Actually we were the lucky ones compared to others. As soon as the power went out the Edison shut off its water. The Marriott Marquis across the street figured that it was a temporary outage and left their water on for somewhere around 2-3 hours. While we were eating in the restaurant at about 6:30 when we noticed guests and staff at the Marriott hauling mattresses, bags & belongings into the parking area. Apparently the Marriott had drawn its water tank below the level FDNY requires for fire protection and ordered the building evacuated.

It was maybe the most surreal time I've ever spent. Walking around Times Square with only generator powered floodlights looking up at a totally dark Empire State Building. Weird.