Caricatures are my game, Dale Gladstone is the name
(www.CARICATURES-NEW-YORK.COM). Where was I during the blackout of 2003? I went to work in the best part of New York City anyone could be that day.
I was booked that day to do caricature drawings at a corporate dinner party. I was sitting at my Mac in the late afternoon when it winked off. I figured the power plug got accidentally yanked until I saw the cable box clock was also off. I soon realized there was a blackout. I thought for a minute & realized I still had time to get ready, walk with my supplies across the Williamsburg Bridge and up to the party on East 23rd street in plenty of time.
I tried calling my client on the phone several times but couldn't reach her. I called the other artist booked for this event & told her I was going. Then I did, not only because I had a contract to honor, but I also needed the money. That may have been the first time I ever walked over the Williamsburg Bridge. You may well wonder what kind of dinner party I expected would still take place during a blackout. No, it wasn't a barbeque or a picnic. It was a party on a large, rented yacht. I was there nice & early. The yacht's crew was already preparing for the party. Having it's own engine & fuel, a yacht always provides it's own electricity underway & can just as easily do so while docked. So, I stepped out of a very hot & humid NYC day & into a room as cold as a meat locker. They had plenty of food & beverages for the party. I drank 2 or 3 bottles of chilled water immediately after my 45 minute trek hauling my gear through the blazing sun.
The crew of the yacht had also been unable to reach the host of the party on the phone. A crowd of 100 guests were expected. Roughly 20 or so showed up. The person actually in charge of planning the party never did. We didn't leave the pier, but we had all the air-conditioned comfort, hot food & cold beverages we could want. I drew caricatures of every willing guest. My colleague went home early, but I stayed through the end of my contract & worked as much as I could. Sadly, the time inevitably came to go home.
So I carried my gear down 2nd Ave (I think) through the darkness, near midnight, while crowds of people walked by, hung out at bars & partied on the sidewalks. Not sure if I carried any source of light other than my cel phone. There were lots of candles, glow sticks & keychain lights in use everywhere. I walked back over the Williamsburg Bridge & up Driggs Ave in the dark as people barbequed on the sidewalks. On some blocks I couldn't recognize exactly where I was. Before turning down my street, I saw the local pizza shop still open long after their usual hours, cooking everything they had before it spoiled. I'm not sure if all their customers were required to pay full price, if anything, on that occasion. Too bad I wasn't hungry.
When I got home there were some folks hanging out nearby playing music for a little while. Even with all the windows open in my very well-ventilated apartment, it was a miserably humid night. Sleep was hardly possible. Too bad I couldn't have stayed on the boat. Power was finally restored some time the next day. I was soon paid in full for that gig and booked to draw caricatures for the re-scheduled party on the same yacht a few months later.
