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Bloomberg On Sandy Recovery: "This Is Going To Take A While"
By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 30, 2012
Modified Oct 30, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 30, 2012
Modified Oct 30, 2012
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A day after Hurricane Sandy ripped through New York City Mayor Bloomberg just took time to update New Yorkers on the state of the city. "Sandy hit us very hard," he said. It "was a storm of historic intensity, but New Yorkers are resilient." And though 18 people died in the storm, "this is the end of the downside." Still "This is going to take a while."
Bloomberg gave his speech after touring the city in the air with Senator Schumer and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in which he saw much of the worst hit parts of the city and says he saw "progress we're already making in our recovery." Still, things are definitely bad out there. Breezy Point, which burned something awful last night, looks "like pictures we've seen of the end of WWII" with "the area completely leveled, chimneys and foundations were all that were left of these homes." On the positive side, there were no fatalities out there.
As for restoring mass transit and power, that is going to take awhile. Bus service is kicking in now on a Saturday schedule where possible with more service hopefully starting tomorrow. It is free for the next day, but "unfortunately at some point the MTA will start to charge again—that is how they pay the bills."
In addition to buses, the mayor points out that 4,000 taxis and livery cabs are on the streets and are allowed to pick up multiple fares. The city suggests an additional $10 charge per fare and notes that drivers must quote prices up front. That goes for yellow cabs and livery cabs.
On the power front? Bloomberg and Con Ed say that "service in some places will come back in the next day or so but the vast bulk of people without service should not expect it for the next few days."
Meanwhile, things are trying to get back to normal. The NYSE will be back in business tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and the city is still asking that city employees go into work tomorrow. If they can't get to work they are asked to volunteer at a nearby location if possible. One place to volunteer? One of the 76 evacuation centers that are still open.
And don't think about going back home if you were evacuated. The city has not lifted its mandatory evacuation of Zone A and won't until the areas can be completely inspected.
As for other things Bloomberg had to say? Stay away from city parks—they are closed until further notice. Halloween is not canceled but the parade in the Village has been postponed and you should please be careful, "particularly in areas where there are no lights." And speaking of lights, the NYPD will be putting portable lights up at power-less intersections tonight where possible. Bloomberg has no clue if the Nets/Knicks game is still on (but he wants to go) and finally Bloomberg rubbed in that people need to learn to do what he tells them to do. See, one of the biggest problems this storm turned out to be people who didn't leave their homes: "only about half the people we ordered to leave did so. We have to find a better way to impress on people that we don't ask them to leave lightly—it is for their own good."
Tagged
frankenstorm
hurricane sandy
mayor bloomberg
Garth Johnston
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