We Blog

On Wednesday Brooklyn got nearly 3.5″ of rain in a little more than an hour. An F2 tornado touched down in Bay Ridge. Mass transit was flooded. When I got up around 10:30am and turned on the news, not a single subway line was running normally. As of that moment, I couldn’t get into the city by train. And information on where service was being restored was hard to come by. Buses were overcrowded and stuck in traffic. Many people walked. Fortunately by the time I went to work around 3, things were better and it took my normal ~30min to commute (although the trains were PACKED and there was no A/C on a 94 degree, humid day).

But it raised some serious concerns. In the worst weather, when we most need sheltered, quick transportation, me and many New Yorkers seem to be out of luck in terms of getting around. It brings to mind last year’s MTA strike, when we heard those horror stories of elderly people walking miles in the freezing cold. Our apartment is about 4-5 miles from work, which is certainly walkable, but not as easy under extreme weather conditions. I heard a lot of city officials say “New Yorkers are resilient,” so I guess I just cross my fingers and hope I’m enough of a New Yorker to deal with it when it happens again.

The bodega around the corner gets its fresh bread delivered every day at 9pm. Curtis and I have made a habit of walking over there for a hot pastrami sandwich when I get home from work around 1am. For $4.75, plus two $0.99-cans of Arizona Iced Tea, we get dinner for two for less than $7.

In other news, I’ve been in more thundershowers in my three months here than I have in my other 24 years in California. It rains suddenly and inexplicably all the time. 87 degrees and sunny. Rain. 75 degrees and overcast. Lightning. I can’t predict it, I’m always unprepared, there’s no good way to dress for it. I’m constantly opining incredulously about how “crazy” the weather is. Fortunately my hair hasn’t been as off-put as the rest of me.

I just put down The Great Gatsby (re-reading after 5-10 years) to polish off a bottle of Moon Mountain Sauvignon Blanc with Curtis, paired with bee stings (custard-filled honey buns) from Sweet Melissa.  Before that, we headed to Union Market to pick up some fresh ingredients to make spicy chicken tacos (Curtis made them) with guacamole (I made it!) and corn relish (looked good at the market). We cooked and ate and drank and listened to music, and it was all a fitting prelude to my Gatsby revival. I’d also like to note that the Gatsby purchase came from a HUGE bookstore called Strand, on 12th St. and Broadway in Manhattan. Austin and Susana, some of my more literary friends, tipped me off to its existence. I got the book for $5.95, and an awesome logo tote for not much more than that. I think Fitzgerald would approve of the day’s activities.