More than a quarter-million New Yorkers were ordered to evacuate their coastal-area homes today — in an exodus intended to keep Hurricane Irene from becoming a killer storm.
“Make no mistake — people need to leave,” Mayor Bloomberg said in announcing the first evacuation order in city history.
An estimated 270,000 people in low-lying areas — including Battery Park in Manhattan, Brighton Beach and Coney Island in Brooklyn and the Rockaways in Queens — were told that they must be out by 5 p.m. today.
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“Technically, ignoring the evacuation order would be a violation of the law, a class-B misdemeanor punishable by up to $500 [in fines] and 90 days in jail,” the mayor said.
Still, he conceded, “we do not have the manpower to go door to door and drag people out of their homes. Nobody’s going to get fined; nobody’s going to jail.
“But if you don’t follow this, people might die . . . We’re not trying to punish people; we’re trying to protect them.”
People who can’t bed down in the homes of friends or relatives can spend the night in one of the 65 shelters set up around the city. Pets are welcome in carriers or crates, but service animals are exempt.
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Most people, the mayor said, figure to comply with the order, which is being reinforced by City Council members going door to door and by cop cars with loudspeakers saying, “Hey! C’mon! Your life is in danger!”
The message was heeded by thousands.
Broad Channel resident Adam Dierman, was preparing for the worst before bolting for the duration of the storm.
“We’re going to evacuate,” said Dierman, 27. “I lived on City Island since I was 13, so I know what it’s like. And we have a 1-year-old, so I don’t feel comfortable staying here with her.
“We’re going to Park Slope with my in-laws. I’m blessed with in-laws that actually like me.”
Also in Broad Channel, Brian Willsen, 53, was reluctantly packing up his home and preparing to head north.
“I don’t want to leave but my wife is insisting,” he said.
His parents, 87 and 88 years old, live down the block and were planning to go with him.
“The house can be replaced, and I’ve got plenty of insurance, but I don’t want to lose everything,” he said.
The call to escape spread east to Long Island, as Nassau County called for manditory evacuations in waterfront areas.
“We’re going now to get the house in order,” said Wally Walsh, 46, from Huntington Station.
“Anything that can be a projectile or fly off, we’re going to bring into the house,” he said.
“I’m worried about this one, I went through Hurricane Thomas in St. Lucia and I don’t think we should take this one lightly or brush it off.”
Upper West Siders Josh and Lorin Behar, had already fled their Fire Island house last night.
“They sent people around giving out pieces of paper telling them about the evacuation,” Lorin Behar said after disembarking the Fire Island ferry at Bay Shore, LI.
“Everyone is pretty bummed, especially since it was such a nice day today.”
Her husband, Josh, said prepara tions on the sum mer rental haven were well under way.
“It was pretty crazy — the guy who rented us our sharehouse is supergluing plants to the deck.”
Additional reporting by Erin Calabrese and Douglas Montero