One of the first things my boss said to me once I returned to the newsroom almost 6 hours later was, “How the hell did you get down there so fast?”
My answer: It hit home. I needed to know my neighborhood was okay. I needed to do what I decided to do in 2013: service my community as a journalist, because I knew my neighbors’ hearts were hurting as mine was.
I’ve lived in the East Village for more than a year at that point, less than a block away from the massive explosion that displaced dozens, and left two dead. I had just visited the sushi restaurant at 121 2nd Ave. the week before.
Because of this personal urgency, I was the first person to arrive a the scene from WPIX, and one of the first journalists on the scene at all. I took dozens of photos and video for our web there and Periscope’d for almost 45 minutes on NYU wifi until my phone died. I also sent in copy about residents’ eyewitness accounts. By the time I got back to the station, my chest and throat were hurting from the burning smoke.
See some of the images from the East Village Explosion below:
See the digital coverage I contributed to from the scene of the East Village Explosion HERE.
Because it’s so easy to grab my iPhone and jump on the subway, my team often opts for a web producer to provide on-scene content quickly as opposed to waiting for a photographer, on-screen talent, and all their gear to get to the scene.
I have also covered several building collapses including ones at 331 Madison, at 317 Madison, a crane collapse at 219 E. 44th St., a tree collapse in Bryant Park, and a police-involved shooting in the East Village.
See below for photos I posted on our social media accounts for moment-by-moment coverage:
Allie Yang 