News reports say that about 10:10am EST, a refinery (Mobile Port) at the channel between New Jersey and Staten Island caught fire due to a propane barge explosion: When I passed by the Verrezano Narrows bridge (on the other side of S.I., towards Brooklyn) at around 10:25am, there was a GIANT plume of smoke rising at least several miles into the air before being blown by the wind in south/south-eastern direction. www.news12.com and www.ny1.com are completely slashdotted right now, with www.cnn.com having slowed to a crawl.