Salon.com > Rockaway

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

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:03:00 +0000

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.

FEMA disaster center shuttered “due to weather”

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:44:00 +0000

Despite the election distraction, many victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey have not recovered. As of yesterday, in New York City 91,000 homes still have no power and residents in storm-battered areas like the Rockaways and Staten Island continue to rely on community relief efforts for hot meals, flashlights, blankets and other vital supplies. As these communities prepare to weather another harsh storm tonight and tomorrow -- a nor'easter's freezing temperatures, 60-mph winds, heavy rain and snow -- FEMA has reportedly closed its doors.

DNAinfo reports that the federal agency, which residents of the Rockaways and Staten Island say has already neglected them, had shuttered facilities Wednesday with signs reading "closed due to weather." "They fly into disaster areas, but flee from raindrops," commented DNA. A FEMA facility in Staten Island, which was helping victims register for disaster relief, as well as city food distribution centers, was empty as of Wednesday morning. DNA reported:

Up to 40,000 New Yorkers homeless by Sandy

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:11:00 +0000

Hurricane Sandy has left as many as 40,000 New Yorkers homeless according to city officials Sunday. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the figure projected a worst case scenario, reported the New York Times, and that likely 20,000 were made homeless by the storm -- "most of them residents of public housing."

With a shortage in public housing stock throughout the storm-struck region, officials in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will struggle to find replacement homes for Sandy's victims. The Times reported that hotels or apartments would be used for temporary housing. However, "in some cases, the solution may be a familiar, if unwelcome sight: the trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Hurricane Katrina," reported the Times, adding:

It is still uncertain how many people would ultimately need housing, temporary or otherwise. In New Jersey alone, over 5,000 people remain in shelters and tens of thousands who evacuated their homes now reside with relatives and friends. Those with no homes to return to will have to find a new place to live.