“I was in New York City for September 11th, and I was there for the 200...” — Casey Neistat Quote

I was in New York City for September 11th, and I was there for the 2003 blackout. I think in hindsight, you get a real perspective as to how unique those moments of crisis are in a place like New York City.

I was always the guy who jumped off the roof of the garage, who could climb up the facade of a building.

I think I'm like that nerdy dad from middle school who always has a video camera, but in the same respect, I only take it out during interesting occasions.

I don't keep an ongoing dribble of updates of my day, but I tell little compartmentalized stories every day on Snapchat. I use it much more like making a movie than maintaining a diary. When people watch my 60-second clips, there's a beginning, middle, and end.

Both Mom and Dad were blackout, killer drinkers. Dad came to school football games drunk. I'd find Mom passed out in the bushes, scared and hiding.

To read a paper book is another experience: you can do it on a ship, on the branch of a tree, on your bed, even if there is a blackout.

I was in New York when they had the massive blackout - all of Manhattan blacked out. It was a year or two after 9/11, it was pre-smartphones, and everyone thought it was a terror attack. It was like the end of the world.

I can just remember the blitz of Manchester, or perhaps my father's tales about the blitz of Manchester. I can remember the blackout, the powdered eggs, and the gas masks. But I think no British person should pretend that being resident in England could count as being in the thick of the action.