For almost a week debris has been stacked in neat piles from Far Rockaway to Tottenville along the eastern edge of New York City. Much of the wreckage has been carted away by relentless and seemingly tireless Sanitation workers. What remains, however is a gaping hole, a wound far deeper and wider than any tragedy in recent memory.
People are now isolated in their crippled neighborhoods without the basic needs of shelter, warmth, food and water being met in any meaningful way. The people who stayed are regretting their decision, the people who left, and are now coming back, are questioning every decision they ever made in their whole lives. Tempers are growing short, moral is low and folks are just looking for answers.
Its not like the response is non existent, it is tremendous, the largest in the history of the region, but it pales in comparison to the enormity of the task.
And this was only a Category 1 Hurricane. A Category 5 hit New Orleans.
Without going into detail I can report that NYCHA and LIPA crews worked through the night to restore even temporary power to the Hammel Houses in the Rockaways and to at least get the street lights and traffic signals working in an effort to bring some much needed light to the darkest night I have ever seen in this city.
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