I guess the national hurricane center hyped it up also. 
Instead of being grateful it turned out to be less severe than what it very well could have been, you are whining about the inconvenience it caused. The sad thing is, next time a hurricane comes barreling towards the New York area and things don't turn out as fortunately as they did this time around, New Yorker's will use this hurricane as an excuse to stick around and get killed.
First and foremost, I have not whined at all. Moreover, the National Hurricane Center was the only source for fact, rather than hype. Several meteorologists predicted than the storm would stay west and fizzle before it hit NYC and Long Island. However, they were a distant voice to the major news outlets overstating the danger to our area.
I spent two days preparing our house for this storm... Detailed outside inspection found that my big awning needed to be reinforced. I sister'd the columns with 4X4s, and lashed the whole thing to eye bolts in the concrete with no-stretch, 1/2" Dacron line. I ran in three more lag bolts to reinforce the channel mounting on the house. It didn't even flutter. Everything not nailed down was stored in the garage or our hurricane- resistant shed. I assisted two neighbors in getting their stuff put away as it was a threat to my property. One neighbor was unconcerned that he had three fence sections just leaning against his garage (he's been installing a new fence on his weekends). It took just a minute to convince him that if my property were damaged by it, our next meeting wouldn't involve much talking. I helped him carry the sections into his garage (some people are simply too stupid or ignorant to understand that leaving hazardous items loose in a hurricane is borderline criminal). My rear slider doors have pre-cut plywood covers, that bolt into the frame. There is a small emergency door (secured with two simple dead bolts) in the one section to allow escape should it be necessary. I bolted them in place. I went up on the roof and inspected both skylights. I troweled some fresh sealant onto flashing.
When everything was done outside, we gassed up all of the vehicles. I filled two 5 gallon Jerry cans with gasoline for the generator. We had 15 gallons of drinking water on hand and another 15 for washing and flushing. I already had almost two full propane bottles for the grill, which we use all summer anyway. We were as ready as anyone can be... Yet, you can never truly be ready for a genuine major hurricane. A cat 1 wasn't going to be a big problem. A cat 2 might do some damage to the house. A cat 3 will do some damage to the house. Above that, unless you've built the house to withstand a cat 4 or 5, you are pretty much depending upon fate and the good will of God. You can't prep for a cat 4 or 5... You really need to evacuate to a secure shelter.
I planned for the worst, but fully expected the hurricane run out of gas, based upon its track and the fact that no hurricane tracking on the coast can maintain its power. The eyewall collapsed well before it made landfall. Its expanding wind field was reliable evidence of weakening, as opposed to a small, tight, powerful storm.
Irene was a major headache, especially in NC. The greatest issue wasn't the wind, it was the rain and coastal flooding. Even so, up here on the Northeast coastline, the storm surge wouldn't be nearly as bad as advertised because much of the storm was tracking over land. However, where I live, neither was a factor. Most of the rain fell to the west side of the storm and we're 80 feet above sea level.
Were we lucky? No. This was not a dangerous storm for us. For other areas? You bet.. Having lived through 5 hurricanes, all stronger than Irene, and having ridden one out at sea, Irene wasn't a major hurricane for the northeast in terms of wind and storm surge. It was only marginally stronger than the Nor'easter we had last December (26" of snow driven by 50 mph winds, that knocked down two of my trees). It was, however, a huge rainmaker, and that will be its legacy.
Now, what happens when the next cat 3 or 4 makes landfall in the USA? Will the media hype of Irene backfire? That's the problem with the many 24 hour news channels... They over-hype everything in competition for audience share, which eventually desensitizes people to real danger.
