So you live in a Zone A area and have been told to evacuate—what to do about your pets? Take them with you! Because of the evacuation (and the imminent shut down of the MTA) you are allowed to bring Fido and Mittens for a ride on the subway. But before you pack up your four-legged friends (and other pets) there are few things you might want to do... more ›

So yesterday we had our first notable earthquake in generations, and suffice to say, we didn't handle it very well. Next month we've got the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and this weekend we're now being told to batten down the hatches in preparation for the possible arrival of Hurricane Irene (the city's tips on preparing are here!). But all of these visions of cataclysm have us wondering...has anybody actually bothered to make one of those "go bags" that we're all supposed to have? more ›

New York just had itself an earthquake—the first one that many New Yorkers have ever felt—and you know what we learned? Most of us aren't exactly sure what the hell to do in an earthquake. Sure, some people evacuated their offices, but many did so via elevators. And then they just milled about outside, leaning on buildings. So, now that we've all caught our breath, here are a few tips on what to do in the case of another one (as well as in today's aftermath). more ›

Con Ed is laying the blame on Mame Mother Nature for the two power outages this past week. The utility issued a statement saying that the 48-minute blackout on Wednesday - the one that hit the Upper East Side and South Bronx - was caused by a "strong lightning strike." This is what the Con Ed statement said:

Information obtained from real-time lightning tracking data show that detection instruments measured a lightning strike of 34,000 amperes in the vicinity of a substation in Queens at 3:42 p.m. on Wednesday, precisely at the time of the power loss. The lightning strike momentarily affected communication equipment that prompted circuit breakers on multiple transmission feeders to open, causing the service interruption.

Well, there's nothing like having a barely-one-hour blackout on a sultry weekday to make you consider stocking up on flashlights, batteries, water, and maybe a Go Bag. Con Ed is still investigating the cause of yesterday's brief power failure to parts of the Bronx and Manhattan; Newsday reported "the blackout was caused when breakers opened at an Astoria substation and cut off power to stations servicing Yorkville and parts of the Bronx." It's unclear why the breakers were opened in the first place. more ›

The OEM site also has a page of evacuation instructions that is intended for hurricanes, but we think it applies in this case. A Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder will tell you if your neighborhood is at risk from storm surge flooding or you can call 311 and ask (we tried calling and it works!). The city's Ready New York brochure is available for download in a .pdf format and in multiple language versions. more ›

The city unveiled its $30 hurricane evacuation plan ($30 mil sounds a little chintzy to us, for some reason), and Mayor Bloomberg said that the city will force people evacuate if "there is an imminent danger to their lives." In other words, we're not going to have a Katrina style mess. The city went through how different categories of storms could affect residents, with a Category 4 storm necessitating the evacuation of 3+ million people (with 34,000 city staffers working for 9 days!). And don't worry - public transport will be free in case of one of these emergencies. more ›

With the insanity of this transit strike, Gothamist can only wonder if more people will buy bikes, Rollerblades, scooters, and, yes, even skateboards and Segways. But the bike we think will get the biggest bump might be the Dahon Folding Bicycle. We spied someone riding one yesterday, and it is a perfect city bike for a subwayless commute, as it's fairly compact enough to store in the apartment and it's probably small enough to stow under your office desk. We're actually thinking of getting one and strapping a Go Bag to it, you know, for when the tsunami hits Manhattan. more ›

We were a little surprised when we read that the Transit Workers Union had distributed disaster kits to bus and subway workers, because Gothamist thought that they would at least have flashlights available in case of an emergency. According to the Daily News, "The emergency kits include a screwdriver a knife, whistles, candles, matches, light sticks, a poncho, two bottles of water, granola bars, work gloves, a 12-in-1 pocket tool with pliers, a flashlight with a built-in radio and siren, and a lightweight blanket that is not much larger than an index card when folded." That sounds like a magic blanket! Seriously, you'd think that transit workers would be armed with flashlights or light sticks - especially the ones that work underground. The Transit Workers Union has been complaining that the MTA has lagged behind in preparing employees in case of an emergency (the MTA did distribute anti-terror booklets, though). As ever, the News tops off the story by saying the MTA doesn't think there's a policy against workers bringing the kits with them. It's time like these Gothamist is glad our boss will let us have a Go Bag in the office...even if we don't actually have a Go Bag. more ›

- It's the first day of school for NYC public school students, teachers and parents more ›

A survey says more than half of New Yorkers are ready to deal with an emergency, such as a terrorist attack or big natural disaster. Marist College's poll found 55% of people polled have a bag ready, and half have a plan for what to do. And when we read that, Gothamist started to freak out that we didn't have a plan or a Go Bag! We plan to use our wiles, grab our water and Mag-Lite and live like the rats and roaches in case of an emergency. Although those Dahon folding bikes look pretty sweet. more ›

How do you stay safe? We think that McGruff the Crime Dog's tips for safety for women actually have great application to mean. The "scary NY" (think dirtier, grittier) is the New York seen in Midnight Cowboy, Panic in Needle Park, Serpico or Crocodile Dundee. And those who think that Sex and the City is NYC: In one episode, Carrie was mugged for her purse and shoes. For more "scary" city stories, check the archives of Scary NY. People - just because you have a cellphone doesn't mean you're safe. And our own Laren teaches a self defense class at Prepare and reminds us that there's an open house/graduation on Tuesday, 8:00 pm at 147 W. 25th St. (between 6th & 7th Avenues). Another new resource for getting home safe is Right Rides. more ›

What's in my Go Bag? Not Gilbert Gottfried, I can assure you. (A better question might be, "What's in my Go Cup?") more ›

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99162,00.html">been around for a while.
more ›

The team at Gothamist Food will be sans internet for the long weekend, so we wanted to make sure you were all set with food ideas and options for the next few days: more ›

Gothamist, like many other New Yorkers, will be strategically avoiding the various lifestyle headaches that promise to accompany the Grand Old Party to our beloved city. For those natives fleeing the island as the Republicans descend, we'll take a page from the administration's book and offer our suggestions for a Gothamist Food "Go Bag" stocked with some of our favorite hometown provisions: more ›