Subways Out, Pedestrans Hoof It Over Brooklyn Bridge -- UPDATE: Transit System in State of Chaos

The steady trickle of business-suited pedestrians over the Brooklyn Bridge continued as of 10:30 this morning as most of the mass-transit options into Manhattan remain flooded following last night's massive storm. Here is the MTA's Service Alert Page.

For a brief time this morning, Brooklyn was under a tornado watch. NY1 reports that tornado-like winds ripped the roofs off several houses in Bay Ridge; Flatbush residents also reported damaged houses and crushed cars along several blocks. (A Kensington reader emailed a downed-tree photo to Gothamist.)

The official dedication of the Pearl Street Triangle in Dumbo has been postponed (DumboNYC).

UPDATE: Travelers report it is taking hours to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn, with the transit system in a state of chaos. One commuter says he started at 81st Street at 9:30 a.m. and had to take a patchword of trains and buses -- including a freelance non-MTA bus where the driver pocketed the $2 -- only to arrive in Brooklyn Heights at 12:45.

UPDATE 2: The Office of Emergency Management has set up a command center in heavily damaged Sunset Park, where the mayor, the governor and the police commissioner held a briefing on the storm’s damage. The Mayor asks people to stay home today if possible, as temperatures are expected to soar into the 90s. Cooling centers are being set up. NY1

Photo by MK Metz