This three-part photo essay traces the recovery efforts in the year since Hurricane Sandy, as documented by photographer Nathan Kensinger. Throughout the year, his Hurricane Sandy photo essays have appeared in Curbed’s Camera Obscura column. His photographs are also included in exhibits opening this week at the Museum of the City of New York and the Brooklyn Historical Society, which are dedicated to the one-year anniversary of the storm.
[In the year since Hurricane Sandy, Staten Island neighborhoods like Ocean Breeze have seen little progress in their recovery efforts. All photos by Nathan Kensinger.]
It has been one year since Hurricane Sandy landed on Staten Island, destroying many of its waterfront neighborhoods. Despite an outpouring of volunteer support and a huge cleanup effort, these communities are still visibly suffering from the impact of the storm. In neighborhoods like Ocean Breeze, Midland Beach, and New Dorp, ruined buildings, abandoned homes, empty lots and overgrown foundations remain a common sight. A host of government programs have assisted residents during their recovery, but many homeowners are frustrated by the lack of progress and are not planning to return.
“It’s been hell,” said Jean Laurie, the president of the Ocean Breeze Civic Association, whose neighborhood and house were badly damaged by the storm surge. “We still don’t have a home,” she said. “Before you know it, it’s going to be two years. And then what?” After demolishing their storm-damaged residence in April, Jean and her husband Burt hoped they would be able to rebuild quickly. But, like several of their neighbors, their lot remains empty. “I don’t know anyone on Staten who has built a new house,” said Burt. “There is too much red tape.”
“We still don’t have a home. Before you know it, it’s going to be two years. And then what?” —Jean Laurie, president, Ocean Breeze Civic Association
Most residents in Ocean Breeze have given up on the idea of rebuilding, and now hope to sell their entire neighborhood to the state to be demolished, much like the buyout planned for nearby Oakwood Beach, where 400 homes will be torn down and the land returned to nature. “They should never have houses here, never,” said Joe Herrnkind, a 15-year resident of Ocean Breeze whose home was destroyed by flooding. “The buyout is the only way,” said Herrnkind. “I’m looking for a buyout from the government only. No one else. Knowing what I know, I don’t want anyone else to suffer this way.” In sharp contrast to the headway made in the Rockaways, Staten Island’s storm recovery seems far from complete.
October 2013: In the empty lot where their home once stood, Jean and Burt Laurie display a handmade protest sign. Like 5,500 Staten Island residents, they registered for the city’s Build It Back program. They are still waiting to receive a phone call from the government.
October 2013: Their collection of photos documents the damage in Ocean Breeze, where 20 houses were destroyed. About 30 of the remaining 109 homes are occupied, according to the Staten Island Advance.
November 2012: In the days after the storm, Jean Laurie and her husband helped coordinate with volunteers to distribute supplies from in front of their flood-damaged home.
April 2013: When her home was demolished in April, Jean planned to rebuild quickly. “We want to revitalize the area,” she told Curbed at the time. “We don’t want to leave it in shambles.”
April 2013: Jean still hopes to rebuild, but “almost every single home owner that is here has signed up for the buyout,” according to her neighbor Joe Herrnkind. “You’d have to be crazy to stay.”
October 2013: One year after the storm, empty homes in Ocean Breeze are still being gutted by city workers. Roughly 400 people are waiting to rebuild their homes in Staten Island, according to the Staten Island Advance.
October 2013: Progress has come to a standstill in several Staten Island neighborhoods. In Midland Beach, this pile of debris from a ruined building has sat next to a local home for the entire year. Abandoned and empty homes can be found throughout the area.