New York, 10 November 5:27 pm, yesterday. Biggest power failure in the city's history.
Thousands of people got(stick) in lifts. Martin Saltzman spent three hours between the 21st and 22nd floors of Empire State Building. "There were twelve of us. But no one(panic). We passed the time telling stories and(play) word games. One man wanted to smoke but we didn't let him. Firemen finally got us out."
"It was the best night we've ever had," said Angela Carraro,runs an Italian restaurant on 42nd Street. "We had lots of candles on the tables and the waiters were carrying candles on(they) trays. The place was full and all night, in fact, for after we had closed, we let the people stay on and spend the night here. Business was(good) than usual."
The zoos had their problems like everyone else. Keepers worked through the night. They used blankets(keep) flying squirrels and small monkeys warm. While zoos had problems keeping warm, supermarkets had problems keeping cool. "All of our ice cream and(freeze) foods melted," said the manger of a store in downtown Manhattan. "They were worth $50,000."
The big electric clock in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in downtown Manhattan started ticking (滴答) again at 5:25 this morning. It was almost time.
