What Does New York City Think People Should Prep?

28 Comments

1. It might be a good list for them but, to big to bulky and would take a pickup truck to haul it all. I realize this is written for someone going into a shelter, that’s their first mistake and maybe their last. Dog Crates?? Sheet to cover the dog crate?? Thought this was a GO BAG list??

2. I didn’t see anything for making fire. Also, in NYC I would filter AND boil.

   • Good catch. I meant to put butane lighters in my list bot I got sidetracked.

   • Re: NY water. Years ago a taste test was run on various bottled waters. Manhattan tap water was included as a control. The Manhattan tap water won.

     • That may be, but tap water will not be running, most likely. I’m thinking of various natural sources of water. Cities are just a dirty environment. First thing I notice when driving into a city is the stench.

       • I don’t usually bother with charcoal filters, but I would if my alternate water sources were in a city. Charcoal’s particularly good at removing organic contaminants like petroleum residues that are rich in city surface/roof waters.

       • NYC water is a gravity fed system. Pumping is needed in buildings above 50 stories, but below that level the system is pre-dates electricity and is only dependent on gravity. I do agree a filter is a good idea. While the system is fed by mountain reservoirs I wouldn’t want to predict what might happen in a scenario.

         • My town also has a “gravity fed” water-tower water system (not far from the river that divides our 30K population town), though it services primarily only the downtown district. But here is rub. It needs electricity to pull water from the in-ground wells up to the water tower storage tank. So without electricity, the gravity fed water tower in my town will hold only days worth of water, primarily because of how people today waste water. Most gravity systems, such as from mountain areas need pumps at various places downstream of the water source to “move it along” at the pace needed to supply downstream customers. You could telephone your water supply Office and inquire if it uses pumps along its supply path to meet water need demands in your area. My guess is that they will say “Absolutely” and many of them.

         • Even that few days worth of water is unreliable. One fire could drain it, as the hydrants use the same source.

     • I live in the area of several of the NYC reservoirs. It is some of the most pristine land in the country. It is (maybe) one of the most over regulated and patrolled water sources in the world, but it does keep their water as some of the best there is. The good news for me is one of the rivers from it runs within a quarter mile of my home. We use it as our town’s water source, and it is available to just dip a collector in, and use as needed…we do however filter it for normal biological contaminants.
       The sources are in a “mountain range” that is 2-4 thousand feet higher than NYC. Therefore they use very few pumps in their system.

   • In NYC, it’s illegal to have a fire going unless it’s in a fireplace. Even then, it’s dicey. New Yorkers aren’t even allowed to use a grill on their balconies, if they have one.

3. I’d be surprised tot see firearms on any government’s list, so I while I disagree with NYC’s firearms laws, I wouldn’t expect a NYC agency to recommend firearms. They’re also thinking of short disasters, e.g. hurricane (Sandy) or blackout (Northeast regional blackout), so the list is not too bad.

4. BTW: The picture shows a fellow walking from Brooklyn into Manhattan. He is definitely going the wrong way. I know from experience (9/11), people will be streaming out of Manhattan and that bridge is one of the few ways to walk out. The goal is to get off that island.

5. Y’all can’t believe that NYC is going to recommend any type of weapon surely.
   Most of the folks I’ve known over the years shop daily and live in very tight quarters.
   The odds of walking out on your own without being accosted are almost zero. It’s hard just to walk around now and it’s not enjoyable. I’ve zero plans of ever going back there. I saw all I needed to in that day.
   That island is a death trap.

   • I walked out of NYC after 9/11 and after the Northeast blackout. I was not accosted and didn’t need a firearm. I have neve been “accosted” in 40 years of living in the area. I’ve gone through multiple hurricanes, multiple blackouts and 9/11. NYC has it’s problems but they aren’t the same as what is imagined in prepper circles. I don’t want to promote NYC. Prepping is clearly tougher than it would be in a rural area, but is quite doable for short term disasters.

6. Interestingly enough, NYCEM is disregarding the “laws” that the .gov has set forth by “hording” food and water.
   Even more interesting is NYCEM is setting it up to NOT be responsive in an emergency, by mandating people to ‘fend’ for themselves, is this not circumventing the brainwashing of FEMA and others that they “can/will be there for the people?” Please remember any/all true “emergencies” and how well “they” performed.
   I do acknowledge the fact at least someone in .gov is “trying” to get people prepared, BUT this is sooooo far under what people should be doing it’s an embarrassment.
   Lastly, there is absolutely ZERO mention of ways to defend oneself form the “Bad Guys”, do they NOT remember the Blackouts a decade ago whereas the very first night the numbers of murders, riots, rapes, robberies, so-on.
   Does the NYCEM truly believe all the people will politely “be nice” when the power is out for a week? or we have 10, 20, 100 buildings fall? How about ‘Lights Out’/Grid-down for a month?

   Salty, thank for the incite of what “little” the .gov is requesting people to prepare, no wonder the projected death rate from an EMP is upwards of 95%.

   Sorry all, Rant over, but when it comes to the .gov, ya had better plan on a LOT more self-significant and a LOT LOT less “help” from the .gov.

   • The NYC advice is consistent with what agencies like FEMA and Red Cross were recommending until recently. Due to failures like Katrina and Sandy, FEMA is now recommending a 14 day supply rather than the traditional 3 day supply. NYC doesn’t seem to have caught up with that change in their list. As for “riots, rapes, etc.” I was in the Northeast blackout which is more than a decade ago now. None of that occurred. There were riots during the 1977 blackout, but that only occurred in ghetto areas. Most New Yorkers were simply without power. I was there for that one too, and didn’t even hear about the ghetto riot until the whole thing was over. Based on past performance, I would expect NYC to have a small uptick in crime during the first few days of a disaster, but not wholesale violence. Given an EMP, all bets are off, but I don’t know of any government agency recommending that level of preparation.

     I’d rather be in a rural rather than an urban area in a disaster, but if I had to choose between NYC, Chicago, LA, etc. NYC will hold up better than it’s peers. The city has problems like over taxation, stupid gun laws, etc., but that does not automatically mean that it is any worse off than other cities in an emergency.

     • Paranoid Prepper;
       Thank you for your reply, tis it not interesting the view “outsiders” have of a situation whereas those that were actually there look at it differently.
       I agree 1000% on which “BIG city” one would rather be in. Me???? NONE of them. I’m 15 miles outside a small town of 8K and would not even want to be there it/when.
       I guess I’m sometimes the fool thinking “Why would anyone NOT want to be prepared?” do people really trust the .gov, Red-Cross, other agencies and even other people to support and care for them if everything goes to crapo in a Hand-Basket?
       But even FEMA’s 14 days to me is nuts, sure it’s a beginning, but really? When is the last time anyone heard of a Major Event lasting only 2 weeks? Maybe that’s when FEMA figures it would take them to “Help”?
       Seriously, I’m always wondering how many of the 320million people have even 3 days’ worth of Water stored? How many think we are the stupid ones? Even more concerning, how many will tell you flat out “If something happens I’m coming to your house”?

       • Actually, lots of disasters only last a couple weeks. I’ve been in hurricanes, tornadoes, a couple earthquakes and 9/11. I’ve never been in anything that lasted more than two weeks.
         Disasters over 2 weeks might happen. Disasters under 2 weeks already have happened.

7. I thought what I call “fix-a-flat” was genius. Just yesterday I added it to my list for my new bug-out vehicle which I will share later.

   How could water filtration NOT be on their list??? They are surrounded by water. It seems obvious.

   Personally, I would add fishing supplies. It is so cheap, light and easy to not have the ability to fish seems short sighted. With all that water, there’s got to be some fish in there somewhere.

   • Pretttyyyyyyy toxic fish in those waters. Might be better than doing without in the short term; but might not too. “Hungry for awhile” fixes better than “heavy metal poisoning”.

     • That certainly used to be true, but the water is much cleaner now than a couple decades ago. I wouldn’t eat the fish on a regular basis, but the rather abundant wildlife in the area seems to get by.

8. I also like the idea of a wind-up radio. I thought I was the only uber-nerd who carries one of those.

   • During the 9/11 disaster phone communications were really messed up, but if you wanted some news simple AM/FM radio was fine. Then a couple years later when the Northeast regional blackout came along, the stations all lost power. Murphy!

9. Escape from NY wasn’t that a movie? 🙂 I would give thought to a good quality inflatable 2 man kayak as they have cargo carrying ability and frankly paddle better than the shorter ones. If you could find non-neon colors that would be great. Gear in waterproof bags and a citizen brand folding bike (cheap and effective) along with some water, shelter and emergency food bars would give you a fighting chance assuming you have a planned bug out location. Otherwise your a Refugee, DON’T be a Refugee friends.

   The bulk of the “escaping folks” and the predators that feed on them would be afoot crossing those few bridges. Thus my thought about a water route.

   • I took the ferry after the Northeast blackout. 🙂

10. Seems the main issue is knowing as Kenny Rodgers said “know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away (or take the ferry :-)) and know when to RUN”. If I can take the ferry out of NYC then it’s not SHTF from my POV. Just like having a 24-36 hour power loss when it’s below zero in NH. I just load up my generator in the trailer so I can help myself and my less prepared neighbors with power for fridge and heaters.

    So how do you figure out when it’s SHTF vs. or an short term inconvenience? When do you really need to bug out using that Go Bag described in this article? Do you have somewhere to go when it happens?

    • SHTF vs. inconvenience is somewhat an “eye of the beholder” thing. I do think 9/11, which killed several thousand people qualifies. While I personally didn’t take the ferry then, (I took the ferry for the Northeast blackout), many people did. In NYC the ferries have done a wonderful job when they were needed, 9/11 and the Northeast blackout included.
      Remember that NYC swells by several million people who commute in each day, and getting them out when TPTB decide to shut down tunnels or bridges becomes a real challenge.
      You might also view it differently if you had to spend hours in line to catch one of those ferries.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.