Her poor, tired, huddled masses are now just yearning for a working electrical outlet and a couple of gallons of gas. 

Harbor Island Park two blocks from our house.  

We were lucky.  Some fallen tree limbs, power out for only 34 hours, no water damage, and no structural damage to the house.  But we were in the minority.

Marty and Renee lost power on Day One and finally succumbed to the inevitability of a long cold dark siege--so they packed a few bags and came north from Long Island and settled in with us.  Seven days later and they're still with us.  Ellen and I are happy to have them, and it's been fun for us hanging with them--but they're getting  worn down by the daily grind of chasing unreliable information and living like (albeit, comfortable and secure) refugees. 

Not Ken and Nancy's--but a close facsimile just a few blocks away. 

Friends Nancy and Ken have a huge tree sitting horizontally across their driveway that took down the power lines--and except for a few trimmed branches to allow cars to get down the street, no progress has been made and they're still camping out indoors with no power or heat. 

Went into the city mid-week.  Got around the 3 passenger requirement by picking up a Guatamalan woman who works cleaning offices in mid-town.  She had her two children in tow. I saw her trying to hail a cab and offered her a lift.   Boss told her to come in or get fired.  Guess not all New Yorkers are mensches in a crisis. At first glance from uptown, all looked okay except for   traffic gridlock everywhere.  But there were two Manhattans.  The unlucky one was downtown and wherever  it wasn't water, water everywhere, there was evidence of where it had been and the mess it made.  

 From 59th St. Bridge I could see U.S. Army Corps ships on the East River pumping out tunnels (I assume it was the tunnels)  but didn't see many other signs of ongoing relief efforts--probably because much of it was underground, and conditions like the one on right were apparently replicated a hundred times over.   

Street vendors were selling everything from flashlights and cigarette lighters to cans of evaporated milk and pet food. Suspect a lot of things "Fell off the back of a truck" last week and the entrepreneurial spirit was in full battle mode.  Couldn't get around south of 30th st. very well, and absence of traffic lights made things a bit nerve-wracking.  

Colleague at work said her neighborhood at night was so dark you couldn't tell whether street in front of you was covered in concrete or a foot of water...until it was too late. 

Wonder if there's gonna be a lot of babies named Sandy come next summer?

But the true legacy of this storm is staggering loss and devastation.   NY Times this morning said 40,000 New Yorkers have been left homeless by the storm.  40,000! And that's just New Yorkers.  And probably a conservative estimate.    At work, the company has set up   a fund-raising drive for the American Red Cross, but I've been told that Coalition for The Homeless and Recovers.Org are two local organizations that are very effective in providing relief  in the form of food, clothing, shelter and other provisions. Been meaning to clean out the garage and attic for a long time...but think now I really will in hope that some of our collected and unused stuff could make a difference for those who've lost everything. 

http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/

https://recovers.org/communities