25 replies to this topic

[Natalia]

I didn't quite know where to fit this topic. Just wanted to express my sincere good wishes to ALL members of the BalletAlert! Family who live in zones most affected by Hurricane Sandy. I've been contacting my best friends individually but wanted to wish all members of the BA/ballet Family well. I know that New York/New Jersey/Connecticut residents comprise a big percentage of the BA Family. My thoughts are with you for healing, repairing, and a return to 'normalcy' soon.

[sandik]

Indeed -- thank you, Natalia, for starting this thread.  Sending love to all.

[Jack Reed]

I share your concerns, especially for our extended group, but, knowing that media tend to emphasize the worst - that used to be called "paper peddling" when media were newspapers - I can offer some consoling perspective:  Having heard from a New York friend, a prominent member of this board, who lives - now, this Chicagoan is not a native master of NYC neighborhood names, but I think it's called west Midtown, or maybe it's Chelsea - and evidently his large building has independent power when they need it, and having seen this coming and having stocked up a little, they seems to be quite thriving.  Still, there are people dead or suffering, no question, and my heart goes out to them and theirs.  But our little band may have largely escaped.  So I hope and wish.

Edited to include the important fact that my friend is a major contributor to our community:

Edited by Jack Reed, 01 November 2012 - 03:48 PM.

[abatt]

Thanks everyone for your good wishes.

[lmspear]

Thanks all for your good wishes.  I transplanted myself from NY to DC for college and never went back.  My father is on Long Island has been without power since Monday. There is one town between his community and the beach.  Many of the cars in his condo complex, including his, were flooded and ruined.  The winds brought salt water from the ocean along with the rain.  When some people tried to start their cars, the cars started to smoke.  Anyway, dad is sheltering with my brother who lives further inland and was not affected by anything.  I was supposed to go home this weekend for an engagement party at the bride's parent's home on the north shore of Long Island, but the party had to be postponed due to damage to the property.  The New Jersey relatives are not close to the shoreline and there have been no bad reports from that sector.

I was told to stay away until thing straighten themselves out a little.

[aurora]

lmspear, on 01 November 2012 - 12:08 PM, said:

Thanks all for your good wishes.  I transplanted myself from NY to DC for college and never went back.  My father is on Long Island has been without power since Monday. There is one town between his community and the beach.  Many of the cars in his condo complex, including his, were flooded and ruined.  The winds brought salt water from the ocean along with the rain.  When some people tried to start their cars, the cars started to smoke.  Anyway, dad is sheltering with my brother who lives further inland and was not affected by anything.  I was supposed to go home this weekend for an engagement party at the bride's parent's home on the north shore of Long Island, but the party had to be postponed due to damage to the property.  The New Jersey relatives are not close to the shoreline and there have been no bad reports from that sector.

I was told to stay away until thing straighten themselves out a little.

Glad your dad had somewhere safe to go! Something like 90% of LI was (is?) without power. LIPA is not known for its quick restoration of electric and obviously the magnitude of this was off the scale.
Much of NJ, even off the coast, was also without power although that is slowly being restored. The NJTransit rail line is completely dead at the moment.

Most of lower Manhattan is still without power and without phones as well. I can't reach my family anymore. Their landline has gone out as well (it was functioning earlier as it doesn't require electricity).

Transportation is creaking to life, but it is still incredibly difficult to get anywhere if you are in Brooklyn unless you walk into the city. The lines for the buses that are meant to replace the subways were beyond belief.

Thanks for the concern everyone!

[AlbanyGirl]

Joe and I wish everyone who lives in the NY metropolitan area and New Jersey our thoughts, our prayers to you during this difficult time.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Let me join abatt, Imspear, and Aurora in thanking everyone for their concern and good wishes.  I just want to add a note for those of you who live outside of the NY Metro area: reports of the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy aren't media hype. There are parts of the city where it looks and feels like absolutely nothing has happened. But for many who live in downtown Manhattan, in Brooklyn, in Queens, in New Jersey (including our next door neighbors across the Hudson), or on Long Island, this storm has been and will continue to be a world of trouble.

I'm lucky -- although my husband and I live in the downtown black-out zone, we were able to score a room in a mid-town hotel on Wednesday. I think I'm experiencing a form of survivor's guilt: here I am lolling about in the luxury of lights, heat, hot showers, flushable toilets, charged gadgets, and an internet connection while my neighbors -- some elderly, some with children -- are trapped many stories up a pitch-black stairwell with dwindling supplies of food, water, candles, batteries, and medication. And -- elderly folks excepted -- they're doing relatively OK. They can at least trudge down umpteen flights of stairs, make their way uptown somehow to a grocery or pharmacy, re-provision, and schlep it back up all those stairs. And their power will be back on by the weekend. For many others -- including those in the Manhattan flood zones -- it's much worse.

38 New Yorkers have died so far and many have seen their homes destroyed. Many will be without power for at least another week. If you're not familiar with NYC geography, it may surprise you to learn that parts of the city are quite isolated: the people who live there can't easily get out and the city is only just now getting food and drinking water to them. Many local merchants have lost much of their inventory, not to mention the days of sales they need to just to pay the bills. (The uncle of two men on my building's staff owns a small deli down the block. Every time the power goes out he has to toss thousands and thousands of dollars of perishable food. Multiply him by 10,000.) And it pains me to say this, but there has been some ugly looting in the Rockaways. There's no gas to be had anywhere. For folks in the outer boroughs, in NJ, or on Long Island who must drive or need the gas for their generators, this is a real issue. The folks who keep the city running, many of whom can ill afford to lose a day's work, commute for hours over a jury-rigged transit system to get to their jobs, and return to homes without power, heat, or water. Some now have no jobs to go to. If you're a first responder, a healthcare worker, or a Con-Ed or MTA employee, you are probably running on fumes at this point. And, as is the case with every disaster, the people with the fewest resources have been hit the hardest.

It's not Katrina-scale devastation, but it's bad all the same.

Edited to add: I don't want to sound entirely gloomy. Many New Yorkers are making the most of the opportunity that Sandy has given them to socialize with their neighbors, marvel at the strange night-time darkness of downtown Manhattan, bond over shared power strips, and lend a hand to somebody else.

[sandik]

And we saw some truly miserable images from Staten Island, which was just pounded by the hurricane.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

sandik, on 01 November 2012 - 09:21 PM, said:

And we saw some truly miserable images from Staten Island, which was just pounded by the hurricane.

Oh, how could I have forgotten about Staten Island! I was there just a couple of weeks ago with my dad trying to find where his ship docked during WWII.

[Natalia]

I'm wondering how our friends in the Russian/Ukrainian/ex-USSR community of Brighton Beach "Little Odessa" are faring? CNN Int'l (which I get on cable in Peru) hasn't shown that area of Long Island in its reports. It's a community packed with ballet fans who patronize so many dance events in Manhattan.

Edited to add:  I managed to find this article on Brighton Beach post-Sandy:
http://www.dnainfo.c...lideshow/299130

It looks like they got away with 'just' flooding to basements and power outages, i.e., the buildings, roads and boardwalk still stand. Other places had entire buildings washed away.

[abatt]

Things have been bad in Brighton Beach.  There has been loss of power and destruction of property from the storm.  In addition to the natural disaster, there are now reports of looting by criminals who are taking advantage fo the chaos.  The last news report I saw indicated that additional police forces have been dispatched to prevent further looting.

[atm711]

I have been pretty fortunate recently---although I live in Battery Park I have been away in Pennysylvania visiting family.  My good fortune has known no end----I almost bought a waterfront condo on Staten Island that had considerable damage.  Someone up there is watching over me---I am sure it is my beloved husband of 61 years who passed away 6 months ago.  I hope I can get home in  time to vote.....

[Natalia]

abatt, on 02 November 2012 - 05:46 AM, said:

Things have been bad in Brighton Beach.  There has been loss of power and destruction of property from the storm.  In addition to the natural disaster, there are now reports of looting by criminals who are taking advantage fo the chaos.  The last news report I saw indicated that additional police forces have been dispatched to prevent further looting.

Very sad. Thanks for the info, abatt.

atm711, you are indeed lucky. Wow.

[Marga]

I am still waiting to speak with my 87 year old mother on LI. She has been without power and telephone since Monday. At least she has hot water and gas, but with no heat the coming weekend rainstorm, winds and subsequent drop in temperature has me worried even more for her comfort. My brother's basement on LI was flooded with one and a half feet of water. His family is also without power, I have cousins in New Jersey and Staten Island in affected areas and have no idea how they have fared. I know my mom and brother's family are safe - we got a call from my sister-in-law's mother who has power on LI - but my stomach will continue to be in knots until I speak with my mother personally.