New Yorkers pride themselves on their ability to handle almost anything: Blackouts. Sweltering subway stations. Obscenely small apartments at ridiculously high costs.
But many city dwellers have decided one obstacle is just too much: the upcoming Republican National Convention. For these New Yorkers, the prospect of utter gridlock combined with the persistent specter of terrorism is finally enough to make them get out of town.
"I can't stay in the city," said Stacy Winter, who works at a Manhattan law firm. "It's going to be more hectic than ever here. I am a little scared that something will happen -- and it will be total chaos regardless."
Winter, 24, said she decided long before the recent terror alerts that she would abandon New York during the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 convention, when thousands of politicians, delegates and journalists will flood the city.
Winter will stay with an uncle in the Hamptons, that affluent enclave at the tip of Long Island where many New Yorkers -- at least the extremely well-heeled variety -- are already ensconced in late August.
Sharon Fein, 26, has placed an ad online to rent her apartment on West 36th Street in Manhattan, just blocks from the site of the convention, for $2,500 for the week -- a profit large enough to cover a month's rent.
"It'll be such a hassle," said Fein, who works for a Manhattan custom clothier. "And a lot of my clients will be out of the area anyway. I just feel like the streets are going to be so crowded."
While police have pledged to aim for business as usual in Manhattan, most New Yorkers expect a nightmare of tangled traffic.
Other city dwellers are being chased away by the threat of terrorism, compounded by new alerts issued in early August. US officials have already warned that al-Qaeda may seek to disrupt the elections. And certain landmarks such as the New York Stock Exchange have been listed specifically as possible targets.
Counterterrorism authorities, as they did for the Democratic convention in Boston last month, promise unprecedented security.
Alex Wolf, for one, is taking no chances. The Manhattan design consultant said she believed terrorists might try to target President George W. Bush and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a post-Sept. 11 hero, for attack at the same time.
Wolf plans to take her family to see relatives in New Hampshire.
"I don't feel that the terrorists -- and al-Qaeda specifically -- are done with New York," she said. "It's a confluence of events that is uniquely in their interest."
The state of Maine is trying to capitalize on the exodus -- running TV ads featuring serene rivers and vistas. "Looking for the perfect escape when the convention comes to town?" an announcer intones.
Craig's List, a popular online network of forums and classifieds, is teeming with ads for people hoping to make a quick buck -- in some cases upward of $10,000 -- by renting out their apartments.
One of them is Fein. She's planning to spend the week with her family in the upstate New York town of Stone Ridge, abandoning Manhattan. "I just don't think it's going to be a fun place to be," she said.
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