I’m looking for a new apartment… in Manhattan. That’s my first mistake.

Thursday I found a Craigslist listing for $3100 3-bedroom apartment in Gramercy. “That must be a lie” my future roommate and I thought. We called the broker who had posted the ad and he said that we could look at it that night, but we’d have to meet in his office first.
I’m already very familiar with looking for apartments on Craigslist. The broker lures you in with a magical, but fake apartment. All of a sudden it’s “not as listed”, but he has several better, more expensive places for us! (Just sign on the dotted line promising 15% of a year’s rent.) This guy was no different.

It appears that except for a few remaining places on the UES, there is no where to live in Manhattan. Even the broker said so. “There are just too many people living on Manhattan who make a lot of money.”

Stop making so much money!

Photo of my copy!

No spoilers here.

I took part in the madness that was the release of the 7th Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I have been to every Midnight Madness Harry Potter book release since Goblet of Fire. This one by far outdid them all.

I went with my by biggest Harry Potter fan friend. We meant to the night off at a street fair In Soho, but when we arrived, there was a huge line just to get in. We decided to skip it and go right to the B & N in Union Square, where we had reserved copies. Starting from 5:00, they had events such as face-painting, wand-making, owl petting, and a rather unimpressive magic show. I was surrounded by Harrys and Dumbledores, as well as some more original costumes. After a while, we decided to head out for a quick drink and some theorizing.

Continue for costume photos and Harry Potter geek theories..
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With yesterday’s scare, one thing I took note of was the way rumors spread rampantly before anyone knew what was actually going on. At around 6:15, I walked from work to Grand Central, without knowing about the pipe explosion. Within minutes, we were being evacuated. Still in the proverbial dark, I asked a guy nearby what had happened. The conversation went something like this:

Noah: Hey man, do you know what is going on?
Dude: Yea, 11 buildings just exploded right outside!
Noah: Really? Do they know what happened?
Dude: They think it was terrorists. The President has shut all transit down. This is a mess! Get out while you can!

Stupidly, I believed every word the guy said. Once I got out and was about 150 yards from the steam billowing out from Manhattan’s cavernous underground, I asked a guy wearing one of those surgery masks what was going on (believing that the mask somehow made him official), and he told me that there was a train crash on the 6-line. That was when I realized the guy didn’t know anything, since I already knew the explosion was a good block from the subway tunnels.

It is truly amazing how rumors start, and how they spread. Did you hear any ridiculous stories before you knew the truth?

[photo courtesy UNC.edu]

I am looking at apartments in Manhattan and the realtor s taking me to the area in the 30s between 8th and 10th Avenues.

I have a question. I haven’t really heard of a cutesy name for this area yet. I always consider Clinton aka Hell’s Kitchen to be above 42nd Street and Chelsea to start below 30th and go to about 18th Street or even below. But the West 30s is just called “Midtown West” (MidWe is a possibility)..but how about WEstofGARmentDIstrict or WeGarDi….or NOt-QUite-CLInton — NoQuiCli……or BEtween-CHELsea-and-CLIinton -hmmm BECHELCLI — too tough to pronounce!

I had another idea I want to throw out…..we have Chelsea and Clinton, but somehow we are missing Hillary. I vote that we honor a possible future president by naming the area “Rodham” or “Hillary”…..or give Obama equal time and call the area “Obama Hill” (There’s already “Clinton Hill” in Brooklyn). I’m being optimistic about who our next president will be, but eventually we will want to honor him/her anyway..Washington has a Square and Lincoln has a Center. Let’s honor either our first woman or African-American in the White House. Not that I have any say in the matter, but send your comments anyway.

This photo was snapped last night from the 86th Floor Observation Deck of the Empire State Building. The Chrysler Building is in the distance. A peaceful view of an area that descended into total chaos only a few hours before.

I saw this masterpiece while walking in the West Village last weekend. Kind of shocking just to run into Renaissance style art in the middle of the sidewalk. I love unexpected outdoor art!

More on the steam explosion that shook Grand Central Station and the surrounding area yesterday afternoon.
The one reported fatality was apparently from a heart attack. There are still several seriously injured people who are currently being treated in area hospitals as well as injured firemen and policemen.

Con Edison issued two press releases about the situation.
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It looks like Old Faithful has moved to Lexington Avenue!

The manhole explosion looks to be a steam pipe explosion, and Con Ed is slowly shutting down the steam, but to keep other explosions from occurring due to the changes in pressure, they have to do it slowly.

There is a huge hole in the middle of Lexington, and it’s going to be out of commission for at least a few days. MTA has shut down the 6 train from 86th to Brooklyn Bridge, but Metro North says their trains are running fine from Grand Central.

As of now, there have been 12 injuries reported, none life-threatening. The NYPD and FDNY are advising people to stay out of the area unless you have to be in it. They are concerned about other explosions, possible asbestos contamination, and the integrity of the street and sidewalks in the area since there was a lot of dirt that came up with the steam.

I happen to be watching ABC, since no other channel had reporters on the scene, and both CBS and NBC went to the national nightly news at 6:30pm.

Update: The steam has been turned off and we can now see that there is a tow truck inside the crater. News agencies are reporting that one person has died and that at least two people are in critical condition.

Some friends just told me that there was an explosion in a building in midtown and that the area is being evacuated. I checked good old NY1 and they confirm that a steam pipe explosion occurred underground at 370 Lexington Avenue. Subway service is disrupted on the 4-5-6 line and the shuttle between Grand Central and Times Square. Some people are reporting that there are injuries involved too.

Updates to come: if you’ve been in the area, please post in the comments.

Update: There are already some photos being posted on Flickr of the explosion and its aftermath. (Thanks for the tip, Cybele!) The images on NY1 right now are showing big plumes of steam and lots of mud belching up from the ground. They say that the mayor will be giving a press conference at 7:45 to give an update.

Update 2: ABC is reporting that the area surrounding the blast is still a “frozen zone”, meaning nobody can enter the area. There is a list of affected subway and bus service as well as street closures on the ABC site, reposted below:

Subway and Bus Service Affected

# 4 service suspended from 86th Street to Brooklyn Bridge in both directions
# 6 service is suspended from 59th Street to Brooklyn Bridge in both directions
# 5 service is rerouted on the 2 line at Nevins Street to 149th Street
# 7 service is bypassing Grand Central
# The Shuttle is suspended
# Bus service is affected on the east side.

Street Closures

# Third Avenue is closed from East 38th Street to East 42nd Street.
# Lexington Avenue is closed from East 57th Street to East 34th Street.
# There is no cross town traffic being allowed from East 56th Street to East 41st Street on Lexington Avenue.
# East 42nd Street is closed from Park Avenue to Third Avenue.
# Park Avenue is closed from East 54th Street to East 34th Street.

Please comment either here or in Josh’s post if you have more information or if you were at the scene.

Law of the Universe #634792759: put something closeable and human-sized on the street, and someone, somewhere will crawl into it and get themselves trapped.

I’ve always been amused by the whole “remove the refrigerator door before you throw it away or else a child will suffocate inside it” thing, so maybe that’s why I also find it hilarious that yesterday a Brooklyn kid found himself stuck inside a mailbox.

I kid you not. A mailbox, people.

Um, federal offense, anyone? Clearly he’s a terrorist. I think there’s probably a cell in Guantanamo with his name on it–right next to a woman who tried to smuggle a big bottle of shampoo onto an airplane…