Hurricane Tori has Touched Down in New York

Have you ever seen that movie with Will smith that starts out in Manhattan and it is like the end of the world has arrived? This is as close as I can come to describing the city as it welcomed me last week.

Irene had just left and the city was slowly emerging from it's hurricane-induced hibernation.

By the end of the week, there was a new storm making its way through the city; hurricane Tori.

The fun started on Friday night with a boat ride with a friend who was visiting from San Francisco. Anchoring somewhere close to the Statue of Liberty and watching the skyline light up as the sun set was amazing and I'm left wondering how on earth I forgot to take pictures!

Sunday brought the Brazil day parade on Sixth Avenue. It was not a small gathering, though the absence of open liquor meant the atmosphere did not reach the level of chaos that I have come to expect from crowds of this magnitude.

Monday, on the other hand, was a different story. Still a 'dry' event, the West Indies parade in Brooklyn was a demonstration that things can get crazy without adding booze to the mix. The music was decidedly more my style and the parade had a much more local feel (versus thousands of tourists piling on to sixth ave at the brazil day parade).

There were more cops at this parade than I've seen at any event that I've attended (in recent memory, anyhow). As the event heated up, I began to wonder if they were there to protect or there to watch. It was a good one!

Now, time to hit the books.