3:07PM, North Williamsburg, BrooklynIt’s getting really intense outside. It sounds like I am at the beach and really big waves are crashing right next to me but instead it’s just huge gusts of wind. The tree in front of my apartment is starting to sway so much that it is actually lifting the sidewalk up. It looks like the sidewalk is ‘breathing.’ The wall of the fallen construction site has officially been breached by the winds. It seems as though the entire construction site will come down at some point.
Called my local Dominos, they are still open and delivering. The roommates and I are debating ordering a pizza. I want to do it, it seems really funny. If we decide to order I will report back the delivery time (I imagine it will take 3+ hours to get here) and I will try to interview the delivery person. Also, my mother keeps texting and emailing me updates from Florida and I’m not sure, but I think she’s trying to scare the shit out of me. I mean, who sends an article “The last ‘Frankenstorm'” which includes a video of 1938 New England being ‘ravaged’ by a ‘frankenstorm’ to their son is currently trapped in the middle of a ‘frankenstorm’? Thanks mom. (Reader submission — Rion Harmon)
3:03PM, Murray Hill, ManhattanPre-looting breakfast. (Tao)
2:58PM, Battery Park, Manhattan Completely flooded. Pic from @newyorkist. (Brandon)
2:54PM, North Williamsburg, Brooklyn The wind outside my apartment is very loud. A weatherman says we have 24 hours more of this conservatively; says at 9 PM Battery Park is really going get hit. A lot of this damage seems to deal with a storm surge. That means the ocean is going rise, and its then going surge itself onto the land. So the ocean will become the land essentially. That sounds poetic. Flash flooding is just when it rains a lot and floods.CBSNEWYORK.COM is reporting this crane in New York City just collapsed. “A precarious situation,” they say. (Paul) 
2:52PM, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Wrote this last night while waiting for the storm. (Reader submission — Angie Atkinson) [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eQdrjrQTRk&w=584&h=390%5D
2:45PM, East Village, Manhattan. A sexy-sounding robot just called me on the phone. At first I thought it was going to be a woman asking me “Is the hurricane making you horny?” but alas, it was just Con Ed telling me that they might have to turn off electricity in order to prevent further damage. Then the sexy robot lady told me to turn off all major appliances. Is she talking about my fridge? Cause I don’t know how to do that. Genuinely starting to get nervous now. Hope my pizza arrives soon, as I have only snacks in the house. XOXO, Sandy’s Girl. (Ryan)
2:43PM, East Williamsburg, BrooklynShit. Not looking good. Con Ed is robocalling people below 34th Street in Manhattan warning that they might shut off power, which will include Tao and Ryan.
[tweet https://twitter.com/TomLlamas4NY/status/262986465053663234%5D
2:34PM, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Feel like I just heard somebody on the street in front of my house honking at a branch that fell in the road. (Reader submission — Ed Halliday)
2:26PM, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn Oh yeah, Koh? You want to take this outside? TO SANDY? YOU WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING OF THIS? MY CHILI DESTROYS YOUR CHILI. AND IT’S LEFTOVER FROM LAST NIGHT.
2:23PM, Irvington, NY Irvington, NY—Guess what, I’m making chili too. After I eat, I plan to walk down to the Hudson and take live photos from the scene. I’m hoping I don’t get blown away or washed away. I still have two slices of pizza left. I’m scared I might not have any left before 2 PM, which is when the weather is supposedly going to be at its worst. I don’t think any pizzerias are open today. Read a meme that said: “What if Gangnam Style is a giant rain dance and we brought this hurricane upon ourselves?” Feel 30% occupied with writing. Focused mostly on preparing the chili. No one wants to drink with me. It’s apparently too early and not the right time. Sandy says hello. She is knocking on my windows. I think I will be able to answer the age-old question, “If a tree falls on Main Street, will anyone be there to Tweet about it?” very soon. I have two jars of unopened Nutella, I don’t know where they came from. (Michael Koh)
2:22PM, Philadelphia Roommate says power outages expected to start around 4pm. Went to 7-11 to get some coffee, passed neighborhood bar on the way there. It’s still open but bartender smoking a cigarette outside said there were only two people inside. It’s early yet. Lots of bearded dudes with gauges buying forzen pizza at 7-11. Lady working there reminded me to buy cigarettes. I said thanks and left. So far, only rain, but its windy. Currently eating pringles and watching criterion collection movies until the power goes out. Hope roommate and girlfriend have board games. (Reader submission — Stephanie Blakeman)
2:19PM, Nashville, TNIt’s 46 and sunny here in Nashville. Not a cloud in the sky. Actually, the sky is the bluest it’s been in weeks. My office is carrying on like nothing is even happening. Meanwhile, I’m at my desk with 6 Sandy-related tabs open on my browser. As someone who has spent a majority of her adult life living in Southeastern Virginia, I am experiencing THE WORST case of Hurricane Envy I think is even possible. The last 10 months are the only 10 months of my life that I’ve lived “inland” and I didn’t think Hurricane Envy was a real thing until right now. The sunshine is literally mocking me. This is a real conversation I had with a co-worker this morning:
Me: Twitter is blowing up right now with everyone cancelling school/class/life back home. Coworker: Why? Me: Hurricane Sandy? Frankenstorm? Anything? Coworker: Oh, is that today?
I think I would be better off on the East Coast right now. (Reader submission — Mary Becker)
2:16PM, Chicago Here in Chicago we sort of feel left out. We all had to go to work, which was pointless for anyone working in finance as the markets are closed (me). Someone tweeted Lake Michigan may experience increased waves, and Macy’s is totally decked out for Christmas already. Just another day wishing we could be as exciting and newsworthy as New York City. (Reader submission — Brandon Hurst)
2:05PM, Kips Bay, ManhattanThe East River is lapping up the sides of Stuyvesant Cove Park. Cops were clearing out bystanders. And while drafting this, I got an automated phone call from Con Edison. They’re turning off my electricity soon. Signing off. (Reader submission — Kasey)
2:03PM, Murray Hill, Manhattan Going outside to buy coffee & loot soon. Asked what I should loot on Facebook & was indirectly told to loot Xanax. Will probably eat half a box of cereal before going outside. I want to grin at someone of a different socio-economic background as we both loot speakers & earphones. There was just a giant gust outside. Branches rustled. (Tao)
2:00PM, Lower East Side, Manhattan Our people back in Australia are panicking, without even knowing all we have in the apartment is water and M&M’s. We were hungover and didn’t believe the hype yesterday. Ultimate dumb tourist move. (Reader submission — TD)
1:50PM, Williamsburg, NYI have just returned from a ~20 min. walk to the liquor store. My umbrella flipped inside out pretty much the second I stepped foot onto the sidewalk, and yours will, too, if you’re one of those people who refuses to invest more than $4 on an umbrella. I carried the umbrella under my arm and walked to the closest liquor store. The walk was nice. It felt like I was taking a shower in some European apartment with really shitty water pressure, which I’ve actually done before. Anyway, the liquor store — I normally don’t shop there because a) it’s bougie and b) well… really, it’s just because it’s bougie. I don’t buy umbrellas for more than $4 and I don’t buy puny ass bottles of wine for more than $10 — are you trippin? But my options were limited so I browsed the store for what seemed like eight hours, picked up a bottle of Prosecco, browsed some more, put the bottle of Prosecco back on the shelf, and walked out. I continued on in search of a more reasonable liquor store and found one a few blocks away. I bought a huge jug of Argentinian wine for $12 and a smaller bottle of Prosecco for… like, $14. Don’t ask me to explain the economical logistics of this; I don’t quite understand it myself. The store was tiny and full of people who have their priorities in check. The storeowners were friendly — the owner told me that the huge cheap bottle of Chardonnay I bought was his favorite, though I somehow doubt this. Next I went to a bodega and bought some overpriced beer for $10. This is when shit got real, because now I was walking against the wind/ rain. If you walk somewhere today and the weather seems refreshing or whatever, stay wherever you end up unless you want to be all It Happened To Me: I Can’t Whatever’s Happening Two Inches Away From My Face. At this point, I realized that in carrying my various liquor bags, I’d dropped the umbrella somewhere, but oh well. Umbrellas are pretty much useless today, unless you have one of those fancy ones from London or whatever. I tried to take pictures of damage, but there wasn’t much going on, so I took one of myself blowing in the wind instead:
All in all, my trip was successful. I recommend wearing high-topped shoes that you don’t give a shit about, sweatpants, and a raincoat with a hood. It’s warm outside despite the wind so don’t go overboard. (Stephanie)
1:41PM, Times Square, ManhattanI just made out with Naked Cowboy. He said “hurry up before the weather gets crappy.” (Reader submission — Mar)
1:35PM, Murray Hill, Manhattan Slept ~ 9 hours. Seems very windy but not rainy outside. The leaves are rustling big-time during gusts but are almost still when there’s no wind, which is maybe ~15% of the time. Didn’t get woken up by anything outside all night. Dreamed I was trying to return a ~60 pound watermelon but no one was helping me & I didn’t have a receipt so I decided to “steal” it. Eating cereal soon. (Tao)
1:29PM, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Fishkind is weary of a proposed hurricane stroll after saying he wanted to do it yesterday. Wife is home from work and we are working at our respective desks. Listening to Andy Stott’s “Luxury Problems,” recipient of an 8.7 on pitchfork today. I like it. Took 1mg Xanax 1 hour ago, now chewing tobacco. Lauren isn’t aware of tobacco. (Adam Humphreys)
1:21PM, Ridgewood, New YorkHurricane Sandy has my gf in a baking frenzy. She just finished making us corn bread, twenty marshmallow-oat breakfast bars, and two loaves of bread. She wants to use gaffers tape to reinforce our windows — I am not so sure that’s necessary. We are playing scrabble on my phone- –the last word I spelled was bogus. It’s breezy outside — not so threatening though. A Con Edison truck is doing something with the electric box right outside our apartment — we still have electricity. Going to attempt to walk to the bodega to get some egg sandwiches, juice, and other last minute necessities. (Reader submission — J.F. Malta)
1:10PM, North Williamsburg, Brooklyn Unsecured ladder at North 7th and Bedford construction site. Hoping someone films it flying down Bedford Avenue and into a store window when the storm picks up later. (Reader submission — Rion Harmon) 
1:00PM North Williamsburg, Brooklyn While walking to the East River to get a glimpse of the action I happened upon a piece of my porch roofing in front of a diner ~1.5 blocks from my apartment. To get there it had to leap the giant building next to my house. (1st photo below.) When I first started walking, ~1 hour ago, it was really calm outside. So calm that it didn’t make sense at all the amount of destruction around my apartment (construction site, back porch roof ripping to shreds, etc). Then finally as I approached the water the wind picked up. Definitely some
