We're so glad the footage made the nightly news...

OK. If you are a RENT fan, you know that line.


SO anyway, this morning around 3AM, Anna bursts into my room, yelling "Alina, I think someone is having a fight! It's really scary!" And, of course, I say, "ANNA! Be quiet! Just call 311 and be quiet!"

Literally 30 seconds later, we hear INSANE pounding on the door so we come out to the front room and a NYPD officer is yelling at us, telling us to evacuate the building. I think, at some point, I yelled at her "WHY????" Clearly, I was still somewhat asleep because I usually don't yell at strangers or law enforcement officers. But thankfully, I was awake enough to grab my coat and some shoes. Some people didn't even do that. I still don't understand how I slept through the first hour of it

Anyway, it turns out there was a fire in the building. Schizo Sharon, as I like to call her, in 5S, had been tearing her apartment down to pieces since 1:30AM. Cops were called on a noise complaint and didn't respond. Then, Schizo Sharon started throwing paint cans and electric appliances and clothes out her window onto Columbus Ave. Again, cops were called and did nothing. Our neighbor then ran downstairs and pulled a cop from the street and they came in and tried to get her to stop breaking things and making so much noise. Then, she started yelling that she was on fire and she needed to get to the airport and was locked in. That's when the fire department was called in. Then they carried Schizo Sharon out and she kept resisting, to the point where there are now claw marks along the walls in our staircase. She had lit paint thinner on fire. Then, the tried to escape the cop car, so the officers had to form a barrier around her to keep her from destrying the rest of the city.

We had to stand outside FOREVER until the doorman of the luxury building next door told us we could wait in the lobby. THEN, we had to wait in the lobby forever but that was OK because we got to play with puppies. Then, at 5AM we came upstairs to find our apartment had some water damage and there was broken glass EVERYWHERE in the building. Even in my bedroom. I'm still not sure where it came from because nothing in my room was broken. Thank goodness our apartment was fine. I just kept thinking about all the stuff I didn't grab on the way out (like all my pictures and Playbills and little treasures)... what a scary experience! I am really, really glad I couldn't hear the first part of it because I have the weird talent of recalling situations with exactness and it would have given me nightmares.... For real.

Our apartment building is now quite literally a sea of broken glass. Tony the super was super and got everyone out safely and I have no doubt things will be taken care of quickly.

I am lucky that I didn't lose anything or was not in any danger. It was scary being outside and waiting to hear how bad the fire was and how many apartments it had damaged. On the plus side, we got to know all our neighbors REALLY well.


See news story here: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6731250