<p>I understand they want to get their economy going with the casino’s but i feel like if i were going there, for whatever reason, and about to sink say 100 bucks into a casino, and I look around and see the devastation, I"m better off spending that 100 on supplies or as a donation. have any of the casinos offered to donate any of the money they make in the next week or anything? then again, maybe they need to make back some of the money that was lost this week.</p>
<p>The huge two-day annual New Jersey Educational Association convention that was scheduled to be held in Atlantic City on Thursday and Friday, Nov 8th and 9th, has been cancelled.</p>
<p>Schools in our district that normally are closed on the Friday of the convention are open on that day next week, to make up for time lost during the storm. They only opened again yesterday. </p>
<p>Just another couple of small ripples of the big, big, big disturbances in this area.</p>
<p>Sending lot of hugs and prayers to all those affected. I wish you could bottle the feeling you get when the electricity suddenly comes on after being off for so long…euphoria in one of its most extreme and concentrated states!!</p>
<p>Sometimes when I hear a mind boggling number, like 3 million people without power, it’s hard for my brain to process that many people. So I have a visualization I use: I have been to more than a few football games in Michigan Stadium which holds approx (and conveniently for my analogy, lol) 100,000 people. So when I hear a number like 3 million I simply visualize 30 Michigan Stadiums full of people all lined up one after another and get a real feel for just how many people that really is…it’s mind boggling :(! If you’ve never been to Michigan Stadium, pick a stadium you’ve been to, Google the capacity and then grab a calculator… For me as a visual learner it really brings the numbers home.</p>
<p>^^that’s a tough one post #900. Sometimes people are too close to an issue and the long view gets obscured. Or people get hung up in a crisis about what they “can do” and not what they “should do.” It was a risky proposition and perhaps the original decision making team were risk takers afterall the outcome could have been, look at us, we’re heroes, so resilient which was the argument that ultimately was made earlier in the week rather than the conservative approach which would have been to cancel it and take the position that it would be a drain on resources that should be focused on the adverse situations. The decision makers were probably focused on the participants more than the emblematic event that touches far more people nationally than the limited number of participants. And no doubt they were focused on the collateral cost benefit in a myopic manner. No one knew on Monday or Tuesday what condition the metro area would be like by the weekend. They took the risky approach…and it back fired in the court of public opinion. That is always the risk.
If you look back at PR crisis case studies almost always the conservative approach wins in the court of public opinion and over time.</p>
<p>Article in our newspaper. The two casinos in THIS state also have large hotels. They have been FULL since Tuesday…FULL. My guess is it’s not gamblers completely but folks who don’t have power (as these casinos are located close to the CT and RI shoreline communities who were hard hit.</p>
<p>Perhaps the casino hotels in Atlantic City will be able to provide similar accommodations to those without power in the Jersey Shore areas that were very hard hit and continue to have no power. </p>
<p>Hotels with power (and hot food) are at a premium in these locations…I just hope they don’t price gouge those who are already having substantial losses.</p>
<p>Treetopleaf, Mr Bloomberg doesn’t listen to anyone, and he is competely clueless about the outer boroughs (I mean he IS from Boston, right?) (That was teasing).</p>
<p>It’s becoming very clear that public officials are starting to panic about how bad things really are. That this might cost careers and reputations. So we are getting the “who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?” thing. I suspect there is some of that in this thread. When the tale is told, the “it’s not so bad” folks, politically of the elected variety, will be laid bare before all of us.</p>
<p>We are going to be ok. Just not immediately. And I want to thank all of posters for the kind words and good wishes. It really means a lot. I took a drive yesterday to my mom’s and passed an area that wasn’t hard hit. By which I mean no flooding. However, no power, impassble streets, no gas, no food stores, and block after block of destroyed homes. Staten Island is “the borough of parks,” which means lots of large old trees to fall. Last year in a regular thunderstorm a tree fell on my house and took out the porch. I think homelessness sucks whether it’s caused by a flood or a tree.</p>
<p>We’re being told that the remaining homes and businesses will have to be personally inspected before power can be restored on individual basis, and in a community of 500,000 people, I’m sure you know how long that will take.</p>
<p>Schools will reopen Monday, and the homeless are sheltering in schools, which means they will be even more miserable. It’s not armageddon, but it is pretty miserable.</p>
<p>My dictionary tells me that chaos means a state of utter confusion or disorder. I can’t imagine how anyone could disagree with that description</p>
<p>Don’t know how Bloomberg came to that decision but he based it on the fact that by Sunday it would not be disruptive to emergency operations, and as things stand now, he is right. But when it became apparent that the image (and that is what it is about) would be bad for him, he cancelled it.</p>
<p>And if you really want to know what was disruptive to emergency ops - it was people driving to work on Weds, Thurs and yesterday, clogging the roads and creating mass gridlock and then having the HOV - you have no idea how many emergency vehicles, power company trucks, etc.,etc., couldn’t get around because of the 3 people per vehicle. There were no allowances for them. It made it vastly more difficult in trying to get help where it was needed quickly.</p>
<p>zoosermom and others interested in Staten Island, here’s an article for you: [The</a> Fifth Borough: Staten Island After Sandy](<a href=“http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/11/the-fifth-borough-staten-island-after-sandy.html]The”>The Fifth Borough | The New Yorker)</p>
<p>That’s not right Emily. Taking the ferry and the Verrazano bridge out of commission and tying up traffic and wasting gas would absolutely have disrupted emrgency operations.</p>
<p>Here’s a story for you guys: about two years ago Mr Bloomberg (he of the grand vision -snort) convened a traffic task force. One of its accomplishents, for which he held a press conference, was to change a particular intersection. Four way intersection with an express bus stop in the right lane. Task force decides move bus stop to far side of intersection and make the left lane a turning lane. Sound great, right? Excellent on the computer. However, in the real world the busy bus stop placed into, not near, into, the driveway of a very large car wash. So the passengers were dodging moving cars, getting wet, women were harassed by the car dryers, and when it got cold there was a huge, deep sheet of ice, giving rise to multiple lawsuits. Stop was quietly moved back with no press conference. Point being that what may look great to bureaucrats at a distance often has no basis in reality.</p>
<p>by the way, I’m not sure if this was posted or not.</p>
<p>[Christie</a> orders odd-even gas rationing for some - SFGate](<a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Christie-orders-odd-even-gas-rationing-for-some-4004636.php]Christie”>http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Christie-orders-odd-even-gas-rationing-for-some-4004636.php)</p>
<p>there is a drop off point here for supplies which are being sent to staten island. Zooser, can you tell me what is most needed so I know what to take?</p>
<p>also zooser, my friend who has relatives in staten island just sent out the following note on Facebook -
attention staten island friends and family
if you’re in needs of clothes, food and supplies
senater andrew j lanza’s office is loadedd with supplies waiting to be distributed
3845 richmond ave suite 2a
please staten island tell your friends and neighbors in need.
a lot of drop offs but nobody is coming to get anything
718-984-4073</p>
<p>I’m not sure what truth there is to this or if anything is left but thought i would share with you.</p>
<p>Booklady, thank you. The boat in the first picture, the Caddell, is literally on the bottom of my block.</p>
<p>Fendergirl, blankets, coats, clothing for kids, canned food. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Soap and toilet paper, hand sanitizer.</p>
<p>**Governor Cuomo announced last night that self-employed, hourly workers who couldn’t get to work due to transit closures may be eligible for Unemployment Benefits. If you know someone in that situation, do let them know,in case they need to apply. **</p>
<p>[For</a> Hourly Workers After the Storm, No Work, No Pay - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/business/for-hourly-workers-after-the-storm-no-work-no-pay.html]For”>For Hourly Workers After the Storm, No Work, No Pay - The New York Times)</p>
<p>I came back to bold this, because there could be students, friends or relatives of yours in this situation. And if they are, they might not have the moment to read the NYTimes!</p>
<p>“That’s not right Emily. Taking the ferry and the Verrazano bridge out of commission and tying up traffic and wasting gas would absolutely have disrupted emrgency operations.”</p>
<p>No, it wouldn’t really. But I can understand from where you sit that you think it would. </p>
<p>If you really knew what kind of things and types of nonsense going on behind the scenes disrupting things it would blow your mind.</p>
<p>Emily it’s never about what CAN be done it’s always about what SHOULD be done. It makes no difference that earlier in the week the people in a position to make the decision believed it COULD be done. And it makes zero difference what the mayor thinks today. In a crisis everyone wants to feel like they are DOING something so the people close to the marathon probably totally believed they could do whatever it took to pull it off. It was a group on a mission with a cause to sink their teeth into so to speak. What they clearly did not hear or take into consideration was the perception about what they were doing and that is the critical distinction. I knew the die was cast when i watched the interview of the race woman in charge, she looked very uncomfortable and that in itself told me it was doomed from a public perception position. When I saw the race route I was even more surprised. When it actually leaked that they had a generator I knew it was doomed. There were many things the marathon team probably could have done to counterbalance the decision and actually run a marathon, so hopefully that group will convene and do a things gone right, things gone wrong and learn. Meanwhile in the grand scheme of things it’s one race on one day in one year that won’t happen so good to keep things in perspective. There are also opportunities for the future from a public relations aspect. Watch the interview with Matt Lauer with a critical eye and hopefully you can see what I’m talking about.</p>
<p>“What they clearly did not hear or take into consideration was the perception about what they were doing and that is the critical distinction.”</p>
<p>Which is what I have been saying all along. It became an image thing, nothing else.</p>
<p>I saw this article today:
[Hurricane</a> Sandy: Bar blown away by superstorm washes up after SEVEN MILE voyage intact | Mail Online](<a href=“Hurricane Sandy: Bar blown away by superstorm washes up after SEVEN MILE voyage intact | Daily Mail Online”>Hurricane Sandy: Bar blown away by superstorm washes up after SEVEN MILE voyage intact | Daily Mail Online)</p>
<p>
Yes it would. But I understand why you think you know what you are talking about.</p>
<p>What I will say is that you don’t know anything about me. You would absolutely be surprised at what and who I know and what my personal expertise is over a period of 30 years. If you saw the contact list in my phone, you would be shocked. Let’s just leave it at that, ok?</p>
<p>I know you mean well, I know your husband is a great public servant, but you realy don’t know what is happening in real time here. Please thank your husband for his service and God bless you for your support of him. It’s about to get much colder and stormier. Please stay safe and warm.</p>
<p>You’re still missing the point Emily. It doesn’t matter what could have been accomplished. Doesn’t matter at all. That is a very myopic point of view especially in a political arena and the reason why things like this happen, elections get lost and CEOs get fired. It doesn’t matter that they could clear a marathon path, that they could get the tents up, distribute water and goody bags, take in cash…doesn’t matter. The perception is all that effort could have gone to a greater good rather than a small group. Running the race sounded less like “we are resilient” and more like “let them eat cake.” But I’m done arguing. I do this for a living and this conversation is giving me a stomach ache.</p>
<p>Well. The bit I heard was, since most everything would be “back to normal,” why cancel the marathon? The police and city workers could be diverted to the marathon. People would have power, the crisis would abate. Everyone would be happy and could celebrate.</p>
<p>Say what? Forget image or who likes MB. The first services owed are to the constituents, with priority to those suffering. Let’s not get back into the p’ing match about people should have been prepard or this isn’t really sooo bad.</p>
<p>Em, I understand your perspective is different because your access to info is different. Perhaps it does seem that strides are being made, that various committees and teams can note their efforts and effectiveness, etc. But others are sitting amidst the devastation, seeing it first hand, experiencing the very real spill-over- and the magnitude. </p>
<p>Allow for the personal reactions, the confusion and the psychological effects.</p>
<p>Yes, “let them eat cake” has been rambling through my mind.</p>