On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New York. Five years later, advocacy groups and residents assembled to voice objections to how elected officials have responded to both the storm and the looming threat of climate change. On Saturday, hundreds representing organizations from around the country marched from downtown Brooklyn to Manhattan, in a protest called Sandy 5.
hurricane sandy
Five Years After Sandy, Artists and Activists Still See ‘A Really Big Problem’
A rendering of Sen. Schumer inside the warehouse. Photo by Diego Lynch.
With the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy happening this Sunday, artists and activists are preparing for the “Sandy 5,” a rally to urge New York’s elected officials to promote renewable energy, deal with unresolved damage, and prepare the boroughs for future storms.
Pike St. Hits Close to Home, at the Intersection of Inequality and Natural Disaster
Image courtesy of the Abrons Arts Center
Having once been a star student, Candace is severely brain-damaged, and cannot breathe unaided, talk, feed or wash herself. But, her mother Evelyn insists, she’s still in there, and will one day make a miraculous recovery to fulfill her calling as a Congresswoman.
It’s through Evelyn that we learn about Candi’s larger-than-life Puerto Rican family and their lives on Pike Street, in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge. We meet Papi, Candi’s philandering grandfather, and Manny, Evelyn’s brother newly returned from Afghanistan. We meet the eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Applebaum, who tells anyone who will listen to “stop and smell the pickles.” Through their conversations we become acquainted with Evelyn’s late mother, who had a god-given gift for healing and ran a neighborhood botanica – a folk medicine store that sells religious candles and herbal remedies.
How Red Hook Winery Turned Flood Water Into Wine
Twenty One: Twenty Four. The name stands out in neat, clean type on the wine bottle’s black label. It refers to the military time (9:24 p.m.) when Superstorm Sandy surged, wiping out Red Hook Winery.
The 2010 red wine comes from one of the few barrels that were not destroyed or compromised on Oct. 29, 2012, when Hurricane Sandy’s 17-foot surge crashed over Pier 41, where Red Hook Winery is located.
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Two Years After Sandy, The Future of Sunny’s Bar Is Cloudy
Sunny and sculpture. (Photo: Christina Cipriano)
As Hurricane Sandy slammed into Red Hook, Tone Balzano Johansen was in the basement of Sunny’s, moving booze and supplies to potentially dryer places. Suddenly, the sea broke through an above-ground window. “It all came in like a Hollywood shot,” she said. “It was really quiet, then it’s just an explosion.”
Johansen, who owns the bar with her husband Sunny Balzano, dropped everything and rushed upstairs, where she threw all of her artwork onto her bed and waited for the flood to stop. When it was over, more than six feet of water stood in the basement.
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The LES Just Scored This Super Artsy Flood Protection
Rendering of the flip-down walls.
In a big win for the Lower East Side, $335 million has been awarded to a barrier that will protect the Sandy-ravaged shores of the East River.
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Near Joey Ramone Way, De Blasio Touts First 100 Days As ‘Rockaway Beach’ Plays
(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
Today while the rest of us were celebrating Stephen Colbert’s succession of David Letterman, Mayor Bill de Blasio was celebrating himself. Specifically, his first 100 days in office, which he marked in a speech at Cooper Union’s Great Hall.
Students of the college brought back the red “Free Education To All” banner that made several appearances during the doomed two-year battle to keep Cooper Union tuition-free. It didn’t last long.
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These 8 Images Show What a Stronger, Sexier LES Waterfront Might Look Like
One vision for the future of East River Park. (Renderings courtesy of Rebuild by Design).
The East River waterfront is in for a dramatic transformation in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Today, several visions of just what that transformation might look like were presented at a standing room-only meeting led by Rebuild By Design, a project of President Obama’s taskforce to rebuild the city after Sandy.
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Knickerbocker Village Just Scored $1.46M in Sandy Relief
(Photo: Mary Reinholz)
Only a few short weeks after both tenants and public officials expressed mounting frustration over delays in disaster relief funds to help Knickerbocker Village recover from Sandy’s onslaught a year ago, the city announced today that it would provide $1.46 million in federal money from the NYC Build It Back program to finance the first phase of repairs. More →
This Rockaway Restaurant Just Bounced Back With a Name That Spells Optimism
Despite the flip-flops, Chris Miles had clearly come to his restaurant to work. He wore a pair of frayed camouflage shorts and a white “Connelly’s Rockaway Beach 2013” t-shirt that was peppered with holes, slightly exposing his tan skin. As he sat in a dining room full of unwrapped furniture, contractors worked diligently, installing new lights and booths in the bar area. The room was electric with determination.
On Oct. 17, nearly a year to the day that Sandy wiped out his seafood restaurant on Beach 129th Street, Miles and his business partner Bill Keating reopened the business as Pico, a Mexican eatery. It’s been a long time coming. A year ago, Sandy took dead aim at the neighborhood of Belle Habor, and filled Rockaway Seafood Co. with three feet of ocean. The storm’s massive tidal swells caused an electrical short and sparked a fire around 130th Street. While the fire didn’t consume the entirety of Miles’s business, it did kiss the rear of the building, burning out a storage room and a 15 by 20 foot section of the roof.
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