We Interrupt This Program...

...to bring a message of hope.  To better times ahead.  Here's Yuta Sezutsu.

Volunteering at Rockaway

The storm now referred to as Super Storm Sandy has wreaked havoc all over New York and New Jersey. As people started to mobilize, Pilgrim Surf + Supply became a meeting place for volunteers to convoy over to Rockaway to lend a helping hand in any way possible.  Photos don't give the full sense of loss and destruction laid upon the community of the Rockaways. 

As we drove to find our contact point, we passed block after block of flooded-out homes and streets buried in sand. Breezy Point wasn't the only area where houses burnt down. We spoke to a retired firefighter who told us how the firefighters were able to save what is left of his block from fire. 

Sunday the Rockaways were filled with volunteers. Morale was high as neighbor was helping neighbor and residents were pointing volunteers in the right direction. With all of the confusion as to where the help was really needed, we decided to head to a nearby church that is being used as a point of contact for people who need help and those who are there to help. After some time spent looking for the person with the list of people in need, we got our first address and away we went. 

Our first job was preparation for what we would be doing for the rest of the day and that was digging out people's driveways. And dig we did. The word must have gotten out because we were not even done with the first driveway and we already had the next one lined up. 

Amphibious Navy vehicle on the beach of Bell Harbor. 

Chief the pit bull keeping an eye on the block.

Photo Aeriel Yun

The beach had washed up several blocks from where it is normally is. We were on the last block before reaching the beach so it was particularly deep here. As luck would have it, some seamen from the Navy showed up to lend a hand. They were camped out on the beach just at the end of the block.

Photo Aeriel Yun

This driveway was extra special because it belonged to a man that was out helping the community. He was so busy helping that he couldn't work on his own place. The job was too big for one person. He came home just as we finished up and was most appreciative. We were all happy to do it. The neighbor next door made us some spaghetti to show her appreciation for digging out a walkway in front of her house. If you know Italian mothers then you know that you can't say no when they offer food.

Here is the deal on the digging. The city will only clean the public streets but will not come onto private property. Each home owner is responsible for their property and that's where the volunteers come in.

Group shot after digging out a driveway. Photo Aeriel Yun

The Navy packing it in and heading out to sea. 

What's left of the boardwalk at Beach 127th.

The view east from Beach 127th.

The writing is on the wall. 

A Navy ship holding it down.

The contents of flooded out homes sit out in the sand buried streets.  

Don't be fooled by the media saying the things are returning to normal. The subway may be coming back online and there is power for most of Lower Manhattan but most of the people on the coast of Rockaway, Broad Channel and Staten Island are homeless and cold. The destruction is massive and beyond words. If you are looking for a way to help, the best is to simply volunteer your time to clean up. If you can't do that I recommend checking out Occupy Sandy.

People are literally digging themselves out from their homes.

The sign reads: Sandy you're no match for the hearts of Beach 127th Street. I happen to agree. 

Here are some other resources to find ways to help out:
The Endless Bummer NYC
Rockaway Emergency Plan Facebook Page
Long Beach, NY Hurricane information Facebook page
SMASH: NYC. Facebook Page

Donations Update for Pilgrim

Warm Clothing Drive for Rockaway.

One of many drives to help the community in Rockaway. In addition to this list you can also bring contractor bags, diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, bottled water, shovels, rubber gloves and rubber boots

Post Rockalyptic Landscape

Today Rebecca and I rode our bikes the roughly 15 miles to Rockaway Beach.  I loaded up a UPS/battery backup unit on the back (to help folks charge phone batteries), Rebecca packed some food and off we went.  Once we crossed the Marine Park/Gil Hodges bridge we saw lots of homes pumping water from the basement, and mud everywhere.

As soon as we hit 116 St things began to get weird.

The combination of flood and fire at 114 St has created a post-apocalyptic landscape that looked like a war zone.  Smoking, and in spots still flaming ruins of buildings and muddy sand covered everything.  Fences were twisted, cars were piled up on each other in parking lots.  Search and rescue crews from other states swaggered around, as if trying to project an image of control, but yet seemed conspicuously listless, as if under no command.  And that was just the beginning.

We arrived on 96 St.  The apartment we had been scheduled to move in to last Sunday had mud all over the door and exterior wall, and the high water mark was visible which immediately told us the interior had been flooded.  We opened the door to find muddy carpets and soggy sheet rock, and damage to the doorknob suggested would-be looters had tried to jimmy the lock.  We moved on.

The boardwalk is gone as far as the eye can see.  The only part remaining is the concrete foundations, which lends a surreal Planet of the Apes kind of feeling, especially with waves breaking peacefully in the background.

We arrived to 90 St and Rockaway Beach Blvd to find cars stranded in the middle of the intersection which is now a lake.

On 91 St, a massive section of boardwalk has come to rest atop a mini-Cooper, complete with intact benches and streetlight still erect.  Some local residents stoked a bonfire in the street, adding to the post-civilization feeling.

The bungalow is still standing, despite having taken on 18" of seawater, muddy surfboards were everywhere, having been stirred about by the sloshing, and the entry alley is one long sand dune.  Shaw kept us in a good mood with jokes but summed up what we were all thinking by admitting he didn't know where to start.

The last stop was the Rockaway Beach Surf Club and friends that live next door.  Brandon D'Leo was on site cleaning up, and told the story of watching the ocean send the boardwalk down 91st on Monday night's massive tide surge, to the point where the street light was bumping against his 2nd floor apt.  

The surge in the shaping bay hit nearly 5 feet, sending surfboards, containers and power tools everywhere.  Most of the fiberglass is ruined, probably most of the tools, and the cleanup is going to be major.  At least the blanks, mounted high up on the wall, were spared.

J Scott K told me Monday night was the scariest thing he'd ever lived through.  The neighbors piled into the 2nd floor of his house as water rapidly rose in the space of 15 minutes to become a raging river of seawater, mud, debris and sewage, swamping his truck and causing his first floor to vanish beneath the waves.  How must that have felt for him and Lois, to look down from the 2nd floor loft on rapidly rising water levels inside their home, probably in near darkness, I can scarcely imagine.

I have to admit being really impressed with the humor and strength of character I saw on display.  Hard times and a lot of rebuilding are ahead.  But as we dropped off some food and batteries and prepared for the long ride home, Keone paused from cleaning mud out of his place and stopped me.  "Have you seen the waves out there?  They're not looking too bad!"

And so Rockaway lives.

If you'd like to help, check out TimeOutNY's excellent list of places you can plug in.

Nightmare at 90 St, Costume Surfing!

I've fantasized holding an event like this in NY ever since I laughed myself sick watching this video of people costume surfing in CA.  So bring a clever costume that can get a little wet, and join the fun!

Derek Hynd at Pilgrim

"The wave needs to win.  Otherwise, I reckon, it's bad karma."