The Little House I Used To Live In

An amazing video from last night of the transformer explosions at the East 14th Street and Avenue C Street Con Ed Complex in Lower Manhattan. It was shot from across the East River from Long Island City. This was only a few blocks from the corner of Avenue B and East 5th Street where I lived for 30 years. My old building was flooded and cars were floating in the torrent that raged along Avenue C when the tidal surge coupled with the full moon high tide created the biggest flood in Manhattan's history. A lot of the power had been shut down in Lower Manhattan already by Con Ed, but when the transformers exploded when they were inundated, I got a message from a friend in the East Village just about the time it happened and she said that there had been a few explosions that shook the ground and she was at East 9th Street and Avenue B. I think she lost all of her power shortly after. You can see lights begin to flicker and go dark. I'm sure if you are anywhere with electricity and media, you have seen Big Sandy's devastation. I've been following it because this is where I lived for so long and where so many of my very good friends still live. I just got a message from my buddy who lives up in the Bronx...he's okay, where he lives is on much higher ground, but he has been stuck at his job for the last 28 hours. No subway for days and he has no idea when the buses will start to run again.

This is what was occurring on East 14th Street and Avenue C
when the transformers blew up! 

Here's a picture from this morning from Avenue C and East 11th Street...a little closer to home and just two block from my friend, Virginia's apartment..the person who emailed me about the explosions.
And here's a soundtrack for you, Frank Zappa and the Mothers live from 1969 playing the composition, The Little House I Used To Live In and Aybe Sea


Finally, this is for my wife who spent a lot of time as a young girl around Atlantic City and expressed great concern about Lucy the Elephant. Sandy made landfall approximately 5 miles southwest of Atlantic City, NJ. That means Sandy came ashore in Margate, NJ, on the exact site of Lucy the Elephant -- a charming 19th century house built in the shape of a gigantic circus elephant. Lucy has survived the ravages of time for more than 120 years, but she sits just a block off the beach in Margate, so things did not look good for the old girl when Sandy struck. This morning, however, This photo of the site which revealed that Lucy the Elephant survived — and more or less intact. Incredible.

Lucy Still Lives!