The other night I was forced to take the train into Manhattan (I live in Brooklyn) and get out at Times Square.  I couldn't help but notice that in this time of unbeliveable heat and impending power outages the city government is asking us to curb our electrical consumption while making no metnion of the fact that this area is lit up like a christmas tree 24/7.  We're expected to swelter in our apartments but the Empire State Building is expected to keep all those beautiful colored light polluting bulds ringing all night long.  You really want to helps the city prevent another blackout? Turn off Joe Camels' 3000 watt cigarette (not even sure of that's still there, but you get the point).  DOn't get me wrong, I'm all for doing what we can as individuals, but ultimately the city has to do what ot can to get business to play by those rules first.

By the way, my wife, my son, and I did exactly like you suggested on Sat.  We took the free ferry out to Staten Island for the first time, and we had a great day, and we stayed pretty cool.