DADWAGON

Image credit: twitpic.com AvroMeir

We have our share of boro battles here on DadWagon: half of us live in Brooklyn, half in Manhattan. I live on the real island, but have my share of Brooklyn envy (easy parking! Polish beer!) Theodore claims to be a proud Brooklynite, but I did notice that his recent baby shower was in Manhattan proper.

I would like to point out that it appears that God has weighed in on these disputes. Yesterday evening all of New York City got whumped by a brief, intense torment. Tornado warnings on Staten Island, pelting rain and whipping winds where I was near Harlem.

But it was Brooklyn that bore the worst. The scaffolding at Grand Army plaza blew into the subway entrance, residents talked about trash cans and tree limbs spinning in wild circles 50 feet above the ground (“a poltergeist”, said one). And Park Slope, with all its precious leafy arbors, seemed to be full of downed trees that uprooted sidewalks and crushed SUVs (sadly, in neighboring Queens, someone was actually killed by a falling branch, something that normally only happens in Central Park).

One redeeming quality about Brooklyn is that many great photographers seem to hang out there. My TIME colleague Anthony Suau just posted a nice slideshow of his pictures of the storm (thanks MaryAnne for the link).

Pretty pictures aside, though, I want to know what displeasure Brooklyn has brought our vengeful God. I believe that in Williamsburg many people are still trying to do right by Baal Shem Tov. And few would accuse the Caribbean diaspora in Bed-Stuy of forsaking their Creator. So I’m going to ask Theodore and Matt (though he’s traveling) to look inside. What did you do? What did you say? God is always watching, and he tried to kill you and your families last night. Figure out why, before it’s too late.