What is Sopo Electric?

On October 28th, 2012, the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy left half of Manhattan without electricity, heat, transportation, or cell phone service for nearly a week. During the blackout, the 12 neighborhoods below the 39th Street outage-line became SoPo: one community, South of Power.

SoPo was a city unplugged from the modern grid. Street performers were heard over iPods. A guy on the street was more trusted than Google. And face time was actually face time. Here, residents turned to local business owners for food, security, and entertainment. It was in these local establishments that the unexpected magic of the blackout unfolded.

An East Village store owner turned the aisles of his bodega into a candlelit bowling alley using plastic bottles as pins and over-ripe melons as bowling balls. Patrons at an Italian restaurant crossed the invisible border between tables and struck up a conversation. And a waiter at a restaurant in SoHo made the trek from Queens on foot just to serve someone dinner.

Even though they were struggling themselves, local establishments helped keep the community bright on the so called “dark side” of Manhattan. These darkened bulbs are remnants of the spirit of SoPo taken from the very establishments responsible for nurturing it. During those five days, they tended our flame. And now, it’s time to return the favor. Proceeds from every purchase will help these local businesses so vital to New York keep the lights on.