Coney Island 5 days after Hurricane Sandy

American Suds, Mermaid Avenue.

I went out to Coney Island today with some friends who were transporting donations of  food, coats and baby items. These are some photos of what I saw. To me the thing that makes Coney Island such a special place is how no matter how urban it's side streets are you can never get away from how Mother Nature is really the one who owns the place even without Hurricane Sandy. So excuse me if these photos seem to jump back from the streets to the beach but that's Coney.

Garbage has not seemed to have been picked up in a while on Mermaid Avenue.

The Coney Island Pier is still standing but will need some help eventually.

Volunteers cleaning the beach area at Coney Island.

Window with food on the sill at the Warbasse Houses which houses thousands of elderly and still does not have power. Many volunteers showed up today to climb over 20 flights of stairs to check on residents and to donate supplies.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz at the FEMA staging area in Coney Island.

Coney Island residents waiting for supplies at FEMA staging area.

Getting water from fire hydrants which will probably have to carried up many flight of stairs.

The sand came up from the beach a couple blocks past Surf Avenue! Frightening!

 

Sand on the boardwalk. Volunteers were shoveling it back to the beach.

Coney Island will rise again but will be needing help for quite some time. I heard people say that power may not be on until NOVEMBER 10th!  That's another week of no heat, no hot water, no elevators and a whole lot of stress. And it is COLD there. Donations most needed are blankets, coats, flashlights, powerstrips, BABY ITEMS such as diapers, wipes, boxed milk, pediasure as well as insure, first aid items, cleaning items and non perishable food. There are no markets for these people to shop in right now.

Click here to see where you can drop off donations or donate manpower to not only Coney Island but all the communities in NYC that have been hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.





Gowanus Waters Surge and Fill Bond Street

This scary footage was taken last night as the waters surged from the Gowanus Canal and began to fill Bond Street at a frighteningly quick speed.

The brave person who took this footage (I live on Bond and I was cowering in the middle of my apartment with the lights off having anxiety attacks!) has a very sane and logical message for Lightstone Properties , who wish to build a 700 unit apartment complex on this stretch of block which is "DON'T BUILD HERE!"

Sandbags along the Gowanus

 

The tide is extremely high tonight and the anticipated rain has not even started. The boats are swaying and anything that is in the canal is thrashing about. Houses in the Zone A areas did not really seem evacuated but precautions were being taken as far as putting tape on windows and sandbags on cellar doors

340-342 Bond Street waits for Hurricane Sandy at 9 PM on Sunday night. 

This Scarano condo building at 340-342 Bond Street had all it's doors fortified with sandbags.

 

Recently the Gowanus/Carroll Gardens community has learned that developer Lightstone Properties wants to build a 700 unit apartment building on this very block - directly on the shores of the Gowanus Canal in a CATEGORY A EVACUATION ZONE!

 

It makes me wonder.

 

Is this project about creating safe housing for people or really about developers making ruthless profit by putting people in harms way?

 

Building on a Federal Superfund Site seems like a bad idea to start but to also build in a flood plain in which the floods include raw sewage makes it even a worse idea. And to build in a place that right now is in the midst of a MANDATORY EVACUATION seems like a REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA!

 

 In fact there was supposed to be a hearing about it tomorrow but it's been cancelled due to the hurricane!

 

Now is the time for our elected officials and City Planning to start opening up their eyes.

 

Climate change is real and we are living it now.

 

Click here to contact 39th District Councilman Brad Lander to voice your concern and here for City Planning.