New York: A Tale of Two Cities

Since Sandy hit New York, it’s been “A tale of two cities,” so-called by the American press in reference to Dickens’ great novel, which describes the injustices of the old regime, the build-up toward revolution and the terror (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”…). Below 34th Street, in the West, electricity has still not been restored for the fifth night running.

TV channel PBS has shown fearful residents at nightfall — 1.3 million people without electricity in New York and 1.5 million in New Jersey. The taxi queue to buy petrol is 25 blocks long. Half of the petrol stations are closed, either due to a lack of working pumps or fuel.

According to Patrick McGeehan of The New York Times, buildings without water for their toilets are starting to emit a smell.

CNN interviewed the president of the borough of Manhattan [Scott Stringer], one of the five districts that make up New York. He met people who were cold in the shelters. And everywhere people were asking him, in spite of everything: “Will we be able to vote?”

Uptown, it’s business as usual, save the traffic jams. The modern aristocracy is queuing up for iPad minis.

On Staten Island, on the other side of the Statue of Liberty, it’s even worse. The press didn’t go there right away (no ferry until today). For two days, the residents felt completely abandoned — without telephones, television or electricity. Houses are flattened and covered with mud.

Marathon preparations have been deemed obscene by many. The marathon was due to start on Staten Island, at a location near to where 20 people died, including two children, found yesterday, as their mother could not manage to pull them out of the surging water.

“I can’t help thinking that the generator installed to heat up the press tent in Central Park would be more useful elsewhere,” said the president of the borough. “I’ve seen too many people in queues for food.”*

The contrast was all too blatant. Mayor Michael Bloomberg cancelled the marathon. As for voting, citizens are invited to go to their local polling station. In its place, they’ll find an army tent.

According to The Atlantic magazine, New York has become a city of inequalities comparable to those in Africa. Last year, the richest 20 percent of people in Manhattan earned $390,000 dollars a year. The poorest 20 percent earned $9,700 dollars — 40 times less (compared to 38 times less in 2010). The magazine said that only a few developing countries, such as Namibia and Sierra Leone, have higher inequality figures.

*Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.