Slowly, the city is getting back into the groove, where it can anyway. This photo, taken just down the street this morning, shows how bad traffic can be with limited public transit. The MTA is running some subways and most buses, but the East River tubes are still out. Transit connections between Brooklyn and Manhattan are via “Bus Bridge”. Lower Manhattan continues to be without power, and getting around is, of course, problematic without the assistance of traffic signals. We got a taste of this first hand on Tuesday night while traveling through Manhattan (see photo of Westbound Canal Street below).

Traffic signals, however, are really not at the top of people’s minds whom have been camped out in their Manhattan apartments for the past couple days. Modern, city life depends on electricity, without it, many things we take for granted are rendered useless (e.g. elevators). Based on many of the reports I’ve seen, one of the most important things seems to be a way to recharge one’s device(s). Reporting may be skewed since those that really love their devices are most likely to broadcast the fact that they just recharged said device. Nonetheless, pictures of communal power strips and internet starved mobs surrounding coffee shops for free wifi abound.

It seems that lower Manhattan is coming back to life now, despite the lack of electricity. Shops and restaurants are finding ways to open and serve customers. I hope they get at least some areas downtown powered within the next couple days. This will go a long way towards restoring some normalcy.

Top photo: Andrew Gombert/European Pressphoto Agency via The New York Times, Right photo: Angela Lin.