• Demolition crews removing roller coaster sunk by Sandy

    Crews have started dismantling the remains of a Seaside Heights, N.J. roller coaster tossed into the ocean during Hurricane Sandy. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A roller coaster that was plunged into the Atlantic Ocean after Super Storm Sandy ripped through the Jersey Shore last October and became a symbol of the devastation was being demolished Tuesday afternoon.


    The partially submerged Jet Star coaster was once a popular destination at Casino Pier, an amusement park in Seaside Heights, N.J. But when Sandy ravaged the Jersey shoreline, destroying parts of the pier, the coaster tumbled into the ocean.

    Watch live video at NBCNewYork.com

    Footage recorded at the scene showed demolition crews beginning to rip apart what remains of the former thrill ride. The crews are expected to use barges in the water and on-shore equipment to dismantle and uproot the coaster, Casino Pier spokeswoman Toby Wolf told NBC New York.

    The demolition will take roughly two days to complete, Wolf said.

    Casino Pier has reportedly asked Weeks Marine, the construction and dredging company hired to tear down Jet Star, to salvage a piece of the fallen coaster, which park officials intend to install as part of a planned Sandy memorial, according to NBC New York.

    Prince Harry, who earlier Tuesday visited the storm-battered towns of Mantoloking and Seaside Heights with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at his side, said that he saw the “American spirit” manifested in the coastal region's recovery from natural disaster.

    The prince is scheduled to appear in New York City on Tuesday evening to promote British trade and a community baseball program.

    View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

  • Six months after Sandy: 'Home sweet home' for some, others still adrift

    John Makely / NBC News

    Six months after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Jersey Shore, a heavily damaged home in Mantoloking sits untouched.

    By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

    BREEZY POINT, N.Y. -- The construction noises are almost constant at daytime in this coastal enclave six months after Hurricane Sandy, but for many residents whose homes were badly damaged, recovery is moving at a slow pace – or not at all.

    Many of those displaced by the so-called superstorm say they are stuck in limbo, trying to raise money to pay for repairs or replace their homes while coming to grips with new, federal flood-zone maps that many fear will make it too costly for them to return.

    “We're no better off than we were six months ago," said Kieran Burke, a fire marshal who lost his home to a massive fire that erupted at the height of the storm. " ... I'd like to have an idea when I can tell my wife our children can go home.”

    Burke’s dilemma is not unique to hard-hit Breezy Point, where more than 75 percent of the homes were either consumed by fire or suffered flood damage.

    Some 39,000 people in New Jersey remain displaced by the storm, Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday. The number of New Yorkers still out of their homes is unclear, though federal officials said 350 households in the affected region are still getting money for hotel or motel stays.

    “We’ve just got the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of work that needs to be done,” said Michael Byrne, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's senior official in New York state for the Sandy response and recovery.

    Though people now have some resources to rebuild, he said, they “still have some tough questions to answer ... especially people that are in high-risk areas: 'How do I rebuild?' or 'Do I leave, do I seek a buyout?’ So, there’s still a lot of tough issues to be worked out.” 

    While some neighbors are almost ready to move back home, others are still unsure how much of their property can be rebuilt following the storm.

    Sandy blasted ashore on Oct. 29 near Brigantine, N.J., leaving more than at least 147 people dead in its wake in the Caribbean and the U.S., according to the National Hurricane Center. Nearly 74,000 homes and apartments in New York and New Jersey, where it made landfall on Oct. 29, sustained damage, according to FEMA.

    Some 450 homes in New York were destroyed by the storm, while approximately 46,000 in New Jersey were destroyed or sustained major damage, according to FEMA.

    FEMA has given more than $1.3 billion to more than 180,000 Sandy victims in Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. The National Flood Insurance Program has paid more than $7.1 billion in claims.

                                         View an interactive panorama: Sandy-battered town, then and now

    Some survivors whose homes sustained minor damage quickly returned home, as did some others who were able to shelter in place while they repaired and rebuilt.

    But in devastated communities like the Irish-American enclave of Breezy Point, many residents had to wait for the gas, power and water to be restored and insurance funds to come through -- if they did -- while still paying mortgages plus rent.

    “Some families and some lives have come back together quickly and well and some people are up and running,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week. “Some people are still very much in the midst of the recovery. You still have people in hotel rooms. You still have people doubled up. You still have people fighting with insurance companies, and for them it’s been terrible and horrendous.”

    That seems a fitting description of Karly and Anthony Carrozza's situation in their neighborhood in Brick Township, N.J., which is dotted with “for sale” signs. Reconstruction work immediately ground to a halt in January, when FEMA released initial drafts of its new flood maps, which placed the community into the highest risk zone, they said.

    John Makely / NBC News

    Karly Carrozza and her husband, Anthony, can't start the rebuilding in Brick Township, N.J., until FEMA's flood zone map -- and the guidelines that come with it -- are finalized.

    If the maps are finalized as drawn, residents’ homes would have to be raised 11 feet and placed on pilings. Some state residents who don’t meet the requirements could face flood insurance premiums of up to $31,000 a year, according to Gov. Christie.

    “The cost to put this on pilings would not be worth the value of the house. It wouldn't make any sense,” Anthony Carrozza, 34, an equities trader, said this month of their small home on a lagoon.

    But the couple would have to pay off their $300,000 mortgage if they wanted to demolish the house and start anew.

    “We're all kind of in the same boat in a sense that until they have the final maps come out we can't make any decisions,” Karly Carrozza, 36, an account executive, said.

    She has joined a group of New Jersey citizens facing the same difficult choices -- called Stop FEMA Now -- to advocate for changes to the flood maps. They also have recently ventured to New York City to band forces with homeowners there.

    She feels if they don't act, their coastal community will never be the same.

    In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, a bill has been reintroduced in New York that would provide legal protection for architects who volunteer their services during disasters. New York Assemblyman Steve Englebright, the bill's sponsor hopes it will be voted on by June. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown speaks with Englebright and also Lance Brown of the American Institute of Architects about the proposal.

    “You could be in the middle class and enjoy a house on the water and I just feel like that's all going to change because a lot of the people around us who are going to walk away -- their homes are worth nothing,” she said. People who could afford to put the houses up to code "are going to come in and just scoop up the property," she added.

    In the meantime, the couple is staying nearby with Karly's parents to avoid paying rent in addition to their mortgage. Tarp and plastic cover part of the inside of their home, which took in a few feet of water.

    “There's people whose homes look much worse than ours, but it's almost like we're in no different of a predicament because our hands are tied,” Karly said. “We can't make any decisions, we can't move back. ...We're in no different a predicament today than we were the day after the storm.”

    Shifting sands have covered nearly all remnants of Kieran Burke’s bungalow in Breezy Point.

    The family home, which sat for decades on what were known as the “sand lanes” in this idyllic seaside community, burned to the ground with nearly 130 other residences in the fire – the largest in the city's modern history – that was triggered by the storm.

    The Army Corps of Engineers removed the charred remnants earlier this year, leaving just sand across a broad swath of an area known as The Wedge.

    John Makely / NBC News

    Kieran and Jennifer Burke, with 2-year-old Kieran Jr., visit the lot where their home stood before it burned to the ground the night that Hurricane Sandy hit.

    Located in one of the older parts of the private cooperative, Burke's home, like those of his neighbors, wasn't fronted on a city-mapped street. That means he will need approval from the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals on rebuilding plans.

    The agency has vowed to expedite the process, and the Breezy Point Cooperative is working with architects to design homes that will meet expected new city building requirements, as well as those from the flood maps – a preliminary version of which should be released in the coming weeks. So Burke is still waiting to break ground.

    “It’s devastating. It’s angering,” he said of the shifting planning landscape. “I’m paying a mortgage on an empty plot of land, we’re paying rent in a place that we're displaced in, that I have no conception of when I’m going to have the ability to move out of.”

    Burke, a New York City fire marshal, and his wife, Jennifer, both 40, have a two-year-old son, Kieran Junior, and they just welcomed another boy, Matthew, a little more than two weeks ago. They've been living in an office converted into an apartment in Yonkers, north of Manhattan and about an hour's drive from Breezy Point.

    “It doesn’t really seem to look any different than when I was here before, and I would have thought at least some of the other parts of it would have progressed a bit,” Jennifer Burke, a pharmaceutical research manager, said this month as she stood on the spot where her kitchen used to stand. “We’re just still waiting and still hoping. … The hardest part is just not knowing.”

    A few blocks away, in a corner of the community facing Jamaica Bay, the Fischers have moved back into their two-story home, even though it sits amid empty lots where neighbors once lived and is still being worked on.

    Christina and Barry Fischer, parents of five children, broke their lease early from a rental in northern Queens in late March because their FEMA rental aid ran out and they had expenses piling up (the FEMA money later came through).

    Some painting, tiling, sanding and cabinet work is among what remains to be done on the first floor, but now their children – ranging in age from 5 to 15 – can ride their bikes on Breezy Point’s quiet streets, go to church or the store by themselves, play on the beach and catch up with friends who have returned.

    When asked how it was to be home, one of the children, William, 10, exclaimed “Great!” as he snacked on Mallomars. “I can actually go outside.”

    Miranda Leitsinger / NBC News

    Georgia Fischer, 5, sifts sand with beach toys. She has Charcot Marie Tooth Disease, a common nerve disorder that can make it hard to walk, and apraxia, a speech disorder. Her parents had to re-arrange therapy and classes for her in the wake of the storm.

    Nonetheless, the road has been hard, with Christina Fischer, 35, taking leave from her job as an adjunct professor at St. John's University in Queens to focus on rebuilding, including battling with the insurance over money and fighting for months to get help from the city's “Rapid Repairs” program.

    That program, a first-ever federal-local initiative, offered to install free boilers, hot water heaters and do the necessary electrical work to restore power, but many who applied encountered long delays and sloppy workmanship when they did get service.

    The family also has two special needs children whose classes and therapy sessions had to be re-arranged in the aftermath as people were displaced and classrooms flooded.

    But the Fischers weren’t complaining in early April when a reporter met with them to take stock of how far they'd come. Tim, 7, pushed his bike through the sand, Georgia, 5, watched a movie on a computer tablet and the family dog, Scout, sat atop a pile of laundry as Barry Fischer, a 45-year-old electrician, tested out the new washer and dryer.

    “The three greatest words in the English language: home sweet home,” Barry said. “There ... is nothing better.”

    Related:

    Slideshow: Then and now in Breezy Point

    For subway station devastated by Sandy, road to recovery just beginning

    Six months after Sandy, Atlantic City is betting on a comeback

  • For subway station devastated by Sandy, road to recovery just beginning

    Craig Ruttle for NBC News

    Corrosion and oxidation are being repaired in the signal relay room the South Ferry subway station in lower Manhattan, devastated by flooding in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The station is being repaired with damage done to all components of the infrastructure, especially the electrical system.

    By Carlo Dellaverson, Digital Producer, NBC News

    When the gleaming South Ferry subway terminal in Lower Manhattan opened in 2009, it came with a vast concourse filled with public art installations of wrought iron and smoked glass, polished white walls—and a hefty $500 million price tag.

    The cost of rehabilitating it from the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy? At least $600 million—though a full assessment of the damage hasn’t even been done yet.

    “It’s a complete gut job,” said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz. “Every component of the station needs to be replaced.”

    As communities rebuild and residents return to their homes, dozens of workers at the South Ferry station are taking the very first steps toward getting the station back online, starting with scrubbing mold from virtually every surface. Before the storm, 30,000 people passed through South Ferry each day, shuttling between Staten Island and Manhattan and around the labyrinthine streets of New York’s financial district.

    Craig Ruttle / AP file (top), Cr

    Joseph Leader (top) of the MTA shines a flashlight on standing water inside the South Ferry 1 train station in lower Manhattan on Oct. 31, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Six months later, Leader (bottom) descends the stairs toward the track in the same station.

    Now, the stillness of the station is unsettling. The 90-foot platform sits empty, with strings of construction bulbs lighting two tracks and tunnel walls still covered with debris and dirt from the storm. Drywall and tiles have been ripped up by construction workers to expose the film of mold that quickly built up in the dark, humid space after the storm hit six months ago. The air is thick and pungent.

    But the greatest damage inflicted from Sandy is not visible. The salty ocean water that flooded the station eighty feet below street level corroded nearly every piece of equipment in the space, adding considerably to the cost of recovery.

    Over 700 relay components – devices critical to the signaling systems of trains – were destroyed. A separate room of signaling equipment at the end of the platform flooded to the ceiling and is now a “complete loss,” said Joseph Leader, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s chief maintenance officer, who is overseeing the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the station.

    Leader was actually the first person to see the damage from Sandy’s storm surge. On the morning after the storm passed late last October, Leader entered the station and saw “just a trickle” of water coming down the stairs, he said.

    “I thought our barriers held and that we were doing good,” he said, referring to the makeshift barricades –sandbags and plywood -- the MTA constructed at the street-level entrances of certain exposed stations.

    But as Leader ventured further, he realized the surge had breached the main station entrance. “Water was coming up the steps at me from the platform level, lapping at my feet,” he said. The entire subway "tube" was filled to the brim; 14 million gallons of seawater had to be pumped out before officials could even get a look at the destruction.

    South Ferry was designed to be the last stop on a busy line that follows Broadway as it snakes through Manhattan as well as a connector to another main subway artery and the Staten Island Ferry. The original station, which opened in 1905, was much maligned for a layout quirk that only allowed five of ten subway cars to open at the platform; inattentive straphangers who neglected to move to one of the cars with open doors were forced to take the “loop” back uptown one stop to exit.

    While the new South Ferry station addressed many of the engineering problems that existed at the old station, the possibility that a 14-foot storm surge could take it offline in the span of a few hours was not accounted for.

    Craig Ruttle / Craig Ruttle for NBC News

    The subway map, with mold spreading up from the bottom, can be seen on the platform after being under water at the damaged South Ferry subway station in lower Manhattan. The station is being repaired with damage done to all components of the infrastructure, especially the electrical system.

    The MTA says it is now “considering all options” that would mitigate the effects of a similar or even lesser surge as it rebuilds South Ferry, along with other vulnerable parts of its city-wide network (Sandy also wiped out an entire above-ground section of a subway line in the Rockaway section of Queens that is yet to be reopened).

    New York Governor Andrew Cuomo laid some of these ideas out in his State of the State speech earlier this year, calling for subway stations to adopt “closing vents…roll down doors… inflatable bladders,” and repeating his refrain that “there is a 100 year flood every two years now” as reason to invest in infrastructure improvements.

    One of the options under consideration involves letting subway tunnels and stations flood in a storm – but only after workers have removed valuable pieces of equipment and taken them to higher ground. This use of “modular infrastructure" allows critical gear to be packed up like suitcases and brought to higher ground so it can be “plugged right back in” after the pumps have removed the water from tunnels and stations, Leader said.

    “Can you stop every ounce of water that comes into the system? Theoretically yes,” Leader said. “But is it feasible? Probably not.”

    Footing the bill, at least in part, will be the feds. The MTA has received $1.2 billion to date in federal funding as part of the $51 billion Sandy relief bill signed by President Obama in January. It is asking for billions more (the total hit to New York’s transit system from Sandy is estimated to be $5 billion). The MTA plans a bifurcated approach to how that money is spent: partially for repairs to damaged infrastructure in places like South Ferry, and partially toward making long-term improvements that would harden and protect the system in future storms. 

    “As we work to bring our system back to normal, we must also make the necessary investments to protect this 108-year old system from future storms. We must rebuild smarter. The South Ferry subway station is a perfect example,” said MTA Chief Executive Thomas Prendergast.

    Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who specializes in urban economics and infrastructure, cautions that federal money is “apt to disappear quickly in cost overruns” and that the MTA should carefully examine precisely how it can apply the aid to projects that will keep the system from suffering catastrophic damage in the next storm, and not on “complex and untested mitigation efforts” that may not work.

    Craig Ruttle for NBC News

    Joseph Leader of MTA holds an example of cable damaged by sea water in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, typical of damage found at South Ferry subway station.

    “Otherwise, this ‘free money’ from the feds doesn’t end up being free at all, and taxpayers end up on the hook,” Gelinas said.

    The MTA recently reopened the old South Ferry station, which was entombed next to the new terminal after its grand opening four years ago – the first time the authority has ever brought a decommissioned station back into use, Leader said. Engineers knocked down a wall between the two stations to allow passengers to get to the old platform area through the new entrance. It’s a way to reestablish subway service to the area, however imperfect. “We’re building a new station within a new station,” Joe Leader said. “It’s going to take a while.”

    Until that monumental task is completed, commuters in Lower Manhattan will need to reacquaint themselves with a once-familiar phrase thought to be relegated to history:

    “You must be in the first five cars to exit at South Ferry.”

    MTA Video Release: Hurricane Sandy - South Ferry and Whitehall St Station Damage.

  • Weary Sandy survivors hunker down for storm: Like a repeat 'nightmare'

    Slideshow:

    Matt Campbell / EPA

    A dangerous winter storm churned Friday into the Northeast as forecasters warned of a whiteout.

    Launch slideshow

    By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

    NEW YORK — As millions of Americans braced for a winter storm bearing down on the Northeast on Friday, people still recovering from Hurricane Sandy stood in line at gas stations to buy fuel and stocked up on wood for the fireplace. It was, one man lamented, "like a nightmare of Sandy all over."


    Sandy left about 20,000 residential buildings in the city with some damage or disruption to their utilities. Thousands are struggling to rebuild, with many sheltering in their battered homes.

    The incoming storm is just the latest round in an unforgiving winter. A snowstorm hit New York City one week after Sandy struck and in late January, temperatures plummeted below zero. This time, forecasters are predicting up to 15 inches of snow, as well as high tides and winds.

    Scott McGrath said people were in a "panic mode" in his Staten Island neighborhood, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy. He stood in line at a gas station Thursday night, hoping to get fuel for his generator to power his home in the case of an outage, but he walked away empty-handed. On Friday, people lined up again.

    "It's like a nightmare of Sandy all over," he said, noting the constant weather alerts warning of snow and high tides. "This time our house is not ... in full shape, you know, who knows if (it) would withstand it."

    For those sheltering in place like McGrath, 45, and his wife, Dee, the ever-changing weather makes recovery from Sandy a stop-start process. They have scuttled plans to put up sheet rock this weekend in their gutted two-story home — where they still have holes in the walls on the first floor. They’re also fearful that the few remaining personal items they have, which they had put in the basement, could be in danger due to the threat of high tides.

    "We're ... sitting on the edge and just praying for the best," he said. "If this storm hits, we're screwed. That's the bottom line. If it really does hit us like they're saying, and that high tide comes in, only God knows what's going to happen to us."

    A mix of snow and rain was falling in the city by 7 a.m.

    NBCNewYork.com reported lines of up to 40 cars at some gas stations. The city had 250,000 tons of salt at the ready for the roads.

    "This is a very serious storm, and we should treat it that way," said Tom Prendergast, president of the agency that runs New York subways and buses.

    As residents scrambled to prepare in the event of a power outage, some gas stations in New York and New Jersey have already run out of gas. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned people to stay in and to use public transportation if they had to go out, although even that carried the possibility of disruptions.

    That was the plan for Tom Dillon, 46, who has almost completed repairing the flood damage on his two-story home in Breezy Point, a coastal enclave in the city that was hard hit by Sandy.

    Dillon got his son out of school and stocked up on wood, kindling and blankets, plus bought five gallons of gas for his generator. He has also pulled out the snow shovels and has a kerosene heater at the ready.

    John Makely/NBC News

    Tom Dillon makes coffee in his flood-damaged home in Breezy Point, N.Y., on Nov. 18, 2012.

    "We ain’t taking no chances this time. … I got everything ready," he chuckled. "I want to get the generator on and I want to make sure everything's rocking and rolling. That's what I’m doing today, making sure everything's ready for this storm."

    He is concerned about coastal flooding posing one more worry for the community, where extreme high tides were typical in Nor'easters, he said. In the first weeks after Sandy, residents in the low-lying area were constantly pumping out their basements.

    "Every time we have coastal flooding, it's just a nightmare in this area because we're so low that … your basements get flooded again,” he said. "Anybody who has a basement’s going to get flooded, and you know, they’ll be pumping out again."

    Despite all of his preparations and laughing about the incoming storm, Dillon sounded an exasperated note.

    "I am wondering if Mother Nature is just mad at us or something," he said, before going to help a neighbor insulate his pipes to help protect against freezing. "Twelve to 18 inches of snow, oh, I don't know if I'm ready for this, really I'm not."

    Related:

    Photoblog: Readers share storm pictures
    Very serious winter storm begins battering New England
    Watch live: See storm from Top of the Rock cam
    See readers' storm photos, share yours

     

  • New Yorkers knock down, rebuild, clean up homes months after Sandy

    Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

    A sign is seen outside a home devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough in New York on Jan. 15.

    Justin Lane / EPA

    Two neighbors watch as Doreen Lagno's house, which was irreparably damaged by flood waters during Hurricane Sandy, is demolished in the Ocean Breeze neighborhood of Staten Island, New York on Jan. 15.

    Justin Lane / EPA

    The claw of a demolition vehicle brings down Doreen Lagno's house, which was irreparably damaged by flood waters during Hurricane Sandy, in the Ocean Breeze neighborhood of Staten Island.

    Justin Lane / EPA

    Peter Gill works with his father James and a friend Mark Faljean on repairs to his home that was damaged by flood waters in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, New York.

    Spencer Platt / Getty Images

    Workers with the parks department clean sand from a playground damaged during Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaways on Jan. 15.

    Spencer Platt / Getty Images

    Workers walk on a boardwalk damaged during Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaways on Jan. 15, in the Queens borough of New York City.

    Slideshow: Recovering after Sandy

    Mario Tama / Getty Images

    Residents of the Northeast are still picking up the pieces after Superstorm Sandy.

    Launch slideshow

    A $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package is expected to be voted on today in the House. The package, which has come under criticism by some fiscal conservatives, is being heavily pushed by Northeastern lawmakers. The money would be spent on immediate needs to the region including $5.4 billion for New York and New Jersey transit systems and $5.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief aid fund.

    -- Getty Images

    It's been two and a half months since Superstorm Sandy barreled through New Jersey and New York, but people are still desperately awaiting aid. NBC's Katy Tur reports.

  • Airport runway becomes parking lot for Sandy-damaged vehicles

    Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

    Tens of thousands of vehicles damaged by super storm Sandy are being temporarily stored on runways and taxiways at Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, N.Y., on Jan. 9.

    Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

    Vehicles damaged by super storm Sandy fill the runways at Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, N.Y., on Jan. 9.

    Insurance Auto Auctions Inc., a salvage auto auction company specializing in total-loss vehicles, acquired cars and trucks damaged by super storm Sandy and are temporarily storing them at Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, N.Y.

    The cars are expected to be removed from the site within three to six months, and will be auctioned online to a variety of buyers.

    The company made a deal with the town of Riverhead, N.Y., to store the vehicles at the airport for nearly $3 million.

    - AFP-Getty Images and NBCNewYork.com

  • Charities raise $400 million for Sandy storm relief, New York attorney general says

    Starpix, Dave Allocca / AP

    In this image released by Starpix, Bruce Springsteen and the E street Band perform at 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York on Dec. 12.

    By The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — Charities in New York state have collectively raised more than $400 million for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, the state's attorney general said Thursday.


    A survey of 88 nonprofit groups by Eric Schneiderman's office found that as of mid-December, the fundraising for storm victims had been dominated by five charities, led by the American Red Cross, which had raised $188 million, the Robin Hood Foundation, which had taken in $67 million and The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, which collected $45 million.

    The Empire State Relief Fund raised another $15.4 million and The Salvation Army's eastern U.S. division raised $14.3 million.

    Obama calls on Congress to act on Hurricane Sandy relief

    Donors can log on to the attorney general's website to see how those organizations and 83 others say they intend to spend that money.

    Schneiderman said regulators will be following up with the groups to get more information about the services they have provided.

    "The generosity of the public and the hard work of charities in response to Hurricane Sandy is inspiring. As we continue to monitor charitable activities related to Sandy relief, it is essential that nonprofit organizations operate in the most transparent way possible," he said in a statement.

    The list of groups that responded to the survey included small groups who recruit volunteers to gut damaged homes, food banks and agencies that distribute medication.

    NJ voters displaced by Sandy will get chance to vote by email

    The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, named for a firefighter killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, said it had raised $4 million as of Dec. 5, and anticipated spending $2.5 million of that money giving home supply store gift cards to people with damaged homes.

    The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which had been involved in rescuing animals from flooded neighborhoods, and then boarding hundreds of displaced animals, said donors had given it $1.3 million by the end of November.

    Red Cross officials told the attorney general that as of Dec. 10, the organization had distributed more than 8.7 million meals and snacks in the disaster zone, provided 81,000 shelter stays and distributed $30 million in relief supplies. The Red Cross said it anticipated that it would have spent $110 million on the storm response by the end of December.

    More content from NBCNews.com:

    Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Legendary New York boardwalk wrecked by Sandy to be razed

    View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

    By Greg Cergol, NBCNewYork.com

    Workers will begin to demolish a famed boardwalk in Long Beach, New York on Saturday, city officials announced Wednesday.

    The more than two-mile stretch of wood and concrete along the beachfront was badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy, and Long Beach's city council decided to tear down the entire structure last month.

    "It looks like King Kong came in and ripped up the whole place," said Barbara Herr, who has visited Long Beach for 15 years.

    An American flag and a holiday wreath hang on a pile of twisted wood in one of the boardwalk's hardest hit areas. The boardwalk has been closed since the storm and while not every inch was destroyed by Sandy, city officials thought it best to demolish all of it.

    Read more at NBCNewYork.com

    "To be prudent, it's better to look at the entire boardwalk, take the whole thing down and rebuild stronger and smarter," said city councilman Scott J. Mandel.

    The demolition should take about a month, said Mandel. The reconstruction is expected to be finished by the start of the all important summer season, Mandel added.


    The estimated cost of the project is $25 million. Long Beach hopes to recoup the entire amount from Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mandel said. But the city decided to move ahead before securing any funding guarantee.

    "Long Beach is known for its boardwalk," Mandel explained. "So, this is a symbol that Long Beach will recover from Sandy."

    The boardwalk was first built in 1907, as Long Beach's founders looked to create a destination to rival Atlantic City. Elephants from Coney Island were used during the original construction, said city historian Roberta Fiore.

    At first, the boardwalk was private, Fiore added. Visitors needed to secure a special invitation to enjoy the boardwalk and its adjoining amenities, like tennis courts.

    Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter

    Parts of the boardwalk were rebuilt in the late 1930s after a fire, Fiore said. Since then, the boardwalk has survived numerous storms and hurricanes, remaining the focal point of the waterfront community.

    "Our boardwalk has always been the alpha and the omega of the city of Long Beach," Fiore said.

    A special ceremony attended by city officials and residents will mark the start of demolition Saturday.

    "It's part of their heritage, part of them, part of their blood," said Terri Powers of Oceanside, who has been walking the boardwalk for three decades.

    "I look forward to walking here again," added Kevin McCormack of Lynbrook as he took pictures of what was left of the boardwalk.

     

  • Hero of Superstorm Sandy dies in surfing accident

    Courtesy of NBC News 4 New York

    Undated photo of Dylan Smith, who died off Puerto Rico.

    By The Associated Press

    The Belle Harbor section of the Rockaways in New York, where so many heroes emerged during Superstorm Sandy, has lost one of them to a tragic surfing death in Puerto Rico.

    Friends of 23-year-old Dylan Smith and his family expressed sorrow Monday that someone who saved so many lives during the October storm could lose his own on vacation. A local funeral parlor said funeral arrangements were being made. 

    The New York City lifeguard was widely praised after the storm for using his surfboard to move several Queens neighbors endangered by high water and a fire to safety. 

    Smith's body was found floating Sunday morning near his surfboard in waters off Maria's Beach in the western Puerto Rican community of Rincon. The town's beaches attract surfers from across the world. 

    More content from NBCNews.com:

    Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Destroyed roller coaster could be Jersey Shore tourist attraction, mayor says

    View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

    By Brian Thompson, NBCNewYork.com

    The roller coaster that was swept right-side up into the Atlantic Ocean as Hurricane Sandy slammed the Jersey Shore may not be torn down, according to Seaside Heights Mayor Bill Akers. 


    The picture of the ride, which looks more like a water slide these days, has become an iconic image of the damage Sandy  wreaked up and down the coast just over three weeks ago. 

    But Mayor Akers, in an exclusive interview with NBC 4 New York, said he is working with the Coast Guard to see if it is stable enough to leave it alone.  

    If it is, Akers said it would make "a great tourist attraction."

    Meanwhile, demolition crews have already finished removing all of the damaged boardwalk that was the heart and soul of this seaside resort.

    Businessmen like Mike Mergott of Mad Mike's Amusements said he is rebuilding because he is "one hundred per cent sure" families want to come back.

    And Jim Loundy, who owned several buildings wiped away by the surge is confident he won't see another storm like this for "another fifty or sixty years."

    Mayor Akers said construction on a new boardwalk should begin in January, and be ready by Memorial Day. 

    Slideshow:

    Julio Cortez / AP file

    A rollercoaster that once sat on a pier in Seaside Heights, N.J., rests in the ocean after the pier was washed away by Superstorm Sandy,Oct. 31, 2012.

    Launch slideshow

     

  • US Navy Seabees spend Veteran's Day helping Hurricane Sandy victims in Breezy Point

    John Makely / NBC News

    Seabee EOCN Courtney McCormack, left, grabbed a shovel and started digging out the sand that had washed up against the house as others in the group grabbed the waterlogged debris to begin a 100 yard walk out of the neighborhood to a large trash pile.

    By John Makely, NBC News

    They were supposed to have time off with family before an upcoming deployment to Japan, but the U.S. Navy Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 based in California are providing muscle to the cleanup effort in Breezy Point, N.Y. after Hurricane Sandy.

    Seabee EOCN Courtney McCormack grabbed a shovel and started digging out the sand that had washed up against a house. Meanwhile, others in the group grabbed waterlogged debris and began a 100 yard walk out of the neighborhood to a large trash pile.

    John Makely / NBC News

    EOCN Joe Thomas takes debris from resident Carolyn Sculley as she cleans up the family bungalow in Breezy Point, N.Y.
    on Nov. 12.

    John Makely / NBC News

    EOCN Joe Thomas holds a bag open as Maura Sculley sweeps debris from the family bungalow in Breezy Point, N.Y. on Nov. 12.

    Resident Carolyn Sculley was cleaning up the bungalow that has been in the family for 83 years. "On the weekend [the Seabees] were swarming the place. They couldn't take the garbage away fast enough," she said. Sculley was ripping up the flooring in the family home. Although it was not severely damaged, many keepsakes had to be discarded. "I had to throw out all my dad's old fishing gear. He took such good care of it."

    John Makely / NBC News

    Resident Carolyn Sculley talks about the history of her family's bungalow with Seabee Joseph Thomas during a break from the cleanup.

    John Makely / NBC News

    Seabee EOCN Courtney McCormack grabs a load of debris.

    John Makely / NBC News

    CE2 Marlon Hernandez pulls a cart full of debris past a house wrecked by Hurricane Sandy in Breezy Point, N.Y on Nov. 12.

    John Makely / NBC News

    Marie Woods stands outside her Breezy Point home on Nov. 12.

    Marie Woods, who has owned a second home on Marion Walk since 1977, was thrilled to get the help. "They just walked by and asked if they could help and I just went: Woohoo!"

     

    Team Rubicon, a veteran group coordinating relief efforts, is helping those hit hard by Hurricane Sandy while also helping themselves regain a life purpose after many years of being without a mission. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    Also on PhotoBlog:

    Slideshow: Recovering after Sandy

    Mario Tama / Getty Images

    A snowstorm hits the Northeast as residents are still struggling to pick up the pieces after Superstorm Sandy.

    Launch slideshow

    Slideshow: Veterans Day

    Carlo Allegri / Reuters

    The country expresses its gratitude for veterans and their service with ceremonies and parades.

    Launch slideshow

  • During blackout, man uses Toyota Prius to light house

    View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

    By Pat Battle and Katie Honan, NBCNewYork.com

    Amid continued power outages in parts of the Northeast, many residents found temporary refuge from cold and dark homes inside their cars. For one New Jersey man, he used the power from his hybrid car to light up his entire house.


    Bob Sakala of Paramus says he bought his Toyota Prius Hybrid in June to save gas. In the week since the storm, he powered his home -- including lights, laptops and a television -- on three quarters of a tank of gas. Sakala says he first read about the Prius' use as a power source years ago on the internet.

    After the storm, and the resulting power outage, he thought he'd give it a try. He ended up powering a few lights, his TV, laptop and modem with a 100 watt power inverter and a few heavy-duty extension cords he purchased at Home Depot. He later moved to a 300 watt inverter, which let him power more lights. 

    "The neighbors kept saying, 'Does Bob have a generator?' No, it's the Prius. It's a spaceship," he said.  

    Although he couldn't plug in a heater to the car, Sakala said he was happy to keep the lights on, something hundreds of thousands of customer are without in New York and New Jersey. 

    For more, visit NBCNewYork.com

    At the storm's peak, more than 8.5 million homes and businesses across 21 states lost power. As of Thursday, that was down to about 750,000, almost entirely in New York and New Jersey. 

    Thursday's nor'easter overnight knocked out power to more than 200,000 customers in New York and New Jersey, erasing some of the progress made by utility crews. Power was restored to Sakala's block Thursday evening. 

     

     

Older posts