Smallpox?

[Declan McCullagh]

On Wed, Sep 26, 2001 at 10:12:29AM -0700, Tim May wrote:
> (I note that most of the CNBC reporters I see everyday talk about their 
> commutes in from outlying areas, mostly in areas of New Jersey about 
> 15-50 miles west of NYC. And no doubt many who work in NYC choose to 
> live in Connecticutt, out on Long Island, etc. New York folks certainly 
> know more about this than I do.)
> 
> I wonder if these attacks, with more to come, will push more people into 
> what social theorists have been talking about for decades, the flight 
> from the city.  In recent years, much has been made of the reverse 
> flight, the gentrification of former ghetto areas in cities. This trend 
> may reverse yet again.

A relative of mine works in midtown Manhattan and lives in the
city. He has a 20 minute subway commute each morning, which is what I
had when I worked at Time and other jobs in downtown DC. Perfectly
reasonable, by city standards.

A friend emailed me this yesterday:

>Guess what? There are massive police checkpoints >going into
>New York City today (maybe out of the city as >well?). People are
>reporting it's taking them 5 1/2 hours to get from >Queens
>to Westchester, etc.  Traffic had re-normalized a >bit before
>this.

My relative added this:

>Still quite evident this morning. Brooklyn Bridge, which was opened,
>is again closed to emergency traffic only. Sharp increase in police on
>underground from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

I spoke with a cpunk today on the phone, who told me that one of the
two tunnels (Lincoln or Hudson, don't remember which) connecting
Manhattan with the rest of the world to the west was still closed to
all but emergency vehicles. That leaves one tunnel and the GW bridge
to the west, with the Brooklyn bridge closed to the east. Couple that
with serious car searches and the resulting delays, and you've got a
very good reason to move far away.

In DC, things aren't that bad. Road closings near the Pentagon (I-395)
have snarled traffic in the area and led to Metro opening at 4:30 am
to get people to work on time. But coming in and out of the city
through other routes outside of rush hour, which I've done twice this
week, is same as usual.

-Declan