New Yorkers brave the morning commute after Hurricane Irene
New Yorkers brave the morning commute after Hurricane Irene
Steve Chiotakis: Water is rising quickly in parts of the Northeast upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, where flooding is a major concern. In other places along the East Coast residents are awakening this morning to billions of dollars in clean-up costs. In New York, subway trains are now rolling after taking much of the weekend off.
Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek Smith is with us live this morning from the Brooklyn Bridge
as she watches the morning commute, as New Yorkers get in to New York. Morning, Stacey.
Stacey Vanek-Smith: Good morning, Steve!
Chiotakis: So the subway just reopened — but still many delays — what’s the commute like for New Yorkers?
Vanek-Smith: Well, like you said, the subway is reopened but it’s running on a limited basis. We have four million people commute in on the subway every day, so that is a lot of people trying to work with some limited trains. We have talked to some people who are walking to work this morning because they just didn’t want to chance it on the subway. And then of course, a lot of people commute into New York from places like Connecticut, New Jersey and a lot of them aren’t going to be able to get to work — a lot of those trains are shut down because of mudslides and trees that fell on the tracks and things like that.
Chiotakis: Now Stacey, there wasn’t as much damage in New York that some had feared. How are commuters feeling about all the preparation and the hoopla over it?
Vanek-Smith: Well, some people I think are glad that we appear to have overprepared. I have sensed something like disappointment from some people who felt like you know — the subways were shut down at noon on Saturday, it felt like a lot of preparation — and it didn’t quite feel like it was as bad as we thought. But I think people are grateful but I also think there was a certain sense of — I won’t say disappointment, but of a lot of build-up to not such a bad storm as we feared.
Chiotakis: And what about people traveling to and from New York, Stacey — airlines and things like that?
Vanek-Smith: Right of course it’s a huge — it’s the most busy aviation market in the country between Newark, LaGuardia, JFK — those airports were shut down. They are back up and running, but I’m told with delays. And of course that’s a huge way that a lot of out-of-town travelers get to New York, and a lot of New Yorkers get out-of-town for business.
Chiotakis: Alright, Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek Smith, live from the Brooklyn Bridge. Stacey, thanks.
Vanek-Smith: Thank you, Steve.
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