---found this looking for something else, but it's pretty cool. There's some gems in it.possible outcomes in NYC

still looking for what I want to post here on this, actual nyc great blackout stories....

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 12, 1999

Answers

New York City and the Key Elements of Its Infra-structure. Very little here about blackouts, but a thorough rundown of NYC infrastructure.

The "Blackout History Project" summarizes several events, and links to separate coverage of massive area blackouts in 1965 and 1977

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), November 12, 1999.

I was living in Staten Island during the 1977 blackout. It was the only Burough of NYC NOT to burn. The lifeguard got drunk and through a battery powerred PA system yelled "Everybody in the pool to keep cool" as there were no air conditioners.

Over time, the sky to the North (Manhattan, Bronx) and East (Brooklyn, Queens) began to glow red. It was so sad!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), November 12, 1999.

The 1965 major power blackout over most of the Canada-USA eastern seaboard/Great Lakes area was MASSIVE, and was front-page news on NOV 10/65. I just happened to be reading the Toronto paper a few days ago, and they had the "flashback" page printed in full for the front page of that date. See this forum for the post about the massive solar flare due to hit Earth on Nov. 15/99. It has already spawned. Also, we have the Leonid meteor showers on the 17th, which would NOT cause power problems, UNLESS we get a direct hit!

-- profit of doom (doom@helltopay.ca), November 12, 1999.

To zog,

While Martyn Emery listed my White Paper as a source for his New York scenario, I am not an author.

My White Paper is entitled: "A Call to Action: National and Global Implications of the Year 2000 and Embedded Systems Crisis" and can be found at http://www.gwu.edu/~y2k/keypeople/gordon

I did read the New York scenario in draft and made comments, but I can in no way be considered an author.

My White Paper which Martyn refers to under the heading of "Sources" does not address New York's specific problems and challenges although I personally regard those problems and challenges as being considerable. I do mention in my White Paper the need to focus attention and resources on major metropolitan areas, especially New York City and Washington, DC, since their continuing functionality would seem imperative for the global and national stability.

As of the most recent word that I have, the President's Council, Senator Bennett's Committee, and the Congress seem not to be acting on this call to action. At one time in the fall of 1998, Senator Bennett had indicated in a public meeting that he foresaw the Congress would be taking action in the Spring of 1999 to ensure the functionality of DC and presumably other major metropolitan areas, including New York City. That did not happen. In Senator Bennett's public remarks on C-SPAN in September of 1999 at the National Press Club, he did an about face and indicated that it was not the responsibility of the Federal government to ensure that New York City or any other metropolitan area in the United States remained functional. I believe that the text of his remarks can be found on the Senate Committee's website.

In those remarks at the National Press Club in September, Senator Bennett said that he was subscribing to the same principle that Mr. Koskinen had stated when Mr. Koskinen had assumed his role as head of the President's Council: That the responsibility for addressing non- Federal public sector challenges (along with private sector challenges) resided with those entities and not with the President's Council.

To say the least, I see the view that the Senator expressed in September and the view that Mr. Koskinen has expressed as being extraordinarily shortsighted. Were New York City and the District of Columbia to become dysfunctional, the impacts on public health and safety and on the environment could be catastrophic, no less the impacts on the national and global economies, social stability in general, and national and global security. These would all be affected as well were our other largest metropolitan areas to become dysfunctional.

In passing it should be noted that Martyn Emery has another scenario that is of great interest. It focuses on London and was commissioned by the London Police Department. It is readily found on the web. It is also listed on my List of References and Resources at my George Washington Univerity website noted above. The London scenario is entitled "Millennia Tragedy in Urbanville". London is not referred to by name. I find this scenario to be extraordinarily useful in helping public administrators think through what needs to be done prior to the rollover inorder to minimize the impacts after the rollover. That scenario has also been helpful, I'm sure, in helping a lot of DGI's get it. Of great importance, it can help people in roles of public responsibility identify concrete actions that need to be taken now.

-- Paula Gordon (pgordon@erols.com), November 13, 1999.