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Thursday, Nov 8, 2012 9:03 PM UTC

A look inside a Rockaway high-rise, neglected after Sandy

A videographer and volunteer highlights the darkness, need and lack of assistance VIDEO

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Topics: Far Rockaway, Rockaway, Red Cross, Hurricane Sandy, Queens, FEMA, New York, Occupy Sandy,

A look inside a Rockaway high-rise, neglected after SandyA woman outside her Rockaway apartment, still without power after Sandy (screenshot from YouTube/Kate Baladina)

Reports coming out of New York’s storm-struck Rockaway Peninsula have emphasized the lack of power in towering public housing blocks, the cold, the absence of food and supplies and the seeming neglect by FEMA and Red Cross relief efforts.

This video, posted Wednesday by relief volunteer Kate Baladina on YouTube, takes viewers through the pitch black corridors of a Far Rockaway housing complex, where residents — seniors and non-English speaking immigrants among them — complain about a dearth of official assistance. Baladina illustrates the bureacratic barriers inherent in alerting the authorities and the Red Cross to neglected areas.

At the time of filming, the building had only received help from volunteers with Occupy Sandy, home attendants and social workers.

 

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. More Natasha Lennard.

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