Last nite, the City partied until the wee hours. Afterall it was the last Saturday nite before Halloween and everyone was in the mood.

The party is over and today is a different story. Maybe its the full moon that will appear on Tuesday and cast its magic on an uninvited visitor, the second of its kind in 14 months due in town tomorrow. Everyone from the President to the Governor to the Mayor are taking her very seriously.

A year ago, Irene caused several billion dollars of damage along the east coast. Tomorrow, Sandy – dubbed the “Bride of Frankenstorm” by weather officials – considered to be potentially worse will come ashore between Washington DC and New York. The storm is bigger – over 1,500 miles wide – packs winds expected to be steady at 40 to 50 miles per hour and gusts to 70 miles an hour and is pushing a storm surge of up to 10 feet on top of already very high tides.

Unless you are in Time Square, which is a bit like Disneyland, the mood here is very different today and as the day goes along – now 7:00pm – there is an increasing sense of urgency.

This morning, Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg announced several very significant precautions:

• evacuation of almost 400,000 people from the “A” zones most exposed to flooding. These are along the outer coast, including Coney Island, parts of Long Island, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn. Storm surges and high tides may bring flooding to lower areas as far up as the Bronx. Even the Battery Park area of lower Manhattan, adjacent to the famed Wall Street, may see some flooding.
• evacuation of all subsidized Public Housing Authority building in these areas. To “encourage” people to leave they are shutting of the heat, water and elevators in these buildings. Not sure how many people are involved but these complexes are huge.
• schools are closed tomorrow and may be through Tuesday.
• the transportation networks of the MTA, including the bus, railroad and subway systems are being SHUT DOWN. Thats right, they are closing the subway system at 7pm tonite (Sunday) well in advance of the storm coming ashore. The reasons are the potential flooding in the system and the fact that the system is exposed to the elements in several places. It may stay closed through Tuesday!! When you consider that 4.6 million trips are taken DAILY on the subway alone this is a significant move. Given the dependence of this city on the subway and bus systems, this has to be a closure intended to impress the residents that this is serious.
• hospitals have been told to defer all non-emergency surgeries
• Central Park was closed at 4pm today. We were walking in the southern end of the park this afternoon – it was beautiful – but all of the facilities were closed and even the vendors were packing up at 3:00pm. At 4pm, Central Park Conservancy staff were actually directing people out of the park and were preparing to gate all of the entrances.

As a result of all of this, most stores started closing starting at about 4pm today. Signs on some doors say they will be closed through Tuesday. Even Starbucks is closed tomorrow. Where will we get our Tall, Non Fat Americano Misto?? Lines at the checkouts at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods and other grocery stores in our neighbourhood wound through the aisles making shopping almost impossible. There was little or no bottled water and no batteries. While no one knows what to expect in Manhattan, everyone seems to understand how to prepare. And all in stride and with a mature sense of calm.

Broadway theatres are closed until Wednesday, the Stock Market is closed tomorrow – although computer trading will continue – and most retail stores are closed early tonite and all day tomorrow.

New York is hunkering down, brought to its knees by Mother Nature. This may be the greatest City in the world, but tonite and tomorrow it is playing second fiddle to an uninvited and unwelcome guest. However, the City seems very well prepared and the advise for anyone needing information to “Call 311”. Take note Vancouver.

As for us, we have all the necessary supplies: 8 bottles of wine, some Halloween Jube Jubes, 6 bottles of water, a pound of Starbucks Anniversay Blend and the weekend New York Times that will take until Thursday to read. I may even get caught up on my blog. And if we have power, there is the gym in our building. So spread the word, we are fine!

And tomorrow morning we are going to celebrate with Pumpkin Pancakes and low sodium bacon. Life is interesting if nothing else. We asked for an adventure and we are getting one. Stay tuned . . .