UPPER WEST SIDE — A massive hurricane bearing down on the city wasn't enough to interrupt Upper West Siders' morning routines on Saturday.
Joggers and cyclists hoping to squeeze in some exercise before the storm forced them inside zipped through Riverside Park, and shoppers bustled in and out of the Zabar's on Broadway and West 80th Street.
A Zabar's employee said the store would "play it by ear" and stay open as long as possible during the storm. "People are stocking up on delicacies," joked shopper Harvey Bagg outside Zabar's, where his wife was inside buying cheese. "It'll be bad, but I don't think it's going to be the catastrophe of the century."
Only a sliver of the Upper West Side, along the Hudson River from West 72nd Street to West 59th Street, was inside the mandatory evacuation zone.
A manager at Westsider Books on Broadway near West 80th, said the bookstore would ride out Hurricane Irene as long as possible. A plastic tarp tossed over book racks outside was the only sign of the looming storm.
But the Starbucks on Broadway and West 81st Street was closed until Monday, leaving caffeine addicts scrambling to get their fix elsewhere. "Chickens," scoffed a man walking his dog past the coffee store.
An MTA bus driver parked at West 79th near Riverside Drive said riders didn't seem fazed by the impending shutdown of all bus and subway service at noon. "Most of them are saying, 'Good luck today,'" said M79 driver Mike Malfi. "Everybody seems to be in a good mood. I guess a free ride will put them in a good mood." The M79 and some other buses were free on Saturday, Malfi said.
But closer to the Hudson River, the impending storm's effects could be felt. At the Boat Basin Cafe at the West 79th Street boat basin, manager John Szydlik and employees tied down chairs and moved the outdoor restaurant's furniture out of the path of wind.
"We're dismantling everything," Szydlik said. "We're tying it all down so nothing goes flying."
