1977 was clearly a snapshot of an evolving culture. The blackout I experienced was a lot of fun. All the streetlights were out, so anyone willing stood in the intersection and directed traffic a while. I did for 20 minutes or so. A stranger let me into his home to use the toilet. And there was really only one crisis, which the entire borough got together to collectively solve--the beer was getting warm. I saw no theft, no violence, and the only gouging visible was fifty dollar Maglites and twenty dollar D batteries.
I was a kid when we were visiting family in NYC in 1965 when the Big One hit the east coast. My recollections are much like yours in that I don't remember very much in the way of any major crisis happening, more along the lines of people who were able and mobile looking in on those that they cared about, and then keeping an eye on everything else to ensure that some drgree of order was maintained. My aunt was in her late 50s at that time and I recall a young man that lived next door coming over to politely ask if she was okay and was there anything that he could do? About the only thing that I can really remember of that occasion that seemed out of place was the way that people were talking about the UFO siting of that time and how it might have been linked to the black out: the talk was more than a little desturbing inasmuch as certain individuals were talking about arming themselves as they viewed the black out as a prelude to invasion,...
Like I said, 1977 was a snapshot. 1965 was before they shot Martin, Malcolm, and Bobby. People still had hope. 1977 was a nadir on the hope front, before raygun hijacked it with his phony populism. 2k3 was near enough to 9/11 that people were still warm toward each other. Things change. The only constant is change :)
I was working in lower Manhattan during the 2003 cascade effect blackout, which lasted roughly 18 hours. I feel obligated to reply-guy that the NYC of 1977 was clearly a snapshot of an evolving culture. The blackout I experienced was a lot of fun. All the streetlights were out, so anyone willing stood in the intersection and directed traffic a while. I did for 20 minutes or so. A stranger let me into his home to use the toilet. And there was really only one crisis, which the entire borough got together to collectively solve--the beer was getting warm. I saw no theft, no violence, and the only gouging visible was fifty dollar Maglites and twenty dollar D batteries.
I was a kid when we were visiting family in NYC in 1965 when the Big One hit the east coast. My recollections are much like yours in that I don't remember very much in the way of any major crisis happening, more along the lines of people who were able and mobile looking in on those that they cared about, and then keeping an eye on everything else to ensure that some drgree of order was maintained. My aunt was in her late 50s at that time and I recall a young man that lived next door coming over to politely ask if she was okay and was there anything that he could do? About the only thing that I can really remember of that occasion that seemed out of place was the way that people were talking about the UFO siting of that time and how it might have been linked to the black out: the talk was more than a little desturbing inasmuch as certain individuals were talking about arming themselves as they viewed the black out as a prelude to invasion,...
Like I said, 1977 was a snapshot. 1965 was before they shot Martin, Malcolm, and Bobby. People still had hope. 1977 was a nadir on the hope front, before raygun hijacked it with his phony populism. 2k3 was near enough to 9/11 that people were still warm toward each other. Things change. The only constant is change :)