Hurricane Irene, New York City (Video)

Some New York City residents aren't listening to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

From the Associated Press:

Hurricane Irene bore down on a dark and quiet New York early Sunday, bringing winds and rapidly rising seawater that threatened parts of the city. The rumble and squeal of the subway system was silenced for the first time in years, the city all but shut down for the strongest tropical lashing since the 1980s.

Irene weakened after landfall over the North Carolina coast Saturday, but it was still a massive storm with sustained winds of up to 80 mph as it approached Manhattan. Even worse, Irene's fury could coincide with a tide that's higher than normal. Water levels were expected to rise as much as 8 feet.

Forecasters said there was a chance a storm surge on the fringes of Lower Manhattan could send seawater streaming into the maze of underground vaults that hold the city's cables and pipes, knocking out power to thousands and crippling the nation's financial capital. Officials' worst fear was water lapping at Wall Street, ground zero and the luxury high-rise apartments of Battery Park City. Tornadoes were also a possibility.

In Times Square, shops boarded up windows and sandbags were stacked outside of stores. Construction at the World Trade Center site came to a standstill.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered more than 370,000 people out of low-lying areas, mostly in Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Only 8,700 people checked-in to shelters and an untold number defied the order.

"Oh, forget Bloomberg. We ain't going anywhere," 60-year-old Evelyn Burrus said at a large public housing complex in Brooklyn. "Go to some shelter with a bunch of strangers and bedbugs? No way."

Late Saturday, Bloomberg said it was no longer safe to be outside.

"The time for evacuation is over. Everyone should now go inside and stay inside," he said.

Many New Yorkers took the evacuation in stride. Some planned hurricane parties.

"We already have the wine and beer, and now we're getting the vodka," said Martin Murphy, a video artist who was shopping at a liquor store near Central Park with his girlfriend.

"If it lasts, we have dozens of movies ready, and we'll play charades and we're going to make cards that say, `We survived Irene,'" he said.

Here's video of people in Times Square as Irene gets closer:



What, me worry?
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Check out this photo of Grand Central Station.

Eerie.