SoPo (south of power)

Hurricane Sandy hit New York City in the evening of October 29, 2012. The Con Ed power company experienced many problems and power went out over lower Manhattan for several days. Manhattan below 40th Street was dubbed “SoPo” (south of power), in imitation of SoHo (South of Houston Street). Jake Levine coined the neighborhood nickname and designed T-shirts to benefit Sandy relief efforts.
 
Other nicknames for the “SoPo” area include “black zone” and “dark zone.”
   
 
The Atlantic Wire
SoPo: The Coining of a Neighborhood Name
JEN DOLL
NOV 2, 2012
Let’s hope that we can’t call it this for very long, but for the moment, the neighborhood-name coinage that appears to be Sandy’s legacy to New Yorkers is “SoPo.” That’s South of Power, mapped in the image at right, via I Love Charts; they picked it up from a Facebook post from Keerthik Sasidharan (architect and artist Jake Levine has been credited as the creator of the sketch!). This nickname “SoPo,” of course, is ironic. No one really wants to live in SoPo, not while it’s SoPo, at least—even as we flocked to not only live in but also eat, drink, and be merry in it just ... six days ago
 
msnNOW
Map pokes fun at post-Sandy NYC with new ‘South of Power’ neighborhood
November 2, 2012
New York has a hot new neighborhood: SoPo, short for “South of Power.” This charming doodle by an anonymous meme-maker mocks New York’s coining of new names for hip areas that juice the real estate market. Forget TriBeCa (“Triangle Below Canal”) or NoLiTa (“North of Little Italy”). In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, SoPo is the perfect place to be a New Yorker. You’ll be dark, gritty and thin, because there’s no light, no utilities and no food.
   
All Things D
New York Magazine Captures the Look of Post-Sandy New York
By Arik Hesseldahl
NOVEMBER 3, 2012 AT 3:11 PM PT
To the list of New York institutions that saw their operations disrupted by the Superstorm known as Sandy last week, add New York Magazine.
 
With offices on Varick and Canal Streets, it is situated right at the borderline between the low-to-the-water “must evacuate” Zone A and what was at that point the “not quite yet” area known as Zone B. In the end, there was no equivocation. For the magazine’s office turned out to be in the “Dark Zone,” or SoPo, as it came be known by some (South of Power, get it?), so there was no reason to go there, anyway, as no work could be done.
   
Chicago (IL) Tribune
Sandy shutdowns could slam New York office market
November 05, 2012|Ilaina Jonas | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The breakdown in services that lingers in lower Manhattan a week after super-storm Sandy may make tenants think twice before moving to or re-leasing office space in the area whose rebirth since September 11, has been painfully slow, some brokers said.
 
Thousands of people who work south of 34th Street in Manhattan have been told that they may not be able to return to their offices for at least a couple of weeks due to power outages and flood damage.
 
Others have been told to dress warm or bring blankets as they return to offices that have no heat or hot water in an area nicknamed “SoPo” or “south of power”.
 
SelflessTee.com
SoPo (South of Power) and NYC, Together for Sandy Relief
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Designer
Jake Levine
     
Real Style Network
Designer T-Shirts For Hurricane Sandy Relief
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012 at 1:01 pm.
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We’re obsessed with architect and artist Jake Levine’s hilarious “Selfless” T-Shirt, which features a hand-drawn map of Manhattan with a new made-up neighbourhood that Levine named SoPo, meaning “South of Power.” All of the proceeds will go towards hurricane relief efforts, and since they come in both men’s and women’s styles, you may as well pick up one for yourself and someone you love at just $20 each. These are definitely way more clever and stylish than “I Survived Sandy” T-shirts. selflesstee.com