'It's Like the Wild West': Lawlessness and fear take over the outer boroughs as millions in misery endure a sixth day without power

Rachel Rickard Straus and Snejana Farberov
The Daily Mail, UK
Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:00 UTC

• Residents claim they are the 'forgotten victims' of Sandy
• Also say that lack of power and law enforcement means more looting and violent crime
• Those in stricken areas stockpiling weapons like kitchen knives, machetes, and bats to protect themselves
• Coney Island residents say they are forced to 'scavenge for food like animals'
• Power unlikely to be returned to Brooklyn, Queen's and Staten Island until sometime next week

© The Associated Press

What remains: Julie Traina tries to recover some personal items from the destroyed home of her parents in Staten Island yesterday

As lights have begun flickering on in Lower Manhattan, residents of the Rockaways in Queens continued struggling without power, heat or food for a sixth day as their neighborhood slowly descended into chaos.

With little police presence on the storm-ravaged streets, many residents of the peninsula have been forced to take their protection into their own hands, arming themselves with guns, baseball bats and even bows and arrows to ward off thugs seeking to loot their homes.

© Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

Vigilante justice: A sign is seen outside a home in Long Beach in Long Island on November 2 gives a dire warning to would-be looters

It has been reported that crooks have been disguising themselves as Long Island Power Authority workers and coming by homes on the peninsula in the middle of the night while real utility workers were nowhere to be found.

'We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed,' Danielle Harris, 34, told the New York Daily News.

The woman added that she has been hearing gunshots likely fired in the nearby housing project for three nights in a row.

Meanwhile, local surfer Keone Singlehurst said that he stockpiled knives, a machete and a bow and arrow.

© Getty Images

Wild west: People walk through the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood in Queens where a large section of the iconic boardwalk was washed away

© Reuters

Two women look into the window of a flooded deli while searching for food in Coney Island, four days after Sandy

'I would take a looter with a boa if a felt threatened I would definitely use it,' he said. 'It's like the wild west. A borderline lawless situation.'

City Councilman James Sanders said he fears that things are going to get even worse.

'We have an explosive mix here,' he said. 'People will take matters into their own hands.'

© The Associated Press

Shooting looters: A toy dog wearing a military helmet sits atop a car holding a sing warning off looters in a resident's driveway in the Rockaways

Sanders has directed much of his anger and frustration at LIPA, calling on the City Council to investigate the utility for ignoring the Rockaways for so long.

'LIPA has failed the people of the Rockaways,' he said. 'It's a question of class... serving the richer areas of Long Island and ignoring the Rockaways.'

Walter Meyer, 37, told the Daily News that the Rockaways of today bears little resemblance to the peaceful place where he has surfed so many times in the past.

'After sunset everyone locks their doors,' he said. 'They're trying to find whatever weapons they can find. Some people are even using bows and arrows.'

Along with mounting safety concerns, homeowners in the beachfront community hit hard by Hurricane Sandy that has left 109 dead continued to face hunger, complaining that federal officials have left them to fend for themselves.

'Rockaways always get left over,' said Meyer. 'It's treated like a marginalized land in the city.'

Most of the grocery stores in the area have not reopened since the storm, and the neighborhood has been left cut off from the rest of the city, with no trains or even shuttle buses servicing the residents.

Stranded neighbors largely have been relying on volunteers delivering food, water and other basic necessities while the Red Cross and FEMA were still nowhere in sight.

© EPA

Barbecue: Collins Wimbish cooks food over a fire in a barrel in the Rockaways neighborhood of Queens

© EPA

Keeping in touch: People charge cell phones at a police generator in Rockaways

'We can't exist,' said Ann Manning. 'We can't buy milk. We can't buy cereal. We can't buy nothing.'

As they scrape round desperately for food and are forced to use their gas hobs to keep warm, many claim they are the forgotten victims of Sandy.

The Borough President of Staten Island called the reaction of Red Cross - or lack thereof - to the devastation caused by Sandy an 'absolute disgrace'.

James Molinaro went as far as to tell people not to donate to the charity because when push came to shove, the group just didn't deliver when Staten Island needed them the most.

'My advice to the people of Staten Island is do not donate to the American Red Cross,' said Mr Molinaro. 'Let them get their money elsewhere.'

'It's an absolute disgrace in a county that has always responded to disasters all over the world,' he said.

'Katrina - we sent them down four trailer loads of food, water and one trailer load of generators. No one's responding to us.'

Residents are pleading for help as they fear their devastated neighborhoods are being ignored.

© EPA

Destroyed: This Rockaways boardwalk that was pushed off of its pilings by storm surge

In a Coney Island apartment block, where tenants huddle together in one room and human waste spills out of the toilet, tenant Jeffery Francis despairs that help is not getting to Brooklyn faster.

We are scavenging for food like animals,' he told the New York Daily News. 'We are in a crisis and no one will help us. Look at us. We are misery. Everyone cares about Manhattan. No one is looking out for us. Nothing.'

At another apartment where power is still out, residents are out of food and praying for help. Albert Miller, 58, told the paper: 'One person found a sandwich and we split it four ways.'

While power is likely to be returned to Manhattan's East and West Villages, Financial District, Chelsea, Chinatown and the Lower East Side by the weekend, according to the power company Con Edison outages in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are not expected to be repaired for another week.

Across Staten Island residents are also increasingly frustrated they are being passed over while other parts of New York and New Jersey receive aid and attention.

© The Associated Press

Destruction: Marina Sverdlov talks to a real estate broker while standing in her flood ravaged home in Staten Island

© Getty Images

No safe harbor: Boats pushed up by Hurricane Sandy lie against residences next to a marina on in Staten Island as a man walks his dog

Residents are furious the island is being prepared as the starting line for Sunday's marathon, while hundreds are left hungry and witOne resident there told CBS station WCBS, 'We're gonna die! We're gonna freeze! We've got 90-year-old people!'hout homes in the wake of the superstorm.

Natvel Pritchard, of Staten Island, told CBS News, 'Though people don't talk about Staten Island much, people are here, a lot of people are hurting, so it's upsetting.'

One gated community at the tip of the island, Seagate, was particularly badly hit, with some houses entirely washed away or flattened.

For power companies, the scale of the destruction was unmatched - more widespread than any blizzard or ice storm and worse than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Relief: People eat soup at a donation and distribution center in the Rockaways, though residents are complaining there is not enough assistance for them

'It's unprecedented: fallen trees, debris, the roads, water, snow. It's a little bit of everything,' said Brian Wolff, senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that lobbies for utilities.

Initially, about 60 million people were without power in 8.2 million homes and businesses.

By Wednesday night, that number had fallen to roughly 44 million people in 6 million households and businesses and today around 3.6 million are without power

The Borough President of Staten Island called the reaction of Red Cross - or lack thereof - to the devastation caused by Sandy an 'absolute disgrace'.

James Molinaro went as far as to tell people not to donate to the charity because when push came to shove, the group just didn't deliver when Staten Island needed them the most.

'My advice to the people of Staten Island is do not donate to the American Red Cross,' said Mr Molinaro. 'Let them get their money elsewhere.'

Stacked: Boats piled up on top of one another near Beach Haven Inlet on the New Jersey coastline. Residents in New York's outer boroughs, and elsewhere outside the city, believe they are being passed over while aid is directed to Manhattan

© EPA

Ruin: Whole walls and roofs of homes in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, were destroyed by the storm

'It's an absolute disgrace in a county that has always responded to disasters all over the world,' he said.

'Katrina - we sent them down four trailer loads of food, water and one trailer load of generators. No one's responding to us.'

'Of the 22 people across New York City that have perished, 15 of them died in Staten Island. The borough is still underwater.'

Residents are pleading for help as they fear their devastated neighbourhoods are being ignored.

In a Coney Island apartment block, where tenants huddle together in one room and human waste spills out of the toilet, tenant Jeffery Francis despairs that help is not getting to Brooklyn faster.

© The Associated Press

Devastating: Homes across Staten Island were flooded in the superstorm and many feel they are facing their ordeal without adequate support

'We are scavenging for food like animals,' he told the New York Daily News. 'We are in a crisis and no one will help us. Look at us. We are misery. Everyone cares about Manhattan. No one is looking out for us. Nothing.'

At another apartment where power is still out, residents are out of food and praying for help. Albert Miller, 58, told the paper: 'One person found a sandwich and we split it four ways.'

While power is likely to be returned to Manhattan's East and West Villages, Financial District, Chelsea, Chinatown and the Lower East Side by the weekend, according to the power company Con Edison outages in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are not expected to be repaired for another week.

Across Staten Island residents are also increasingly frustrated they are being passed over while other parts of New York and New Jersey receive aid and attention.

Bitter: A sign about the marathon and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is displayed in a devastated section of Staten Island yesterday, before the marathon was canceled

Residents are furious the island is being prepared as the starting line for Sunday's marathon, while hundreds are left hungry and without homes in the wake of the superstorm.

One resident there told CBS station WCBS, 'We're gonna die! We're gonna freeze! We've got 90-year-old people!'

Natvel Pritchard, of Staten Island, told CBS News, 'Though people don't talk about Staten Island much, people are here, a lot of people are hurting, so it's upsetting.'

Homes across Brooklyn and Coney Island are some of the worst hit in the wake of the superstorm.

Many houses shattered into piles of bricks and splintered planks at Coney Island, while others stand waterlogged and abandoned.

One gated community at the tip of the island, Seagate, was particularly badly hit, with some houses entirely washed away or flattened.

Across the bridge in Manhattan, many neighbourhoods are still in darkness and residents have resorted to digging through filthy dumpsters for food.

The Lower East Side and East Village neighbourhoods have both been in darkness for days.

Shocking images captured groups of residents sifting through garbage outside a Key Food supermarket in the East Village yesterday.

For power companies, the scale of the destruction was unmatched - more widespread than any blizzard or ice storm and worse than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

'It's unprecedented: fallen trees, debris, the roads, water, snow. It's a little bit of everything,' said Brian Wolff, senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that lobbies for utilities.

Initially, about 60 million people were without power in 8.2 million homes and businesses.

By Wednesday night, that number had fallen to roughly 44 million people in 6 million households and businesses and today around 3.8 million are without power.