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REUTERS/Andrew Burton
Department of Sanitation Workers survey the Midland Beach neighborhood where many homes are set to be demolished due to Hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, New York November 9, 2012.
Residents recognize the occupants right away. They're disaster tourists, people drawn to the scene of a tragedy to glimpse the pictures they've seen on television come to life.
Two weeks after the superstorm socked the region, cleanup continues in New York and New Jersey, which bore the brunt of the destruction. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to 8.5 million in 10 states, and some during a later nor'easter. About 73,000 utility customers in New York and New Jersey remained without power late Sunday, most of them on Long Island.
But the storm didn't just bring darkness and despair; it also brought the gawkers.
"It's a little annoying," said Chris Nasella, who paused as he finished cleaning up a home reduced to a shell on the first floor. "By the same token, I would do it, too. I don't think anyone wouldn't want to look at boats that are picked up and left on the streets. As long as you don't get a kick out of it, it's an amazing thing."
But they left an impression.
"The gawking was amazing last week," said Joanne McClenin, whose home was filled with water five feet high on the night Sandy came ashore. "It was kind of offensive as a homeowner, because I felt violated."
Separately, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano visited with disaster-relief workers Sunday in Staten Island's Midland Beach neighborhood, which is still devastated two weeks after Sandy hit.
The lack of power restoration for a relative few in the densely populated region at the heart of the storm reinforced Sandy's fractured effect on the area: tragic and vicious to some, merely a nuisance to others.
Perhaps none of the utilities have drawn criticism as widespread, or as harsh, as the Long Island Power Authority. Nearly 67,000 of the homes and businesses it serves were still without power late Sunday. That was almost all of the remaining outages in New York state.
"We certainly understand the frustration that's out there," LIPA's chief operating officer, Michael Hervey, said in a conference call late Sunday. But, he said, the storm had been worse than expected, no utility had as many workers in place beforehand as it would have liked, and the power was coming back rapidly "compared to the damage that's been incurred."
"I was so disgusted the other night," said Carrie Baram, 56, of Baldwin Harbor, who said she calls the utility three times a day. "I was up till midnight, but nobody bothered to answer the telephone."
LIPA has said it knows that customers aren't getting the information they need, partly because of an outdated information technology system that it is updating. Sunday, executives said they were working on setting up information centers near the most heavily damaged areas. The company also said it had deployed 6,400 linemen to work on restoring power, compared to 200 on a normal day.
"'They're working on it, they're working on it' — that would be their common response," Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said Sunday, describing LIPA's interaction with his office.
He said LIPA had failed to answer even simple questions from its customers and that Sandy's magnitude wasn't an excuse.
On Staten Island, Napolitano said "a lot of progress" had been made since the storm hit and especially since her last visit 10 days earlier.
"It seems like a different place," she said. "You can really tell the difference."
But, she added, there was a lot more to do. "The last big chunk" to solve, she said, is the question of how quickly power can be returned to thousands of homes without it.
If homes are not inhabitable even after power returns, she said, the government is finding temporary apartments and hotels where evacuees can stay — preferably in the same community so kids can continue going to the same schools.
REUTERS/Andrew Burton
Lydia Rokosvak walks down her street, where a neighbor has spray painted "Looted by a Neighbor" on a destroyed shed, in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, New York November 9, 2012.
Seaver Avenue on Staten Island was sloppy with mud, sand and curbside mounds of couches, personal photos, mattresses and sodden sheetrock. Mickey Merrell's front porch was askew, and the storm surge nearly knocked a neighbor's house into hers. Across the street a house was washed off its foundation. It was a scene of human misery — and one of New York City's new attractions, just like the construction crane that collapsed and dangled precariously high above mid-town Manhattan on Oct. 29.
"Sometimes it's like we're at the zoo," Merrell said. "So many people come and stop and stare at this place."
Michelle Van Tassel, a Staten Island resident who has friends who lost everything, said she tried to deliver supplies but couldn't get through because there were so many people on the street who had no business being there.
"There were a tremendous amount of people who came into the borough to take pictures, to look at the devastation themselves, and it seemed like more of a tourist attraction down there than it actually felt like people who were trying to help," she said, her voice breaking.
Peter Lisi, a renter who is fighting a landlord trying to evict him from his damaged home, said he doesn't mind the gawkers, "as long as they're not making fun." Some of them are drawn in to what's happening and help, he said.
Domenick and Kim Barone said they could tell the tourists apart from the volunteers because the gawkers' clothes and shoes are clean, and they're often snapping pictures.
"Obviously they have nothing else to do," Kim Barone said. "If this is their source of entertainment, to wallow in other people's despair, I don't have the time. I'm trying just to clean out and save what I can save. I don't really have the time to worry about them."
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A snowstorm hits the Northeast as residents are still struggling to pick up the pieces after Superstorm Sandy.
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Leave a Comment:
No one should find enjoyment in something so tragic. It's offensive that people who've still got a warm home to return to, hang out their window and take pictures of these people as if they're an exhibit. More often than not, these same "gawkers" don't contribute a cent to disaster relief. If you aren't there to help, have the decency to let them rebuild. These people have lost everything, and don't deserve to be treated like entertainment.
Note to Staten Island residents: If you are going to be put on display like zoo animals, might as well throw feces at the gawkers.
Is FEMA doing anything to help these poor people??
This was posted yesterday at a clean-up sight in RI:
Misquamicut Beach
the beach is not safe for signtseeing. Please stay away unless you have business here. Sorry to be rude but when 3 year olds are walking on atlantic Ave with construction crews moving around its JUST NOT SAFE. So come sightsee another time, not right now. Thank you.
I put these gawkers right up there with looters! They are sick people with, obviously, nothing better to do with their lives then enjoy the misery of others! If the law can't step in and punish them with a hefty ticket or fine for being where they shouldn't be then maybe a little garbage, like rotten eggs thrown on their fancy vehicles, might just deter them from sticking their noses where they don't belong! Put up some 'keep out of the neighborhood' signs and if they don't stay away, bombard them!
I remember about 10 years ago I was visiting a friend who lived in a mobile home park. A home across the street and down about 4 homes caught on fire. The fire dept. arrived when the home was about half destroyed. They got it out in about 10 minutes. It wasn't a half hour later that people started going over to the wreckage. I thought it was just morbid curiosity. It didn't take long before people were actually sifting through the remains and walking off with the owners property. The owners were not there that weekend. It was like watching a pack of rats swarming on garbage. I never thought people could be so.... sorry lost for words.
It's all part of being American - Someones trash is other people's gold and tragedies brings out the best in us wither good or bad unfortunately.
Rather than being in the way, taking other people's belongings and taking pictures, they should go to Boscobel, WI. I hear it's the "Turkey" capitol of the world - Not because it's most popular for Turkey hunting, they actually have more people per capita dressed up like a bunch of turkeys and the tourism is always welcome! Best part is if they go - they are far from where I live.
Ahhh, these poor people build homes on the beach. Not a single one was on pilings, I wonder.? They
ALL were told to leave but stayed instead. Con Edison had no plan in place for this, their fault. Never trim trees back 6'-10' from power lines. Now people will see what it's like to have a Hurricane do them in. Sure you're gonna be with power for a while, so get used to it quit crying. You are not special by any means. Pick up the pieces and move on.
put a $1,000 dollar a head gawker tax bloomberg would misapropreiate that as well. give the money to the large soda police.
denver bill 2 is right!
obama is going to be there gawking this week... throw feces at him.
Yes it's kind of creepy having these people cruise through looking at the disaster. I feel sorry that they feel like they're in a zoo, but the restoration will be on the dime of the gawkers as well as everyone else in the country. So while it may be uncomfortable, it's just human nature to look at the disaster.
On the other hand only animals throw feces, right Denver bill 2 and Erkel2013?
I lived right across from the 35w bridge in Minneapolis when it collapsed, and there was an overwhelming number of gawkers that clogged up traffic just so they could get a glimpse of the bridge. I became outraged when I saw a family walking down the overcrowded sidewalk with of all things, a picnic basket! It made me so angry to see such disrespect for the victims and the rescue workers still trying to recover bodies from the wreckage. My apartment was on the corner of the bridge intersection and it was so crowded with gawkers and news crews I could barely make it to my front door. When I pushed my way past I was stopped by a cop asking me what I was doing there, to which I snarled in his face "I freaking live here!". He sheepishly stepped aside and let me on my way. I still get angry thinking about the absolute ridiculousness of visiting a disaster site like a tourist attraction.
It's nothing new. There's a wreck on one side of the freeway. Traffic is backed up on the opposite. Why? Gawkers, rubberneckers. People are curious and want to see it for themselves but, sadly, Americans go beyond to the point of being pigs.
I totally understand that the victims from the hurricane feel like they're on display with gawkers but on the other hand humans are curious. My husband and I spent 4 days collecting everything we could from our friends, family and co-workers to drop off at New Dorp HS. Some of the donators requested that we take some photos to see how hard they were hit. We were very careful not to take photos of people in front of their homes because we didn't want to have them feel disrespected. After we dropped off our donations we went back to our uncle's house 3 blocks away and helped him clean up and start repairs at his house. I don't approve of the people just driving in to take pictures but people should keep in mind that a lot of people want to help and are on their way somewhere on the island to volunteer. Don't be so quick to label out of towners "gawkers". It might deter those who actually WANT to come to help rebuild because they don't want to have residents give them dirty looks or assume they're just there to take pictures.
Same thing happened after the tsunami hit Thailand a few years back. European tourists were sitting on the beach in lounge chairs watching the cleanup efforts and "supporting the local economy".
Why not set up a neighborhood entrance "gate" and charge gawkers by the person in each vehicle?
When we had a tornado go through the neighborhood we had a constant stream of cars going through just to get a look. Then again, we toured other neighborhoods that were also hit. It is just human nature.
"By the same token, I would do it, too."
That's why you're called a New Yorker.
I have to admit I would most likly go and view the damage myself if I could but not to get a kick out of it. I would do it for being able to see and understand the kind of damage that can be done by a storm like this. The main reason is being I am a Volunteer Firefighter but also as somday I may want to move and want to get some insite on if I were to choose to move to an area like a coastal area what could benifit me and my famiy to stay safe and reduce property damage.
I can completely understand...Last year when Trop Storm Lee came through, my town was flooded in 32' of water..we had so many people driving down streets just looking..it was so hard. But I will offer this..I never thought my town would be normal again...and granted..it's not normal..but it's better. It will take time..Have hope..And know there are people out there praying for you!!
As others have said, gawkers are nothing new. It happened in my area about 7 years ago when we got hit by a hurricane, and I'm sure it happens after all disasters (it even happens for relatively small things like traffic accidents). The vast majority of the gawkers are either just curious or want to see if they can help.
Now, if they start taking things then that's a different story...
Apparently, you don't know anyone with children.
Really, who does that? The gawkers need to get a life.
I'm not surprised. My neighborhood in central FL had extensive damage after Hurricane Charley hit on a Friday night in '04. The looky-loos were all over the neighborhood by dawn the next morning. It got so bad, groups of neighbors were manning the only two passable roads, questioning people about what business they had being there.
I lived in Fort Myers when Charley hit, and our neighborhood also had quite a few of these nosey people just wanting to look around. Never have understood how one can do this and not feel like they're being disrespectful.
Cable and network news has milked everything for its entertainment value for so long, it's easy for people to want to "tour" the damage and be entertained, while completely overlooking the residents whose lives have been turned upside down. They're just part of the script.
Reality is that these people are rookies when it came to doing without compared to us Gulf Coast residents. They probably thought their electricity would be on in a couple of days. They are liberal Obamabots living up there who pointed there finger at Bush after Katrina because the liberal press was doing every lie in the book to demonize Bush over Katrina. According the national media it seemed nobody suffered from Katrina but the blacks at the dome and Convention Center. Mississippi was messed up but who would have known when they couldn't get the cameras off the dome and Convention Center. That coverage was a good example how the liberal media can create Obamabots.
Reality is you can't bring services back in a heartbeat and some areas will take a lot longer than others. To the people up there -- get off the blame game because it's not going to happen over night. People are working their butts off to get you back on line so you can reconnect with MSNBC.
Please don't comment on something you know nothing about. For 12 days I watched crews sitting around in parking lots and on streets talking on their cell phones as our family sat in a freezing cold and dark house. Shame on LIPA. There was a complete breakdown in communication and the response was sloppy and completely inefficient. To add insult to injury, we're still very short on gasoline supplies a full 2 weeks later with no relief in sight.
Also, I distinctly rember guns being conficsated by police and federal troops after Katrina. Apparently, the neocons have about as much respect for the 2nd Amendment as the liberals. We might as well get rid of FEMA and government-owned utilities such as LIPA, as they are clearly more concerned about the fat paychecks for their own bureaucrats than the taxpayers.
I lived in Long beach MS during Katrina and I couldn't agree with you more.
Can we stop the B.S. with the Obamabot bull crap! People suffer in the North as well as in the South, Northwest and West when tragedy strikes. Especially when an act of Nature such as Sandy or Katrina hit. Yes, it's terrible when I see people in there cars passing by taking pictures of the destruction in my neighborhood caused by Sandy but we just go about our business clean up and support each other. It's people like you that have to drive everything to hate proven by your Obamabot statement that make things worse. Get over it, he is President regardless of if you are I wanted him there and it has nothing to do with this situation give it a rest a go do something productive instead of spreading your ignorant hate!
I'm from southwest Mississippi and my home sustained a lot of roof damage from Katrina. Yes, our Gulf Coast was nearly wiped out, yes, it seemed as though the media was intent on just showing the dome and the NOLA area, but I can in no way politicize this horrible tragedy for all these folks. I cannot imagine how bad it was up there when the storm bringing snow and cold weather blew in on top of all these folks. I lived in Wisconsin for several years and I know what cold is all about. These people are fellow Americans and there are innocent children, the elderly and pets suffering through all this as well as just good folks in general. At least after Katrina we didn't have to worry about freezing to death and so many of us have lots of family down here. It's a lot different in an area that is that densely populated. As for gawkers, if they aren't doing anything to help they should stay away.
Karen, I think I would rather be cold than endure the heat we did during the aftermath of Katrina, the 98+ heat and humidity was a misery in itself. Plus dealing with the death and decomposition of the dead in Charity Hospital, super dome, attics, convention center is too horrific to even contemplate today. At least the folks can build bonfires, layer clothing, cuddle. I am not making light of the Sandy victims, but it is sort of apples and oranges in comparison. The Gulf Coast wiped out for miles, terrible, 1800 + dead at least the East Coast didn't suffer that catastrophe.
We had the morbid curious, slow caravans of staring open mouthed ghouls, annoyed me no end, but we got with surviving and starting over.
No, THey have to deal with CO (Carbon Monoxide) poisoning and a Nor'Easter to boot. NY & NJ were not prepared for storms of this magnitude. Add to that other weather conditions and high tide and it was a recipe for disaster. Even the HMS Bounty was lost.
I don't know what I would do, but I can tell you what my family in NOLA did. They left for good. One is in Detroit, another Atlanta, another in Mississippi. They let their houses go. They took their money, their car, and never went back.
One of them was an attorney with a business. She moved to Atlanta, and since she had a degree worked as a child care worker for a while. I don't know what she's doing now. Another one had retired and had a Mississippi home, he just turned away from NOLA and went to Mississippi. Sometimes you can't salvage stuff. You have to start over from scratch.
I hate to say this, but it will only get worse - wait till the tour buses show up. To this day, they can still be seen in parts of New Orleans, like the 9th ward and other levee breaches and it's been 7 years.
I continue to pray for all those affected by Sandy, we truly understand what you're going through.
Yes, this was my sentiment exactly! A few days after the storm, specifically after the "we're dying here" woman appeared on the news, I saw an onslaught of "tourists" walking around my neighborhood in Staten Island who had nothing better to do than take photos of the destruction with their mobile devices. As I struggled to remove 3 feet of debris from in front of my house, I was definitely annoyed by these people who had no help to offer me but instead would tag a photo on MY HOUSE on Instagram. Did it annoy me, 100% yes. I feel it shows little respect for the people who have experienced such horrible events- like an invasion of my privacy, because the contents of my house, the pieces of my life were now on my sidewalk. Social graces seem to not apply on social media sites. In regards to these "gawkers" getting in the way, also 100% true. I was actually rerouted AWAY from my home (by the traffic police) 11/9 and 11/10 because of the sheer volume of these people congesting the roads and area. At one point I was down by Fox Beach and noted that it seemed that the Red Cross was now feeding all of these extraneous people- many of which appeared to be doing little more than standing around.
I know you have better things to do but why don't you take pictures of the gawkers gawking and post them on the web...shame might be the only deterrent.
I went through Katrina and no matter how many photos and videos you've seen, you still can't grasp it until you've stood in the middle of it. There is an upside to the gawkers. They keep awareness up on how bad the situation is.
Agreed, Buffaloe51, to a degree. One, it's part of the pathetic nature of some people, the same low-lifers who slow traffic to a near standstill at an accident to they can gawk at a mangled mess (probably hoping to see somebody hurt, also). This kind of mentality will never go away. But two, if it does draw additional attention to how sorry the power company's and maybe FEMA's response is, maybe it's a help. But these bottom dwellers aren't thinking of that though when they arrive to snap their pictures and make things worse by their mere presence; they only want their jollies.
Remember how the MSM raked Bush over the coals for every report of delay in cleanup and assistance? Just wondering where is the MSM outrage now with the Supreme Emporer in charge? Can you tell there's media bias, or do you just ignore it?... or, more likely, condone it!
Or maybe the combination of Obama and Christie are just doing a better job of handling the crisis up here, than the local government down South and Bush did. We haven't heard any "Great Job Brownie's up here just what do you need where do you need and what can I do.
Tony, don't go there regarding Bush and Katrina, you have no idea what you are spouting about. Shut up and sit down.
LOL! Tony, CG is right. Remember, you never hear good things on the news, only bad. So if they're not ripping the Obama administration for how the Sandy efforts are going, that just means there's nothing bad they can sensationalize.
Proof that people are pigs. In a disaster, protect yourself and get away from as many people as you can.
I volunteered in Coney Island this weekend & was shocked by the amount of people that came out ONLY to take photos. You made the trip there, so why don't you put down the camera & help out? If everyone that comes out to these devastated areas to take photos actually volunteered too it would be tremendous!
I volunteered in Coney Island this weekend & was shocked by the amount of people that ONLY showed up to take photos. You've made the trip here, so why not put the damn camera down & help out too? If everyone that came out to the devastated areas just to gawk or photograph actually volunteered it would be tremendous for these communities!
i'm so glad we had that storm
Nice, a-hole
this was what MSNBC said about the storm. not me.
Sax, no it wasn't, I think your referring to Chris Mathews and his statement which he whole heartedly apologized for, it was sincere.
We have a tendency to grant amnesty to people that we agree with, and to overly demonize people we don't. -John Stewart
I am not equating my loss to the devastation of Sandy or Katrina, but just my own experience with gawkers. My house burned down when I was 17. We were fortunate not to have any loss of life (one of the neighbors even saved our dog). There was a stream of cars driving by our house for nearly two weeks. Adults and children alike pointing and staring. It was like being kicked in the stomach over and over again as each car passed. This was over 30 years ago and I can still remember that feeling.
I live near Columbine High School. The week after the shooting, I started a new job and was in training with people from across the country. People in my class asked me to show them where the school was and if they could go in and look around. I think they actually wanted to see dead people. Didn't like that job much anyway.
I truly understand what those on Long Island are going through. We were without power (in the hardest hit areas, small communities like Long Island) for almost three months after Hurricane Andrew. At least we didn't have the cold to contend with. However, the national news about those of us without power died way down after about 5 weeks. I had friends up north who were amazed when they found out we had no power on Thanksgiving. Hang in there, LI!
Only people who should be there are the residents, repair people, police/fire depts and volunteers helping to clean up. If you're driving into the area, you'd better be wearing work clothes and work gloves!
must be a slow news day
I understand. We lost our home in the Joplin tornado. I was disgusted by the people that would stop in the middle of the road to take picture and drive by just to look. If you take the time to look then take the time to help.
Its going to happen, so make the best of it.. gawker are gawkers, looters are looters... better to have people driving around taking photos to fend off looters than the looters just have free run of the streets. Let them burn up their gas and spend money at the restaurants, a little economic revival.
While FEMA and the red cross do paperwork on themselves, Occupiers are getting the relief done before they know what was happening.
Unfortunately this is not surprising given the fact that our society is in constant over-share mode 24/7 now. Why would people think that stopping by a disaster area to take pictures is anymore inappropriate when they share when their last bowel movement was? We plaster morons on the TV in "reality" shows that have almost nothing in common with reality, so why would taking pictures of someone cleaning rubbish from around their house be any different? I sympathize with everyone who lost family, possessions, and homes during the
storm, but we as a society have created this monster by our constant oversharing of information like it's everyone's business and everyone who watches and supports "reality" TV is a little guilty of creating the
culture. I really, really try to not watch any of that garbage. Maybe this will be a wakeup call to the U.S. about how far a little privacy goes.
Being in a wheelchair, I have had to deal with gawkers since my disease put me in the chair nine years ago. Most children do not know they are being impolite so they obviously get a pass. But the adults should know better. If the adults want to gawk, they should get out of the SUV and start pitching in!
Instead of wasting gas riding around and gawking STOP and Offer Help!!Or give the homeowner a few bucks to buy some food. HELP don't hinder....
I agree with denver bill 2.
obama is going to be there gawking this week... throw feces at him.