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Kid Carsey Aug 08 2007 11:02 AM

Jeez, I just watched a half-hour new conference about Brooklyn getting whacked by a possible tornado this early morning. I'll leave the news re- porting to those that do but I can't help but think that a number of CPFr's hail from The Borough of Trees. Let us know you're AOK.

Edgy DC Aug 08 2007 11:03 AM

The place sure was slow this AM. Hope everybody's OK.

Gwreck Aug 08 2007 11:15 AM

Fine here. Tornado apparently touched down in Bay Ridge (southwest Brooklyn, down by the Verrazano, far away from my 'hood). I sleep through just about everything but the girlfriend tells me that she woke up to the thunder and lighting this morning about 6:00, and it sure sounded like something got hit with lightning about half a block away. At least half the subway lines weren't running, and buses too crowded to get on. Major pain getting in to Manhattan today.

sharpie Aug 08 2007 01:08 PM

Similar story. Pounding rain and thunder woke me up. Pleased to see that my basement didn't flood. Had a terrible time getting to work but I got here before most other people did. My wife was 2.5 hours late for work.

Kid Carsey Aug 08 2007 01:19 PM

Cool, you two were most on my mind. Dickshot of course too, but I assume he's on vacation somewheres.

Willets Point Aug 08 2007 01:21 PM

Kid Carsey wrote: Cool, you two were most on my mind. Dickshot of course too, but I assume he's on vacation somewheres. Somewhere....Somewhere over the Rainbow.

Rotblatt Aug 08 2007 01:23 PM

Whoa. I had no idea it was a tornado! At any rate, we were fine, but I did see an awful lot of downed trees on my way to the bus stop--with the Q line out, I had to make my way to Atlantic, then take the N in. Kind of a pain in the ass, but I've had worse commutes . . . Oh, and I was awakened a couple of times last night by some serious thunder.

soupcan Aug 08 2007 01:55 PM

Mass transit was a complete mess this morning I got on my usual 7:15 MetroNorth train from Westport that usually gets into Grand Central at 8:25. That train was delayed the entire way in and my usual 1 hour and 10 minute ride took 2 and a half hours. And by the way, the car I was in was leaking (no big surprise there) so there was a bit of Chinese water torture thing happening as well. Once we arrived at GCT and I went into the subway, I discovered that the 4,5 trains were not running and neither was the Shuttle to Times Square. I took the 7 train to Times Square but discovered that the 2,3 trains weren't running either. Walked over to try to get an N or R train but the platforms were so crowded and deathly hot that it wasn't worth waiting. Exited the subway and walked in humidity the likes of which I cannot remember experiencing to 23rd & 5th where I was able to then get an N train. Took about 20 minutes to get from 23rd street to Canal street when that train was then taken out of service. Exited the subway and walked another 20 minutes from Canal Street to my office. I arrived at my office, literally drenched in sweat, at 11:45. I'm usually here before 9:00. I just find it unbelievable that a rainstorm can effectively cripple this city. This is not the first time this has happened and it appears to be happening with more and more frequency as the years go by. I grew up in the City and have ridden the subways and buses my entire life. Now perhaps my memory has gotten poor in my old age but even as a kid I don't remember our mass transit system being so vulnerable to the whims of Mother Nature. Its embarrassing and totally unacceptable.

A Boy Named Seo Aug 08 2007 02:17 PM

I was just reading about the rain and flooding in the LA Times. Bloomberg was quoted with this: "We are very much tied to mass transit, which is a system that is obviously vulnerable to natural events". Glad everyone's okay so far. Hope your homes are, too.

soupcan Aug 08 2007 03:07 PM

Vulnerable to natural events is a cop-out. In the past 7 years, I've trekked my way in and out of the City despite a terrorist attack, a transit strike, more than a few major winter Noreasters, a blackout, a steam pipe explosion and who can even remember what the hell else. When those events occur I can understand why delays and disruptions occur. I don't like it, I bitch and moan about it but I understand it. Today was 'intense storms' according to the official MTA 'we regret any inconvenience' letter that I find sitting on my MetroNorth seat. They must order stationary with those words already on it considering how many times I've seen them. So basically it was rain? The system and the City completely taken out by rain? And then they want to jack up the fares next year? It's horrible how poorly run and maintained this system is. I can't wait till I retire (only 20 more years!) And don't have to tolerate this bullshit.

Gwreck Aug 08 2007 03:28 PM

Thanks for askin.' I gotta agree with Sharpie on this one. Funny thing is, it tends to be the little stuff, customer service-related, that puts me over the edge -- like them not turning on the escalator in the station -- not because it doesn't work, but because nobody bothered to reverse the direction from AM rush hour to PM rush hour. Or the chronic inability of a train operator/conductor to change the sign on the train to correctly read whether a train is express or local. There was an incident at the most recent Friday game at Shea where the station employees kept making contradictory announcements about local and express trains not running but nobody bothered to pick up their radio and ask a supervisor what was actually going on. Something like this happens, I just shake my head. If they raise fares, though, I sure hope people raise hell. You don't get to charge more for underperforming service.

Frayed Knot Aug 08 2007 04:58 PM

Speaking of which, the Mets have issued an extra alert for people to take mass transit tonight - beyond their usual alert that is - as many of the Shea parking lots are flooded.

Iubitul Aug 08 2007 05:47 PM

I have to agree with Soupy - I took my normal 7:32 out of Milford, and due to the flooding in NY, we sat in Westport for about 45 minutes - I usually arrive at work in norwalk around 8:15, but I didn't get in until after 9...

Johnny Dickshot Aug 08 2007 07:42 PM

Hurricane? Hmm. Yes I was away in maine, where we had heavy rain this morning but nothing too drastic. Back in brooklyn and our place is still here.

Frayed Knot Aug 08 2007 07:52 PM

"Hurricane?" No, tornado. Reports are that there was one in Brooklyn this morning although I don't know whether that's been confirmed or not. Mostly just a shit-load of rain and thunder storms at an unusual time of the day; around 6-7 this morning.