Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Scenes From A Sandy Evacuation: Single Mom And Kids Forced Out Of Public Housing
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 31, 2012
Modified Oct 31, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 14
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 31, 2012
Modified Oct 31, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
As many columnists have noted, weathering a natural disaster obviously sucks a lot more when you've got modest means. For instance, residents of public housing in Zone A were ordered to evacuate like everyone else in the area, but the city gave them additional motivations by cutting off their water, electricity and heat. Still, some lingered through Sandy's surge, and on Tuesday photographer Grant Ellis stopped by the Baruch Houses on the Lower East Side to see who was left. One family preparing to depart welcomed him into their home, and Ellis shot for about an hour.
Ellis's intimate photos articulate the deep anxiety afflicting many New Yorkers in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, personified here in the worried faces of one family grimly preparing to move into a shelter. According to Ellis, Katriana, the mother of 6, has been informed that her building will not have running water, lights, or heat for the next 8 to 14 days. He did not know where they were headed, and by the time he left them, neither did they.
Tagged
baruch houses
hurricane sandy
Lower East Side
sandy
original
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 5:26 p.m. ET
Modified Oct 14, 2026 at 6:55 p.m. ET
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
Kyle Taylor, a dean at Mott Bridges Academy, says he made a legal bus transfer.
By
Carol Chen
News
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
Kyle Taylor, a dean at Mott Bridges Academy, says he made a legal bus transfer.
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
2 men accused of stabbing off-duty NYPD detective in the Bronx plead not guilty
By
Charles Lane
and
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .