Category: Misc.

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Misc.

Hurricane Sandy NYC Update (Mid-Day Monday, Oct. 29): Storm Strengthens, Should Make Landfall Tonight

Note: Go to the home page or click the Hurricane Sandy tag for more recent posts.

2012 10 29 cuomo sandy presser
Above: New York Governor Cuomo at a press conference this morning.

A quick update as of 1:45 p.m. today (Monday):

Summary

Hurricane Sandy is getting stronger and should make landfall late tonight (Monday).

The New York Times reports:

Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall that is expected to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states in the Northeast, with widespread power failures, a halt in transportation systems and extensive evacuations.

The Wall Street Journal says:

Hurricane Sandy strengthened again late Monday morning, packing 90-mile-an-hour winds, and was expected to make landfall near the New Jersey-Delaware border Monday night, unleashing life-threatening storm surges along the Eastern Seaboard.

Here’s what Broadway near Columbia University looked like at about 1 p.m. today. It was windy and there was a light rain, and there weren’t many cars on the street.

2012 10 29 hurricane sandy broadway

New (to me) Map

2012 10 29 wsj hurricane sandy tracker

The WSJ has a hurricane tracker map, seen above.

Other Stuff

Twitter

As I noted in my previous post, I’m maintaining a Hurricane Sandy NYC Twitter list. It has 16 members, and I’ll be updating it in the days ahead.

Reminder: For updates, you can follow me on Twitter: @newley.

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Misc.

Hurricane Sandy NYC Update (Sunday Evening, Oct. 28): The Storm Approaches

Note: Go to the home page or click the Hurricane Sandy tag for more recent posts.

Update, Oct. 29: edited the title of this post to correct the date.

Here’s the latest as of 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. (You can find previous posts via the Hurricane Sandy tag.):

2012 10 28 grocery store sandy

Summary:

  1. The city’s subways, trains, and buses have ceased operation, and many people are evacuating the NYC metropolitan area, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  2. The storm is expected to make landfall, perhaps in central New Jersey, late Monday. (See this New York Times interactive map and the National Hurricane Center site.)
  3. NYC residents continue to prepare for the storm. Folks have been stocking up on goods ahead of the storm’s arrival. This was the scene, above, at a grocery store I visited this evening. The line for the cashiers stretched around the interior of the shop, with items like water and bread in short supply. But the atmosphere was calm and orderly.

New Maps

2012 10 28 nyt hurricane sandy evacuation zones

The New York Times has a good interactive feature (pictured above) showing NYC’s hurricane evacuation zones.

2012 10 28 hurricane sandy NASA

Here’s a NASA image, above, showing the hurricane from space.

2012 10 28 hurricane sandy weather underground tracking

This Weather Underground tracking map, above, shows the hurricane’s projected path over the coming days.

Google.org has a map showing evacuation centers, possible storm surges, Red Cross emergency shelters, and more.

Other Stuff

Twitter

Reminder: Here’s my Hurricane Sandy NYC Twitter list, which has 13 feeds and counting. I’ll be adding to the list in the days ahead.

And as always, for updates, you can follow me on Twitter: @newley.

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Misc.

Hurricane Sandy NYC Update (mid-day Sunday, Oct. 28): Evacuation Ordered for Costal Areas, Subway Service to Stop Tonight

Note: Go to the home page or click the Hurricane Sandy tag for more recent posts.

2012 10 28 nyc zone A sandy

Here’s the latest on Hurricane Sandy as of 2 p.m. today (Sunday):

Other stuff:

Photo

Here’s a picture I snapped in a drug store near Columbia University yesterday (Sat.) in the early evening. You can see that folks have been buying lots of water. Flashlights and batteries were also going fast. (And beer, too!)

Here’s some detailed info from the WSJ on what folks in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut can expect:

Manhattan: Rain beginning Sunday evening, peaking Monday evening and continuing through Thursday. Winds peaking between 45 and 50 mph, with gusts to 70 mph between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning — up to 90 mph on the higher floors of skyscrapers. Storm surge between 5 and 8 feet in “Zone A,” especially in Battery Park and along the East Side. Storm surge may inundate subways and other critical infrastructure. Overview: Those living above the 10th floor in skyscrapers may want to find shelter in lower floors. Winds increase with height in a hurricane and could be significantly stronger than on ground level. Be cautious about sleeping near a window on Monday night. Do not walk outside on Monday evening, as there could be significant amounts of airborne debris flying around. Rain totals 4-8 inches.

2012 10 28 sandy space noaa

Above is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) map of Hurricane Sandy seen from space.

For perspective, here’s an Atlantic story worth checking out: “Why Sandy Has Meteorologists Scared in 4 Images.”

Twitter

I mentioned, in my previous post, some Twitter feeds to follow.

I’ve included them and added some others to this Hurricane Sandy NYC Twitter list. I’ll be adding to the list in the days ahead.

And as always, for updates, you can follow me on Twitter: @newley.

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Misc.

Tracking Hurricane Sandy as it Approaches NYC (Sat., Oct. 27)

Note: Go to the home page or click the Hurricane Sandy tag for more recent posts.

2012 10 27 sandy

Updated Sat. at 7:45 p.m.

Here are some resources for following Hurricane Sandy as it approaches New York City.

(Additional locations will also be affected by the hurricane and the accompanying “Frankenstorm,” of course. But I’ll be focusing on the metropolitan area since I’m here in uptown NYC.)

The latest:

Maps

2012 10 27 sandy wnyc map

WNYC.org has a helpful map, above, that shows NYC evacuation zones. (You can also access the map directly via this link.)

The Times has an interactive map showing the storm’s potential path.

The Associated Press has also put together a good interactive map (featured at the top of this post).

Local and federal government Web sites

Some local and federal government Web sites worth bookmarking:

  • NYC.gov — Official New York City site
  • MTA.info — New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority
  • FEMA.gov — Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • Weather.gov — National Weather Service

    • Other sites and blogs

    • The Huffington Post has a liveblog.
    • The New York Times‘s Lede Blog has been providing updates.

    Disaster preparedness

    The Weather Channel has suggestions for a disaster supply kit.

    And WNYC.org has suggestions for an “urban survival kit.”

    Twitter accounts and hashtags to follow

    Some Twitter accounts and hashtags you might want to follow:

    Hashtags:

    Note: I’ll be posting more developments as they arise.

    In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter: @newley.

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    Misc.

    Notes from Tonight’s Presidential Economic Advisers Forum

    Here are my Tweets, in reverse chronological order, from the Presidential Economic Advisers Forum 2012, which took place at Columbia University here in New York tonight.

    On hand were Mitt Romney’s Senior Economic Adviser, R. Glenn Hubbard, and Jeffrey Liebman, who holds that position under President Obama.

    Columbia president Lee Bollinger made some introductory remarks. Reuters’s Chrystia Freeland moderated, and the panelists included Joseph Stiglitz, Sharyn O’Halloran, and Michael Woodford.

    My overall impression: Both advisers were, naturally, measured in their remarks. Those familiar with the business and economics arguments involved in the presidential race probably won’t find much surprising here. But it may be interesting to see how the campaigns continue to frame the issues.

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    Misc.

    The U.S. Economy and the Presidential Election

    Update 2: I’ve replaced the final chart with one that shows long-term real GDP growth per capita.

    Update 1: I’ve corrected the debate kickoff time, below.

    The U.S. economy is, of course, at the center of this year’s presidential race.

    As the first 2012 presidential debate approaches tonight (it begins at 8 p.m. 9 p.m. eastern), pundits and voters — not to mention, ahem, business journalism students — have been examining U.S. economic issues and the positions taken by President Obama and Mitt Romney.

    To sum up: Romney and his team say that Obama’s economic policies have failed to adequately lift the U.S. economy out of the 2000-2009 recession.

    Among other data, they point to the ongoing high unemployment rate, which is currently at 8.1 percent:

    Obama’s critics also note the U.S.’s slow economic recovery in terms of real GDP.

    The American economy expanded by just 1.3 percent during the second quarter this year:

    2012 10 02 us gdp

    In the debate tonight, Romney will also likely focus on the U.S. deficit. He says Obama would need to employ tax increases to pay down the debt in the years to come.

    Obama and his supporters, meanwhile, have been pointing out just how severe the “Great Recession” was. They say the recovery is happening (albeit slowly).

    The recession was, indeed, the worst downturn since the Great Depression in terms of unemployment and GDP.

    Here’s the GDP data for the last few years a look at long-term per capita real GDP growth from the 19th century through 2009. Check out the dip after the Great Depression and the downturn after 2008:

    2012 10 03RealGDPperCapita

    (Graph via the excellent VisualizingEconomics.)

    Team Obama notes that private sector jobs have been on the rise for 30 straight months.

    The president will likely point out this evening that the auto bailout saved more than one million jobs.

    As it happens, in my business seminar class, we recently discussed notions of the economic consensus. While many economists have many different opinions, there’s actually a lot that most agree on.

    Here’s an interesting 2009 blog post from Harvard economist Greg Mankiw called “News Flash: Economists Agree.”

    A few points from his post:

    Fiscal policy (e.g., tax cut and/or government expenditure increase) has a significant stimulative impact on a less than fully employed economy. (90%)

    Obama will say taxes need to be raised on the very wealthy; as part of the supply side argument, Romney will argue that tax cuts for most voters are the way to go.

    How about this one? I doubt Obama will mention this as he criticizes Romney for outsourcing jobs:

    The United States should not restrict employers from outsourcing work to foreign countries. (90%)

    And here’s one for Romney:

    A large federal budget deficit has an adverse effect on the economy. (83%)

    That’s it for now. More on some of these topics in future posts, I’m sure.

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    Misc.

    A Few Notes After My First Week of Classes

    20120909-221229.jpg

    An update from NYC:

    Classes have started and I now officially find myself in the somewhat surreal and thrilling position of being, once again, a full time student. (See photo above.)

    My first week of school has been stimulating. I’ve enjoyed meeting my fellow MA program classmates — about half of whom are international — and the J-School professors and staff are, of course, top notch.

    I may provide more details on my courses later, but for now let me simply share a sampling of some of the wide ranging classroom materials I’ve encountered over the last seven days.

    I have read (or re-read, as I tackled it during my undergraduate years) Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” I have delved into Francis Bacon’s “New Organon.”

    I have contemplated journalism in the context of social psychology. And in studying the history of journalism, it was intriguing to read a passage by Joseph Addison in The Spectator, his early 18th century UK newspaper.

    On the business side of things, I have also (seriously!) found my financial accounting class compelling. But check with me in a few months, as it will only become increasingly challenging.

    It’s also been illuminating to read an academic paper on the relationship between economists and journalists. And I wrote a news story for my business seminar about Friday’s employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    There are many more things I want to share about my first few weeks here in this great city after spending six years in Bangkok, from thoughts on urban planning to the NYC subway to the availability of high quality beer here.

    I also still plan to share some long-overdue insight on blogging, Mac and iPhone apps, and more. But for now I’ll leave it at this.

    Due to my current time constraints, please be sure to look for me on Twitter, as I suspect I’ll continue to be more active there than here, at least over the coming weeks.

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    Hello from the U.S. — and Goodbye Until Next Week

    Just a quick note to say hi from the U.S. — and let you know that I won’t be blogging this week.

    That’s because I’m busy soaking up the Lowcountry charm here in Beaufort, South Carolina.

    Rather than writing Newley.com posts, my itinerary for the next several days will continue to consist of hanging out with family and friends, eating good food, taking the family dog for a walk (see below — but don’t tell Ashley!)…

    Bft3

    …and enjoying various idyllic scenes such as these:

    Bft2

    Bft4

    Bft1

    See you next week.

    And as always, you can catch me on Twitter in the meantime.

    Categories
    Journalism Misc.

    Programming Note: I’m Off to NYC for Nine Months

    Some news to share, friends:

    Next week I’m leaving Bangkok to spend nine months in New York, where I’ll be pursuing my master’s in journalism at Columbia University.

    I’ll be in the MA program, which is designed for experienced journalists to focus, in depth, on one area of study. I’ll be in the business and economics concentration.

    As far as posting here at Newley.com is concerned, I’ll likely continue linking — though less frequently — to stories about major news events in Thailand. And I’m sure I’ll be writing about my experiences in New York.

    I’ll be returning to Asia in the spring, so Thailand friends: I’ll see you on the flip side. U.S. and NYC pals: I look forward to catching up soon.

    Thanks, as ever, for reading. And please stay tuned: I’ve got some long-pending posts in the queue that cover a variety of topics, from blogging to nutrition to Mac geekery.

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    Gone fishin’

    Quick note: I won’t be posting anything here until next week.

    In the meantime, you can catch me on Twitter.