People are staying put:

[Are_grits_groceries]

<snip>
Still, with memories of last year’s less-than-ferocious Hurricane Irene still fresh, some residents simply would not move, expressing skepticism and a New York-style nonchalance, despite Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s warning that they were risking their safety by staying.

“Last time they made such a big hype out of it and nothing happened,” said John Miller, 27, who chose to stay in his Battery Park City apartment, having evacuated last year to New Haven and been stuck there for a week because it was hit harder than New York.

This time, Mr. Miller was hunkering down, stockpiling water, soup, crackers and pasta and filling his bathtub with water. His friend Paola Boettner was remaining, too. “It’s more painful to evacuate than stay,” she said.

Mayor Bloomberg ordered people living in so-called Zone A — which includes parts of all five boroughs, among them Battery Park City in Manhattan; Red Hook, Coney Island and parts of Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights in Brooklyn; City Island in the Bronx; and the Rockaways in Queens — to evacuate.

People who stayed behind would not face arrest, though Mr. Bloomberg said they would not only put themselves at risk, but also possibly endanger the lives of emergency responders: “We hope you don’t face those kinds of dire situations, but you could.”
<snip>
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/nyregion/panicked-evacuations-mix-with-nonchalance-in-hurricane-sandys-path.html?hp

Some of these people are going to learn the hard way unfortunately. Warnings had to be issued about Irene. It's human nature to feel like they do. However, ask anyone who has been through a major storm. One word: LEAVE!
ABC's WNN interviewed people this am and they were saying bring it on.
Another story pointed out that a lot of the people who aren't leaving are the very well off. They think it will be fun to ride out. It's not going to be fun for long when the major part hits.

[vaberella]

1. Maybe I am the ultimate New Yorker and will remain that way.

I find this much ado about nothing. I live right next to the Hudson River in Upper Manhattan and I'm not about to leave.

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. smh

No, you are the ultimate neophyte among other things.

We have this problem in SC because many people have moved in since the last major storm. None of you understand. You are playing the odds, and the house always wins in the end. Some warnings appear to be too much because of where, how and when the storm hits. They will be right at some point.

Mother Nature bats last!

[vaberella]

7. Naming calling doesn't do anything.

You'll note all my posts after this is taking this storm way seriously because I definitely saw where I was wrong. I saw what it did to my neighborhood and other parts of NYC.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. I didn't realize that neophyte was pejorative.

I think it was an accurate description. If you were offended, I apologize.

Your reaction today is a common one from people who go though bad storms for the first time. I don't believe it's possible for people you don't really know to convince you or others. It's impossible to really convey what's coming. It sounds so wild as to be almost unbelievable.

After an Irene, there is an even stronger tendency to ignore warnings. If you live where they are common, you learn that each is unique and shouldn't be judged totally by other ones.

I am glad you are okay. I hope those you know are too.

This was surreal to watch. It was like viewing an ever changing train barrleling down the tracks toward people with carloads of misery and heartache attached. I wanted to reach through the teevee screen and stop it.

[loli phabay]

3. hopefully not your famous last words.

[vaberella]

8. Luckily it is not.

I definitely saw how serious this storm became towards 3pm especially in my neighborhood. My subway station is under water.

[mahina]

4. Be well.

I'll be thinking of you and hope you let us know you're. ok.

[vaberella]

9. I am fine, but I so take back my earlier words. n/t

[Berlum]

5. WTF? "...last year’s less-than-ferocious Hurricane Irene" WTF?

maybe less than ferocious to the person who wrote this, but not to the whole state of Vermont. It was a devastating hurricane.

That article gives a very false impression of that brutal storm.

IRENE: Vermont Devastated By Severe Flooding; 36+ Deaths; Up to $45 Billion of Damage; 5 Million People Lost Power, Outages Could Last Weeks

http://daviddegraw.org/2011/08/hurricane-irene-aftermath-vermont-devastated-by-severe-flooding-36-deaths-up-to-45-billion-of-damage-5-million-people-lost-power-outages-could-last-weeks-videos/

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. This is the problem.

To Vermonters and others, it was devastating. People in other places were only mildly affected. The situations could have been reversed. The description of the storm depends on your viewpoint.

People make the mistake of judging storms exactly by what happened in the previous ones. Those storms can be guides, but never use them as templates. Every storm is unique.