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Those "Selfish" NYC Zone A Residents Who Refuse To Evacuate
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 29, 2012
Modified Oct 29, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 29, 2012
Modified Oct 29, 2012
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Sure, Mayor Bloomberg may have ordered all New Yorkers living in Zone A to evacuate their homes, but it's not like people always listen. A nine-months pregnant Greenpoint resident told the Post she's staying put and counting on her husband, a doctor, to deliver the baby if necessary: "We don’t think it’ll be so bad. Plus, we are high up on the seventh floor. We left last year because they said the city would be flooded and nothing happened. It’ll be fine."
Yeah, who cares that meteorologists are literally freaking out about the storm and it's believed the storm surges will be 11 feet and "life-threatening." Yesterday, Bloomberg said, "If you don't evacuate, you're not just putting your own life in danger, you're also endangering lives of our first responders...[people who don't evacuate] are not going to get arrested, but they are being, I would argue, very selfish."
Is selfish the word to describe the residents of Williamsburg's luxury building, The Edge? Jim Butler told the Observer, "I just got these kick-ass new stereo speakers and I am going to listen to those until the power runs out... Then I’m going to read and look at my art books. I’ll live by candlelight, get in touch with my 19th century self."
Even some public housing residents, who were told to evacuate by the city (employees went door-to-door), are staying put, even though the city is shutting off elevators and hot water. A telephone operator at the Isaacs Houses in East Harlem told DNAinfo, "We chose not to go. We'll take our chances. I've been through three blackouts, four hurricanes and an earthquake here. I'll be fine."
A Brighton Beach activist was equally sanguine to the Brooklyn Paper, "You think we never had a storm surge before? I would have to see 10 feet of water coming down my block to think of leaving."
Tagged
brighton beach
frankenstorm
greenpoint
hurricane sandy
public housing
selfish
storm surge
williamsburg
zone a
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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