By: Martin Rand, III
Date: September 3, 2011
This past weekend, I had two events taking place. My birthday and my cousin's wedding were taking place on the same day. So, it seemed like a good idea to go back to my hometown of New York City to celebrate. I could see my family that I haven't seen in years and I could see some of my old friends. It was shaping up to be the one of the best birthday weekends I've ever had.
Boy, was I wrong.
You see, when I went up to New York, I wanted to experience New York City as an adult. I wanted to go out on the town and not worry about bars or clubs closing down because it's the city that never sleeps. However, all I got was a city that was shutdown.
While my cousin wrote an invitation list for her wedding and I made a list of people I wanted to see, there was one person her and I didn't plan to see: Irene.
That's right. Hurricane Irene decided to come to New York City and rear her ugly head. Along with her raging winds and heavy rain, she also brought NYC to a shocking halt. With images of Hurricane Katrina running through Mayor Mike Bloomberg's mind, he ordered NYC's mass transit services to be shutdown. This meant no buses or subways would be operational. This is the first time in the history of the city this has happened, and it had to happen on my first visit to NYC in five years. Stores, restaurants, bars and clubs were also ordered to cease operation for the weekend to avoid human causalities.
The NY media kept talking about how everyone should stay inside and away from the windows. So, with all this uproar about Irene coming to town, I expected real devastation. Not that I wanted it, but I was expecting it. It's like a movie with so much hype before it's released. However, much like some movies with a lot of hype, Hurricane Irene left me wondering "What was the big deal?"
I understand Irene was doing damage on her way up to NY, but before she even got there, she was already a category 1 hurricane! The meteorologists and public officials still kept telling us don't be fooled by the category level because she's still dangerous. Well, in the Bronx (where I was staying), besides some fallen trees, nothing happened at all. However, the major damage was done already. My birthday weekend and my cousin's wedding were ruined.
While Irene destroyed my plans for Friday night, Saturday night and my cousins wedding on Sunday, it wasn't a bad time being up there. I got to chill with my brother, which is always cool, and got to see his apartment for the first time. I also got see some of my family and exhange contact information. Plus, since the city was on shutdown mode, I got to experience driving through those over-expensive city tolls for FREE. It was a minor thrill but a thrill nonetheless.
Also, my cousin still got married. Her and her fiance went to the courthouse and said their nuptials there, with a full wedding extravaganza scheduled for next June. As you can see, they scheduled it no where near hurricane season.
Unfortunately for me, I don't have the luxury of scheduling when I celebrate my birthday.
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