After Sandy, New York City picks up the pieces

Many are calling Sandy the most devastating storm to ever hit New York City.

More than two million people are without power, including nearly every apartment and business below 39th Street. Plumbing is also out for tens of thousands of people. More than 80 homes in Breezy Point, in the Queens borough, burned down, decimating the neighborhood. The subway system was out of commission for days because of flooding, transportation tunnels were also flooded by water from the Hudson River, and high waters from the East River overtook parts of the east side of the city.

“Manhattan Youth Downtown Community Center is now under 20 feet of water and the property has taken a tremendous damage,” said Bob Townley, founder and executive director of Manhattan Youth. “1.4 million gallons of water filled the lower levels of the center.”

“We have rebuilt before and we can rebuild again," Mr Townley added.

Manhattan Youth is a non-profit community service organization that has served families, children, teens and senior citizens for over 25 years and was also damaged on September 11, 2001.

Many businesses were impacted by the historic storm.

“We were up and running and after only being open for one month and then this storm hit and did damage," said John Rubin owner of Replay Studios. "This is frustrating. We would like to get the studio back up on it’s feet.” Replay Studios is a new music rehearsal space where musicians of all ages play and practice located just three blocks from the Hudson River in the West Village neighborhood.

The wide-spread power outage has also made life difficult for residents. The roads are treacherous because the traffic lights are not working yet and some drivers are not stopping to allow pedestrians to cross streets.

The 39th annual Halloween parade was canceled for the first time.  The parade route runs through the West Village and Chelsea neighborhoods. Both areas were both hard-hit by the storm. Barclays Center, a new multi-purpose indoor arena located in Brooklyn, has also been impacted. The Smashing Pumpkins Halloween concert  and the Nets-Knicks opener was postponed due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

New York's subway system service is limited, but officials at the MTA (the authority that runs the subway system) said that they plan on restoring limited service on Thursday. Lower Manhattan is also showing signs of progress. Buses are running with delays and ferries are now running again in the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that our water is safe to drink, schools will reopen on Monday, November 5th, and the New York City Marathon will be be run as scheduled this Sunday. “We are on the road to recovery,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

The first major signs of the city getting back to normal? The New York Stock Exchange resumed trading today after a two-day shutdown, and two major airports reopened.

—Kid Reporter Cecilia Gault

Photo: Workers survey the scene at the Hugh L. Carey Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which is still flooded with water from Hurricane Sandy. (Dante A. Ciampaglia/Scholastic)

Comments

[Turret]

So Sad how Sand hert so many people

[Anis H.]

The New York City was hit and the subway was flood right? as Hurricane Sandy approaches on Monday. is that ture!!!Also my am very sorry about the damge that the hurricane sandy did.

[Cameron]

Hurricane Sandy was terrible in NEW YORK and the metro was all back up. I was so sad for my grandma because she lives in NEW YORK.She is prombly aright. Im glad we didnt have it as bad as New york had by the way I LIVE IN Washington D.C.Where do you live?

[Angela]

Very well-written report! Keep up the good work.