Hurricane Irene: Times Square crowds hunt for something to do

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New York’s Times Square area, normally a hotbed of Broadway shows and other activity, presented a strange contrast Saturday afternoon.

Theaters were shuttered after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided to stop all public transit at noon and evacuate swaths of residents throughout Manhattan.

But the Times Square streets were surprisingly crowded, as theatergoers who would normally pack matinee performances were left to wander the streets in search of any viable activity.

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At the American Eagle store on 46th Street and Broadway, a line formed around the block, as tourists sought to enter one of the few non-restaurant businesses that was open.

Meanwhile, on a pedestrian plaza on Broadway, not far from the ever-popular Naked Cowboy (he was out, too, offering photo ops he called the ‘hurricane special’), a few ticket hawkers were cleaning up.

Sebastian Tribbie, a young representative of the ‘Ha!’ comedy club across the street, sold 200 tickets by 4 p.m. for an evening performance -- about quadruple what he’d normally sell, he said.

‘My pitch is just ‘We’re open and we have alcohol,’’ he said, laughing. ‘I mean, it’s that’s easy. There’s literally nothing else open and people want something to do.’ (He said the club’s proprietors had paid to keep performers in hotels overnight so the show could go, Irene be darned.)

Those who operate some of the city’s stages, however, were frustrated at the city and state for terminating public transit Saturday afternoon.

‘What he did was cut us off at the knees,’ said Pamela Hall, a partner and director at the St. Luke’s Theatre, a popular off-Broadway venue nearby. ‘First he sent out a directive telling us to close today, and our actors all live in New Jersey and Brooklyn, so they couldn’t get here even if we wanted to stay open.’

‘I think it’s apalling,’ said Hall’s partner, theatre operator and producer Ed Gaynes. ‘He could have at least let us have matinee business on Saturday afternoon before the rain comes.’

Slightly to the southwest in the popular Chelsea district, the city maintained a largely normal routine, if of the restrained variety.

Well-established brunch venues such as Moran’s Restaurant on 1oth Avenue were open, with patrons packing outdoor tables under an awning. At nearby sports bar Mr. Biggs, patrons gathered for brews and baseball, though the latter was of the out-of-town sort, as both Yankees and Mets games were canceled because of the hurricane.

At least one restaurant wasn’t taking any chances, though. At the trendy Half King bar on 23rd, near the Hudson River, the door was locked and the windows were boarded. Perhaps the caution was a function of its owner: He is Sebastian Junger, author of ‘The Perfect Storm.’

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-- Steve Zeitchik in New York