The Blackout of 2003!

Here is what the clock tower looked like while the blackout was in effect. It reminds me of the scene in the movie Back to the Future. Where lightening struck the tower and it stopped.

When the blackout occurred, I was testing stuff in my office and my chair rolled over a phone cable. I thought somehow a fuse blew in my office. Ingersoll has generators that kept the lights on in the hallway. So when I looked in the hall, I didn't think that anything was wrong outside my office. I checked in the CIS office and saw they had problems. I walked on campus and heard that the library has problems. I saw Boylan problems too. So I checked to see if the traffic lights were out. They were and I heard it was the area around campus. Then I heard people say the Bronx is out. When I heard that, my heart panicked, as I feared it was something terrorist related. Then I heard it happened in Canada and other parts and I got really worried. I called my father and he said that we should go shopping for water and bread. On campus someone said this happened before and figured it was some power failure in upstate NY. That calmed me a bit. However walking home, seeing all the traffic in chaos got me a little worried.

So I drove my father to shop on Ave. J. Driving without lights we got from Bedford Ave to Coney Island Ave extremely fast! Plus people left the area and the spots on J were unbelievably empty. My father had the sense to take flashlights shopping. We got water, bread, fruits, and canned goods. I had no idea when things would be back. People started saying by the evening things would be back. It took till 6:45 PM the next day (26:35 hours) till things were back on in my area. While shopping people asked us to help them find stuff with the lights. We were out in the stores less than 1 hour after things happened. After getting food, I started to realize everyone's getting candles. So we got some of those too. Luckily we have a box of matches lying around.

 

That night was a whole lot of fun. I put on a court jester hat that lights up. I started to walk around my neighborhood to see how people would react. People on bikes, on foot, and in cars were saying "nice hat" or something to that effect. So I decided to go around a larger area. I walked around the Midwood area. I walked down Bedford and then up J. On J & Coney Island I saw people playing music outside a store. They had drums and guitars. They lit candles and were having a good time. So I joined them for awhile.

I then walked up toward Ocean Pkwy. A kid and his father asked where I got the hat and how much was it. I got it for $10 in Busch Gardens, Virginia. Then I walked down Ocean Pkwy. People were cheering me on along the way. I walked to my friend's house and people on his block saw me and stopped to take a picture with me. I felt like a celebrity. When I got to his house, he was not home. He went to visit another friend. So I walked down the street back to my house. However I decided to take a detour and walk an extra block out of my way. If I saw a crowd of people, I couldn't resist walking by to get compliments. :)

While returning to my route, I heard from the other side of Coney Island Ave, "Lawrence!!!". I'm like, "who can tell that it's me?" It was my friend calling me. He stopped by that family that took my photo and they said I had a lit up hat. Who else you gonna see like that in Brooklyn?!

So I returned to his block to meet him and his friends. While walking a cop car pulls up. They turn on the loud speaker and shout out "Cool hat!" and drive off. :)

Then we went and saw a fireworks display on his block and then at a field nearby. It was a lot of fun. Crossing Ocean Pkwy with no traffic lights is way cool. It's like living the video game Frogger.

I took the bus home, since they were FREE! People, and the bus drivers seemed happy to see me. The next day however I left my hat at home. I decided to walk, but the allure of free buses was too tempting to give up. The fact that they had A/C was enough to make me think of riding them all day. I was going to see how far the B11 goes. But I decided to transfer to the B68, so I headed toward Coney Island (the boardwalk). I got off on Ocean Pkwy and walked on the boardwalk. The beach was very crowded. Passing the Brooklyn Aquarium, I wondered how the fish and animals were doing. After walking to the baseball field, I walked back to Coney Island Ave. Near there I heard a crowd in a restaurant cheering. I figure "the lights are on," but I don't understand Russian. So I asked someone and they said yes. So I went to the bus stop to head home. The buses ran slower with the traffic lights working. I called home, but in Midwood there was still no power. Passing a gas station that was open, I saw a line around the block.

After a while we drove by a zone that didn't have power. Finally I got to J and Coney, but I see the B6 being detoured. So I decided to walk home. At the station, yet again, a truck is stuck under the train overpass. I get home, and I'm a little glad the lights are off, as I'm enjoying my day off. :)

I'm tired and take a nap. Finally 6:45 PM I hear alarms going off and I wake up. Power is on and I'm happy. I went for a drive to see if I can get fuel for my car, but it was to long of a line. So I return home. While heading home, I see smoke from 24th & M. So I pull over and see fire engines and witness a house with it's roof on fire. I never saw a live house fire. Firemen on ladders are chopping through the roof and flames are shooting high into the air. Well I wasn't about to stand there and get smoke inhalation, so I left.

That evening while walking in the streets I wished I could just walk in the middle of the street and wave my hand to have the cars stop. The next day while driving, I wasn't used to stopping my car, I almost went though some lights. ;)

Let's hope the city doesn't see another blackout for decades or more!

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