|
So
Thursday (8/15/03) was playin' out just like every other day; art
projects in the morning, jerk off, head to Manhattan around noon,
write at the coffee shop until 3 then head over to Union Square
to meet my friends. At about 4 I remembered an appointment I had
in Williamsburg, so I got on the next eastbound L to Brooklyn.
I don't know, I was probably sittin' there thinkin' about cleavage
or something when suddenly the train came to a screeching halt,
the lights went out and it was silent. Less than a minute later
a voice told us that there had been a power outage and that's all
we were waiting for. It started to get hot as hell. This old black
guy started sayin': Can you feel it gettin' hotter? Feel it? Feel
it?" Everyone on the train felt it and his constant updates were
the last things we needed so I told him to "eat shit and die"
...
in my thoughts.
As we
waited in the train car I realized that we could quite possibly
be stuck there for hours. I looked around to see who it'd be that
I'd choose to repopulate the world with... you know, in case it
was the end of mankind out there and only our train car survived.
None
of us knew what the hell was going on, and the same went for the
conductors. A good 45 minutes passed and people were starting to
get anxious. There were babies and old people on board and the rumor
was circulating that we might be walkin' back through the tunnel.
We were under the Hudson river, "in the tube" as they call it, and
no one had a clue how deep we'd traveled.
The doors
between the cars were unlocked so people started to move back and
forth between them. It seemed like a bad idea to climb out into
the tunnel in case things started up again, but before I knew it
bodies could be seen filing past the windows against the tunnel
walls.
It was
official then. We were walkin' back to Manhattan. There was no way
these cars were movin' with people on the tracks. Oddly, there weren't
any giant rats, roaches or infected sewer-bums roamin' around. In
fact, firemen were on the tracks directing people on the path.
It turned
out to be a fairly easy stroll. That's when we got the news that
New York was blacked out.
People
everywhere and no traffic lights
When
we popped out into Manhattan and people were everywhere, crowding
the sidewalks and streets, streaming out of businesses and crammed
into buses and cabs. I was so happy to be stuck on the island. I
quickly pushed my way towards Union Square where I knew my friends
would be.
It was
such a fuckin' scene; New York turned off electrically, turned on
emotionally. There at Union I met up with Skater Bob. It was clear
that here was where the party would be tonight. All we had to do
was chill.
This is Bob flippin' two birds in front of
the only light in town: an over crowded bus.
When
the sun went down, that's when the reality of the blackout set in.
The only lights in New York were from automobiles... and those shiny
things in outer space. It was the first time those shiny thingies
had shown themselves in decades over New York. And the first time
public urination had been legal in centuries.
Peering
down broadway from Union Square was wonderfully chilling. The street
went south into a cave of buildings, traffic dissipated to almost
nothing and people stayed in the parks leaving the sidewalks abandoned.
"That's what it'll look like in the end times." I told Skater Bob,
"When Jesus returns to earth for His Second Coming."
Then I laughed historically for a good 6 minutes. It was really
incredible.
There
was a different feeling in the air. I was pickin' up on girls, and
even conned a kiss out of a blond with a great ass (Eva, if you're
reading this I handed out all of your smoothy coupons to every Union
Square junky and told them to tell the staff "Eva sent me!").
Tompkins Square idiots leaping through
their bon fire
Bob and
I hung out all night, strolled over to Tompkins Square to watch
the idiots feed a bon fire with trash cans, bicycles, skateboards,
bottles and their own flesh. The cops were being really cool, letting
the idiots be idiots until they wore out or hurt themselves. Christ,
I wanted so badly to find someone to have sex in public with before
the sun came up. That dream still remains unfulfilled.
At 4:30
AM I caught a cab home. One of the most memorable sights I saw was
over my shoulder on the 59th Street Bridge. Manhattan was black
against the starry sky. I had to sing praises to the greatest city
ever. Now if only it could get me laid.
|
