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GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Post-9/11 Emergency Plan Proves Itself in Blackout

NEW YORK CITY-A CB Richard Ellis building-management executive tells how he coordinated the safe evacuation of some 115 New York metropolitan buildings during the worst blackout in US history. And he tells how the event will help to shape his firm's ongoing emergency procedures.

By John Salustri | Updated on August 18, 2003

NEW YORK CITY-Where were you when the lights went out? Gregg Popkin, senior managing director for CB Richard Ellis, knows where he was. Popkin, who coordinates the asset services division for the tri-state area, was at his 200 Park Ave. headquarters when at 4:10 pm on Thursday, Aug. 14, the Northeast and portions of the Midwest were plunged into the most massive power outage in history.

With a 400-plus team of building managers, responsible for some 115 assets totaling 37 million sf, Popkin was concerned with more than simply how and when he would get home. In fact, as of Sunday morning, when this interview took place, he was still monitoring the condition of buildings from his Westchester home and preparing to determine what aspects of the firm’s emergency preparedness plan–in place since Sept. 11–worked and what aspects failed.

As he reports, the first priority was to determine how widespread the problem was. From his MetLife building perch, he could see the stilled roof fans of Grand Central Station and he knew immediately that, “this was extensive.”

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