In Lower Manhattan, Still Feeling the Effects of the Storm

Never before has the divide between uptown and downtown in Manhattan been starker. Or darker.

On Tuesday, as New Yorkers coped with their first post-Hurricane Sandy night without power, the dividing line between north and south in the city was 25th Street.

South of 25th, the streetlights on the West Side were not working, and the buildings were completely dark. There seemed to be no stores there, no Starbucks, no places to charge a phone and no idea when the lights would go back on. South of 25th, the effects of the storm were deeply felt. Not so uptown.

"I just biked down from Hell's Kitchen, and it is like a Friday night up there," said Chris Degner, who lives in TriBeCa. "And then you get down here and it is like entering a zombie movie."

He had been at a bar in Midtown called Valhalla. He struggled to describe what it was like to go from a "pub that is packed elbow to elbow" to streets where people are scrambling to find a way to find spare candles and were worried about locating a bag of ice.

There were no official charging stations in Chelsea or the West Village, so people congregated around a CNN satellite truck doing live shots outside the building on Eighth Avenue that had its facade ripped off in the hurricane.

Bernada Pupovic, 21, had waited an hour to get her iPhone plugged into the power strip running from the truck.

"I am at 25 percent," she said, finally getting needed juice. By mutual agreement, the people there had somehow decided that when someone filled up to 50 percent, it was time to unplug and let the next person go.

But even if they did manage to get a charge, cellphone reception in much of downtown was spotty or nonexistent.

"Everyone is helping each other out," she said. "It is pretty cool."

In fact, much as it was during the blackout of 2003, the mood was calm and curious in many parts of the city.

What people really hungered for was information. Few seemed to know that the blackout could last for days and, when told that was the case, worried that the mood may change. And many said they recognized that other people were suffering from more than low cellphone batteries.

But on Tuesday night, many people seemed to be taking things in stride.

David Labarbera, 32, and Erica Sauer, 32, found a little bar, Bunga Den on 14th Street, that was lit by candles and serving drinks. They relaxed with a glassbefore heading home to darkness.

"It is amazing how peaceful and quiet the city can get," Ms. Sauer. "Really, it is wild to see the city just turn off."

Mr. Labarbera agreed.

"I am really not scared," he said. "But in the back of my mind I know something bad could happen."

The only lights on many blocks came from passing cars and emergency vehicles. On some corners, there were flares that cast the streets in an eerie red glow.

Susan Lietz, who lives on Horatio Street, said she felt better walking outside with her two dogs, Buster and Teddy.

For one night, she said, the darkness was tolerable.

"It seems really pretty serene, if a little creepy," she said.

Just as she spoke, someone set off fireworks nearby. She just smiled.

"The 9/11 blackout was messed up," she said. This one, she said, not so much.

She had water and gas and, with her building's buzzer not working, had even rigged up a doorbell on her apartment by hanging a string from her sixth-floor apartment with a weight on one end and a bell on the other.

Aside from an occasional bar, few shops were open. In some corner delis, workers told customers they would stay open because they were sleeping in the store. But they were quickly running out of supplies.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, at an evening news conference, said the city would be adding extra police to the blacked-out area, and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said that there would be lights to help illuminate streets.

Jane Kelly, 24, who was having a drink at Hudson Bar and Books, said she was not worried, but added that she would not go across town.

"It's the West Village," she said. "It is pretty relaxed."

Still, one night was enough. On Wednesday, she was planning on going to stay with a friend in Brooklyn.

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