Monday, August 29, 2011

King Gloomberg, the MTA & the Irene-o-Con of 2011

Bloomberg's Follies: Shutting down the whole city. NOT productive. NOT necessary. Focus on Long Island, Staten Island and certain spots in the city like Battery Park but basically Bloomie seems to be in to the Big Hype. The Melodrama so he did the unprecedented. He shut down Manhattan Island.... at Noon.... on a Saturday.



There is a superb editorial from the NY Sun that adds even more to this scenario of Bloomberg's Follies.

"Lousy Snow removal: Error of Omission. Asleep at the wheel." Bloomberg shut the city down. (we have quite a few reports (6) and video on that fiasco starting here and continuing here)

And now, AUG. 2011, with "Irene"& the "Hurricane-of-the-Century" preparation looming, Bloomberg's "Error of Commission"  has SHUT THE CITY DOWN (again).

Bloomberg and his The Nanny State rolls on...


Day 1- Saturday And, OH, the ANTICIPATION....looking for the winds and rains....The Waiting. The Watching.



The "natives" knew this was a BIG over-reaction but not "Massachusetts Mike. He managed to hype the horrors of the Irene so well that NYC on a Saturday morning was a picture of ...well....FEAR.

Gee, thanks a heap, Mike.


Sat 9 AM. (This has got to be a first.) Restaurants in Manhattan with gobs and gobs of tape on their windows.

 IMAG0181 copy

SO MUCH TAPE.   (like we were in the Florida Keys)

IMAG0180 copy

Some prettier than others...

IMAG0216 copy

And the signs on the stores and theatres. Some mentioning the rains & the storm (though this sign seems a bit confused).

 IMAG0184 copy

Bottom line:  cell phones broken? Stay broken thru-out this whole day of impending doom.

IMAG0185 copy

And if you were looking for food or coffee. Good Luck.

IMAG0186 copy

IMAG0187 copy

Shake Shack had an interesting approach.

IMAG0195 copy

IMAG0196 copy

No theatres.  No audience. Means: No Sardis.

IMAG0207 copy

Ditto Joe Allens and its Bar Centrale.

IMAG0227 copy

IMAG0228 copy

Restaurant Row was so, so quiet as the dreaded HIGH-NOON approached.

IMAG0230 copy

The signs on the theatres had another approach. You could blame the rain or call it like it is: Nanny Bloomberg shut down the busses as well as the trains....so...NO SHOWS.

IMAG0206 copy

 The Helen Hayes theatre and the show "Rock of Ages" had THREE flyers of info. After all, keeping actors and patrons away from pre-sold shows. It's complicated.

IMAG0211 copy

IMAG0209 copy

IMAG0210 copy


Tourists who flew in from Europe to see Broadway shows. Nope. Nada.  NO SHOWS.

 IMAG0223 copy

P1200374 copy

Unless you want see "Girls Girls Girls". They probably never close.

IMAG0235 copy

Tthe Naked Cowboy had to make a heap of $$. Those pictures the tourists take with him. (5 dollah here, 5 dollah there ) It adds up.

IMAG0277 copy


The cars kept moving. And the taxis did just fine thru out the whole 'storm'. (Another financial boon amidst so much financial chaos.) So, Bloomie, why couldn't you leave a few of the busses running?? But, noooo. The subways, as well as the busses, were shut down at Noon (with the odd choice of lots of PINK ribbon)

P1200356 copy

Seems when you get off the trains (where-ever) you have to duck under the ribbons to exit (doing the Bloomberg doh-see- doh)

P1200355 copy

P1200361 copy


 If you're a tourist in particular. No place to eat. No place to hang out. No entertainment.

 P1200378 copy

So people (tourists and locals) were jamming at the few food and drug stores (and liquor stores) left open. Buying mostly, from what empty shelves I saw: BEER WINE and PRETZELS . Also, due to the crush, they were using whatever boxes they could find to carry their necessities to the check out.

 P1200381 copy

P1200379 copy


P1200405 copy


IMAG0291 copy

And the tourists? They just continued to hang around Duffy Square at 46th and Broadway. Looking for something to do.

 IMAG0246 copy

Taking pictures, of course:

IMAG0245 copy

Lining up to go into Eagles (the only store open on Saturday)

 IMAG0280 copy

And the new BOWL chairs...weighted and not likely to blow anywhere....were tied up up real real good...

IMAG0258 copy


IMAG0259 copy

IMAG0266 copy


And this being New York, one of those interesting street-fellows passed by (going who knows where) but instead of hiding from Irene in a shelter somewhere, he was moving ever so slowly walking uptown....

P1200388 copy

As the last of the busses passed by....

P1200389 copy

The street are empty. Quiet. Too Quiet...

IMAG0292 copy

It's going to be a long night. WAITING.

IMAG0293 copy

WAITING while the MTA is working, putting in at least 8 hours of OVER TIME  (at tax payer expense) shutting the whole system down. And we are told, come Monday, it will take hours for the MTA to get it up and running again. Three days of lost revenue for everyone but the MTA.

Me-thinks there be something a bit rotten in  Gloombergville (Be sure to look for the Union Label) 

Slide Show of the pictures (that I took with my cell phone) Didn't set out to take pictures but then,
I just couldn't stop. And NEXT up.

Posting on Day 2 and "Whatever happened to Irene".





No comments: