Hello Irene

New York City is officially in Hurricane mode. All of the subways and busses have been shut down in preparation for hurricane Irene, currently a category 1 storm that should be hitting us any time now. Stores are closed, banks, Universities, restaurants, super markets, everything. The few places that remained open either have "X marks the spot" tape across their windows or are completely boarded up on the outside, like the Petco by my parents' apartment.

I want to say that this is a bit drastic, but the storm still hasn't hit. I do think, though, that boarding up to that degree is a bit extreme. After all, this is the Upper West Side we're talking about, not some po-dunk beach town.

Update:
8:35pm- lots of rain, but still no sign of a hurricane...

Sunday, 10:12am- What a monumental overreaction by EVERYONE.