"No one knew the precise moment the exodus began. Port Authority cameras showed an increase in outbound traffic on all the bridges, but in bursts, not a solid stream. Foot traffic was the first indicator that something was happening: entire families from all economic classes carrying their belongings on their backs and in makeshift carts, homeless men struggling with plastic garbage bags, groups of children with no adult to shepherd them, all moving purposefully towards New Jersey or the upstate suburbs. No precipitating event was ever found, and those who fled gave no consistent reason for leaving. The city simply emptied itself of humans, as if it had grown tired of a noisome pestilence."
Tension building.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:39 AM on March 20, 2015