Life ground to a virtual halt in parts of southern Manhattan still without power on Tuesday, but many New Yorkers seemed to be taking the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy in stride.
On Tuesday, a fine rain continued to fall even as the winds that toppled trees and power lines died down. The water that swept out of the Hudson and East River on Monday night had receded.
Across the southern part of the island, tree trunks and branches were strewn across streets. In some places shattered glass littered the ground, while in others scaffolding had collapsed.
The storm’s most severe damage however appeared to be mass power outages — and in some cases water outages — that began on Monday evening.
Many shops, restaurants and offices were closed on Tuesday. New York’s Broadway, one of the city’s busiest commercial corridors and a tourist hub, was deserted.
In the Tribeca neighborhood restaurant owners taped up their front windows to prevent storm damage, hiding their Halloween decorations of pumpkins and paper skeletons.
In the streets, the sounds of the wailing wind had been replaced by emergency sirens and the occasional whirring of a back-up generator.
Some determined residents were in the street jogging with their dogs, happy to be outside after a day cooped up at home.
“There’s no electricity at home but we have everything we need,” said Con Williams, 44.
“We were prepared. We have batteries, food, flashlights, water. We even have a generator,” he said.
“We are from Florida, we’re used to three to four hurricanes per year,” added Williams, an advertising executive.
“In New York, its more complicated, the city’s infrastructures are so old, it takes time to repair them.”
In the meantime, Williams was happy to take some time to relax and get some reading done.
“Advertising can wait,” he said.
Tommy Flynn, a 57-year-old photographer in a leather jacket, said he was also staying at home, and ready to deal with several days without electricity.
“My girlfriend and I got prepared,” he said.
“We got lots of water, dry food, batteries, flashlights and candies,” he said. “And we have nowhere else to go to.”
Kyle Kaminski, 25, was facing a double blow.
“We don’t have electricity or water,” he said. “The pump in our building works with electricity so it is down.”
Kaminski came out to visit his office by Canal Street hoping to charge up his computer and phone. Unfortunately there was no power there either.
He and his girlfriend were trying to find a taxi to take them to northern Manhattan where they could buy a few essentials in part of town less affected by the storm.
For those with few supplies at home, the first priority was finding food and water. At one of the few little stores open in Soho, people lined up to buy coffee and a bagel.
Getting around was proving a challenge for many, with a few lucky residents whizzing by on bicycles as their neighbors desperately tried to flag down a cab.
When Margarita Seeber, a nurse, spotted a slowing taxi, she broke into a sprint to catch it. Her boyfriend Francisco Albistor, 30, helped her flag it down.
The couple, both from Argentina and in New York for the first time, said the storm ruined their holiday.
“We arrived on Sunday morning, we didn’t hear anything before we left Buenos Aires,” Margarita said.
“We’re at the Mondrian hotel in Soho. There’s no water, no electricity. They distributed bottles of water. There’s nearly nothing to eat. We had fruit for breakfast and nothing last night. A cleaning lady gave us some bread and cheese.”
The couple were hoping to find an open cafe for a meal, and then planned to walk around Central Park, unaware that the iconic space was closed because of the storm.
Lower Manhattan struggles with power outages
