NYC : News & Analysis

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hoboken PATH Subway Station Flooded

Flood waters rush in to the Hoboken PATH station through an elevator shaft. #Sandy twitter.com/PANYNJ/status/…
— Port Authority NY&NJ (@PANYNJ) October 30, 2012

Emergency Situation At Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant in Toms River, NJ

From The New York Times :

Dangerous Water Levels at Nuclear Plant

Rising water threatened the cooling system at the Oyster Creek nuclear plant, in Toms River, N.J., on Monday night. The plant declared an alert at 8:45 p.m., which is the second-lowest level of the four-tier emergency scale established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The water level was more than six feet above normal. At seven feet, the plant would lose the ability to cool its spent fuel pool in the normal fashion, according to Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The plant would probably have to switch to using fire hoses to pump in extra water to make up for evaporation, Mr. Sheehan said, because it could no longer pull water out of Barnegat Bay and circulate it through a heat exchanger, to cool the water in the pool.
If ordinary cooling ceased, the pool would take 25 hours to reach the boiling point, he said, giving the operators ample time to take corrective steps. The reactor itself has been shut since Oct. 22 for refueling, so it is relatively cool.
Alerts are declared a handful of times every year among the 104 power reactors around the country.
So far, no reactors in Sandy’s path have been forced by the hurricane to shut down, although one in Waterford, Conn., Millstone 3, has lowered its power output to 75 percent. The operator said this was done to assist the New England grid, which would be destabilized if the reactor shut down suddenly from full power, and also to reduce the chance that it would automatically shut down; at 75 percent, Millstone 3 could withstand the loss of a pump without having to close.
Several other reactors in the region are now closed for refueling, which is ordinarily carried out in the spring or fall, when electricity demand is low.

Separately, FOX News reported about safety concerns with the nuclear power plant at Indian Point.

Monday, October 29, 2012

NYU Langone Hospital Evacuated

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

From 1010 WINS : NYU Langone Hospital being evacuated after backup generator dies.

Patients are being taken down manually down flights of stairs and are expected to be transferred to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan.

Because NYU Langone Hospital has no electricity or phone service, they cannot notify the relatives or emergency contact persons of the NYU Langone Hospital's patients until the patients are received by a new hospital, WNBC has reported.

Bellevue Hospital Taking On Water

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

FDNY Manhattan scanner: Multiple people in the water @ ConEd Plant. Bellevue Hospital taking on water. Lower Man. flooded no power. #Sandy
— Lord Burghley (@Lord_Burghley) October 30, 2012

Murray Hill Flooded Near Bellevue Hospital Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

Bellevue Hospital Without Power ; Backup Generators Failing Due to Floods ; No Level I Trauma Center Below Midtown Since St. Vincent's Hospital Was Converted Into Luxury Condos By Rudin Family.

Bellevue hospital can't get the generators running, 2 ft water in the basement -- FDNY scanner
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) October 30, 2012

The area near Bellevue Hospital in Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan is flooded. According to this Twitter posting, 34th Street and First Avenue is under water.

Unbelievable. Be safe friends. RT @shamir_kNot just lower Manhattan - this is 34th and 1st i104.photobucket.com/albums/m166/ow… (Murray Hill...)
— Emily Kuhn (@EmKuhn) October 30, 2012

Murray Hill Flood 34th Street First Avenue NYC Hurricane Sandy Credit : m166-owace

East Village Explosion Hurricane Sandy

A transformer possibly exploded in the East Village of Manhattan during the landfall of Hurricane Sandy.

Huge explosion just rocked the East Village, everything went dark and I mean dark.#Sandy I'm now legit scared. twitter.com/buckyturco/sta…
— Bucky Turco(@buckyturco) October 30, 2012

911 ECTP Tech System Overwhelmed During Hurricane Sandy

WNBC reports that the 911 tech system is overwhelmed, that people are being discouraged from calling 911 unless it is truly a real emergency. This hurricane is doing a lot of damage. Would not all the damage taking place during a massive natural disaster be considered a real emergency (911 Call System Overloaded As City Urges People to Stay Off the Roads * DNAinfo New York)

Trees are falling, the façade of one building has collapsed, one fatality has been reported, and blackouts and massive floods have been widely reported. What isn't an emergency ?

Con Edison Cuts Power to 6,500 Lower Manhattan Customers

Apparent explosion of Con Edison substation or electrical equipment due to destruction from Hurricane Sandy.

According to WCBS News, Con Edison has cut electricity to 6,500 customers in Lower Manhattan.

.@conedison preemptively shutting off two underground networks in Manhattan--Bowling Green and Fulton Street networks in Lower Manhattan.
— Scott M. Stringer (@scottmstringer) October 29, 2012

Chelsea Building Collapse Hurricane Sandy

Across the street from 92 8th Avenue where building facade collapse just happened. (ok to use, plz credit me) twitter.com/MegRobertson/s…
— Meg Robertson (@MegRobertson) October 29, 2012

Fire and rescue personnel respond to a partial building collapse in Chelsea on Eighth Avenue, between 14th and 15th Streets. On local news reports, the building was shown to be missing the front façade of the building.

MAN 2-ALARM 92 8TH AVE, MULTIPLE DWELLING BUILDING COLLAPSE,
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 29, 2012

The building collapse took place less than five blocks from the former St. Vincent's Hospital. If people were hurt, they no longer have a Level I Trauma Center or full-service hospital at St. Vincent's since New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn approved the luxury condo conversion plan by the Rudin Family.

I see 8 fire trucks and many police cars and vans #sandy 14/8 twitter.com/gilgul/status/…
— Gilad Lotan (@gilgul) October 29, 2012

Crane Expert : Evacuate People And Let Crane Fall

WABC Eyewitness News interviewed Thomas Barth, a crane engineering expert, who said recommended that people living near the damaged crane attached to One57 luxury condominium should evacuate the area. Should the crane collapse, Mr. Barth said, that officials should allow the crane to collapse and focus on controlling the damage -- basically to prevent injuries and casualties.

Crane Collapse 911 Emergency Call System

Will the Hurricane Sandy crane collapse at the One57 luxury condo trigger a test of the 911 emergency call technology system ?

Damaged, dangling crane atop (for now) 1 57th Street NYC. twitter.com/jonathanwald/s…
— Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) October 29, 2012

The 911 call system has failed before.

Crane Collapse One57th Lux Condo At 57th Street NYC Hurricane Sandy

Wind gusts from Hurricane Sandy bent and folded over a construction crane attached to the tall luxury condominium building going up on West 57th Street. The construction crane is folded over and is now dangling in the sky.

Damaged, dangling crane atop (for now) 1 57th Street NYC. twitter.com/jonathanwald/s…
— Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) October 29, 2012

A large presence of FDNY, ambulances, and police have closed the streets around the high-rise. Hurricane Sandy has not yet made landfall, so weather conditions will continue to worsen. Wind speeds and gusts will make it impossible for rescue workers to stabilise or secure the dangling construction crane until after Hurricane Sandy has past and weather conditions have subsided.

Officials with NYC Office of Emergency Management issued a text alert, advising people who live in nearby buildings to relocate to lower floors.

Elites Demand Voter Identification, But Enable Citizens United Secrecy

Voter ID Double-Standard Hypocrisy Citizens United Secrecy Identity Cloaking

“Axis of evil” : voter suppression, gerrymandering, Citizens United, Electoral College. These ensure political influence for elites.

Battery Park Now Under Water Hurricane Sandy

Updated ! George Takei posted a photograph on Facebook at about 11:38 a.m. of Battery Park under water, which WNYC reposted on Facebook. Officials warn the public that the next high tide will be worse.

At 8:32 a.m., WABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News reports that the storm surge associated with Hurricane Sandy have now pushed sea levels along Battery Park in New York City above the concrete sea wall.

Meanwhile, Suzannah B. Troy posted a new video about the weather conditions.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Lower Manhattan Flooded in 1960 After Hurricane Donna

1960 Flooding Photograph Lower Manhattan Hurricane Donna New York City

In 1960, Lower Manhattan was flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Donna. Will the same thing happen to New York City after Hurricane Sandy makes landfall ? The risk of flooding is being compounded by the high tides and the Full Moon on Monday, October 29, 2012.

From The New York Times :

The hurricane center said through the day on Sunday that Hurricane Sandy was “expected to bring life-threatening storm surge flooding to the mid-Atlantic Coast, including Long Island Sound and New York Harbor.”