As dramatic as the contrast is between electrified and dark New York City in the skyline, the street level makes a similarly eerie transition as normalcy gives way to blackened street lights, dark building lobbies, murky delis and a lot of silent shutters.
You've no doubt seen pictures of the clusters of people, refugees from the dark side, gathered around power strips in stores with electricity, charging their phones and other devices. One of the more unexpected (and resourceful) power opportunities is on a block like the span of 42nd Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave. There are trees along with sidewalk with decorative uplighting -lamps that shine up under the foliage at night to make the trees glow. It turns out these lamps also come equipped with an auxiliary outlet that accepts plugs. So at every tree, all down the block, there are groups of people charging from the tree.
One guy was bent over trying to talk on the phone, his short charging cable plugged into the tree. Others found more comfortable positions.
