Hurricane Sandy’s 14-foot-high surge fl ooded the Con Edison power plant at E. 13th St., knocking out power for 250,000 customers in Lower Manhattan. The storm left piles of debris and tossed-around cars in its wake on the streets near the power plant along Avenue C. With electricity gone, resourceful members of C-Squat, on the avenue a few blocks south of the crippled power plant, held a cookout. People from all around brought them food to grill, from vegan fare to meat. A pedal-powered electric generator bike was also used to try to pump out the basement spaces of the squat and the new MoRUS museum, but worked better for recharging phones. MoRUS members managed to save the museum’s new fl at-screen TV just before the fl ood waters reached it. In the West Village, senior Mt. Everest scaler Don Healy also held a free cookout, while the adjacent coffee shop Bonsignour gave out bagels and coffee.
