There’s a hurricane a’comin!!!  Yes yes, hurricane Sandy is currently blasting New York City with high winds and rain, but I feel like a kid who’s had a snow day.  As a result of the storm, New York City shut down the subway system, all bus routes, and trains, making it very hard for public transportation-dependent New Yorkers to get to their jobs.  The city has also been divided into specific zones, highlighting the areas expected to receive the most damage.  Zone A covers all low-lying areas and areas near water, i.e. the areas most likely to flood, and are under a mandatory evacuation.  My apartment is located in a neighborhood called Hudson Square near the Hudson River and is technically in Zone A.  As my apartment is just barely in Zone A, I decided not to evacuate and ride out the storm.  Here’s a map below of my general neighborhood (Hudson Square) and what the different zones look like:

So as I mentioned, New Yorkers couldn’t get to their offices today, forcing most of us to work from our homes (no free days off in this city!). That said, I yearn for this “work from home” lifestyle for many reasons. Particularly the fact that I could use my lunch break to go hurricane exploring! As I knew the storm would not get bad until later on (I could see cabs and joggers from my window) I took a 15 minute break to see how my neighborhood was preparing for the storm and to get a real version of what the storm was doing instead of the media sensationalism. I found that it wasn’t as apocolyptic as everyone said. New Yorkers being dramatic? I’M SHOCKED! *snark snark snark*

Check out pictures below and I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated from Zone A!

Floor to ceiling glass in office buildings

Residents are prepared!

Approaching the Hudson River

Very high waters overlooking Jersey

Not quite overflowing yet! This was at 1pm.

Facing lower Manhattan

A better shot of the water level

This guy in the orange was quite the dedicated jogger