The view from Jefferson Street

The storms that passed near the city earlier today thankfully did not produce tornadoes like those that tore through Brooklyn last September, but they did leave a beautiful sunset in their wake.

I took these two pictures from my bedroom window shortly before 8 p.m. The second picture is a bit crooked because I was simultaneously on the phone with my parents in southern New Hampshire. The cells that spawned tornadoes in Massachusetts earlier today passed roughly 35 miles south of their home. They are fine.

Bushwick storm clean-up continues

Two weeks after two tornadoes and a macroburst tore through Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens, Maria Hernandez Park remains closed. Crews, however, have made significant progress in clearing the trees that fell during the Sept. 16 storm.

Here are some pictures I took late yesterday afternoon.

Storm aftermath in Bushwick

Today's beautiful weather makes it even more hard to believe two tornadoes and a macroburst tore through Brooklyn and Queens only four days ago.

My two flower boxes were among the storm's casualties--they were in the trash when I came home from Washington, D.C., earlier this afternoon. A tree came down further down the block, siding peeled off of two buildings along Knickerbocker Avenue between Jefferson and Troutman Streets, several awnings ripped and were left in tatters, but the storm devastated Maria Hernandez Park. It remains closed, but here is a video and some pictures of the damage I shot earlier this evening.





Looking inside Maria Hernandez Park from the corner of Irving Avenue and Starr Street.



Maria Hernandez Park along Irving Avenue.



A storefront church on the corner of Irving and Willoughby Avenues.



A street light remains on the sidewalk along Irving Avenue.



Maria Hernandez Park near the corner of Irving Avenue and Suydam Street.



Maria Hernandez Park near the corner of Irving Avenue and Suydam Street.



Maria Hernandez Park near the corner of Irving Avenue and Suydam Street.



Tattered banners along Wyckoff Avenue Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.



A fallen tree along Hart Street between Irving and Knickerbocker Avenues.



Approaching Maria Hernandez Park near the intersection of Suydam Street and Knickerbocker Avenue.



Maria Hernandez Park from Knickerbocker Avenue.



Maria Hernandez Park from Knickerbocker Avenue.



Maria Hernandez Park from Knickerbocker Avenue.



Maria Hernandez Park from Knickerbocker Avenue.

Storms from a different mother

I was in Washington, D.C., when yesterday’s storm pummeled the five boroughs, but a different tempest of sorts continues to brew in Delaware in the wake of Christine O’Donnell’s victory in the First State’s Republican Senate primary.

My boyfriend and I are heading out to Rehoboth Beach tomorrow morning, but I am sure Delaware Pride attendees will drop more than a few teabagger jokes and masturbation-inspired sound bites in their O’Donnell reflections. For the record, however, I heard none of these while at the rest area outside of Wilmington on Interstate 95 on Wednesday, Sept. 15.