When the power is out, Wall Street heads to the local library. One enterprising trader set up his desk with two monitors at a picnic table, capitalizing on the free wireless Internet access outside the library building.
“People stay late and get here early,” said Caroline Lopez, acting director of Darien Library. “There’s always people inside the library and anywhere from 50 to 100 outside hanging around the building using WiFi at any given time.” While there was a surge of generator installations in the tri-state area after Superstorm Sandy, the tropical storm still posed challenges in an era when a good Internet connection is critical. A real estate executive had to work out of his Tesla on Wednesday, driving around Greenwich to find cellular service. A banker in Darien, meanwhile, had to turn off his wine refrigerator in order to preserve his generator’s power for the computer. He eventually found himself working at the library.