Yet another disaster of the week

Yesterday, a crane collapsed in East Midtown, killing at least 4 people and leveling a bar. This happened right before the Saturday budget meeting at work, so we had a little talk about how one of the effects of working in the news industry is that you're constantly aware of all the crazy things that are happening in the world. And they happen in Manhattan quite often.

There seem to be random disasters almost every other week in this city ... if you count the Eliot Spitzer debacle, we've been on quite a roll lately.

Last year when a steam pipe exploded near Grand Central, someone at work commented how people were abuzz, almost faintly excited, that something big was happening. I think that part of the mystique of post-9/11 New York City is that there is that chance at any given time that you could, just possibly, get blown up, or, more likely, find yourself stranded with millions of other people in a large-scale public services disaster. But it's not in a fearful, orange-alert kind of way, but more of a realization that even if you're careful, these things happen, and you deal with them ... and at least it gives everyone something to talk about.