Facing Days Without Electricity, Downtown Assesses Damage
Lower Manhattan woke up Tuesday morning to the aftermath of the city’s worst storm in memory. From the South Street Seaport, where workers struggled to appraise damaged restaurants and shops, to Battery Park City where most residents had evacuated (but to the surprise of many still had power), an eerie quiet hung in the damp air.
Although flood damage was severe in parts of the Seaport and Financial District, the biggest challenge facing most Downtown residents on Tuesday was the lack of electricity, which officials say may take several days to restore.
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Doormen like Charles Hall, working in the dark lobby of 310 Greenwich Street in Tribeca's Independence Plaza, said the most frequently asked question in Tribeca on the day after the storm was, “What is the latest on electricity?”
At IPN, which has 39 floors and no working elevators, residents huffed their way slowly to upper floors throughout the day using flashlights to navigate the dark stairways.
So far, damage from the storm appears most severe in parts the Seaport and the eastern edge of the Financial District, where water from the storm surge reached heights of six feet on several streets.
On Wall Street, between South and Front, maintenance workers were attempting to pump water out of the basements of several highrise buildings. The water had risen at least five feet and appeared to have broken windows on the ground floor of 111 Wall St.
"The whole basement was flooded,” said Peter Nissman, a lawyer who works at 100 Wall St. and said he lost numerous files to the stormwater. “We came by on Sunday to move them to higher shelves. I had no idea the water would go so high.”
The South Street Seaport’s historic ships had no signs of visible damage, but most of Pier 16—which had been covered with five feet of water—and Pier 17 were roped off.
Pier 15 appeared undamaged but the air there smelled heavily of fuel, and the water south of the pier was shiny with oil.
On Pier 17, Beekman Beer Garden and the mall’s loading dock had suffered significant flooding, said a Seaport security guard who declined to give his name. The end of Pier 17 is raised higher than that of Pier 16, however, so many ground-floor shops had been spared significant damage, the guard said.
“Nothing was as bad here as it was across the street,” he said, nodding toward Fulton.
The ground floors of most buildings on Schermerhorn Row had been flooded, and many of the side streets below Pearl off of Fulton also showed signs of significant damage from rushing tide.
Inside Il Porto, a restaurant at 11 Fulton Street, general manager Gloria Jamarillo surveyed the damage with shock. Water inside the restaurant had reached nearly six feet. Tables and chairs were overturned, stoves had floated and landed in another part of the kitchen, liquor bottles were scattered across the floor. A beer refrigerator that had taken five men to move into place had floated up with the tide and was lying precariously on top of the restaurant’s bar.
“This is crazy,” said Jaramillo, who had made sure the restaurant windows were taped up and sandbags were placed in front of the doors before the storm arrived. “I can’t believe it. Everything is destroyed.”
At the Blue School at 241 Water St., co-founder Matt Goldman said the water had reached “chest-high” during the storm. The school had moved all important items to the second floor before the storm, so now they just had a mess to clean up.
“As soon as the city is ready to reopen schools, we will be too,” Goldman said.
Battery Park City appeared to have fared the best of Downtown neighborhoods. Only one of the buildings in Gateway Plaza, number 400, was without power, because of flooding in the basement, said Robert Simko, a resident and publisher of The Broadsheet. Area residents noted with surprise both the lack of major damage, and the presence of electricity in the neighborhood.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Jane Dunsmuir. “It feels like we are in this magical little bubble here.”
The high winds had knocked over several large trees in Battery Park, including one in the children’s playground, which is currently closed. The normally-bustling area was mostly-deserted, but tourists milled around the park, trying to make the best of what they said was a challenging vacation.
“Our hotel doesn’t have any power,” said Orla Heffernan from Ireland. “There are no restaurants or shops open. We are trying to make the best of it.”
At the entrance to the Battery underpass, groups of tourists and residents climbed concrete barricades lining the road to try and snap photos of the still-flooded entrance.
In Tribeca, there were some downed trees and debris on the street, but fewer signs of damage than in other neighborhoods Downtown.
Morgan's Market at Hudson and Reade was one of three small food markets open in Tribeca. Customers were shopping by flash light. (Picnic Basket and Amish Market in Tribeca were also open.) There were long lines at all the open markets, with nearly 20 people in line at the Amish Market.
“We were stocked up but we were hoping to find any dollar pizza place, anything we don’t have to prepare,” said Nick Ludwick of 90 Washington, who was charging his phone at a generator next to the Amish Market. “This is literally the only place open”
At the Cosmopolitan Hotel, the staff stood around the desk lit by a single light. A manager said they were 90 percent full last night. The Conrad Hotel sent their guests elsewhere and was shut down. At the Downtown Hotel in Tribeca, a doorman said they have “a few” guests. “We got some food, we’ll be alright," he said.
Around 2 p.m., security guard Tony Alton stood at the base of 7 WTC, where water was being pumped out of the basement of a Con Ed station.
“They started this at 6 this morning and they still aren’t anywhere near being done,” said Alton, who spent the night at 160 Nassau with about 40 construction workers and others who got stuck Downtown.
“I’m just praying they will get this cleaned up as quickly as possible,” he said.
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