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Looters Stole Over $100K Worth Of Equipment From Schools After Hurricane Sandy
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 28, 2012
Modified Nov 28, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 28, 2012
Modified Nov 28, 2012
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It wasn't just pharmacies, liquor stores, and, uh, Brookstone that got set upon by jackals in the wake of Hurricane Sandy; over two dozen schools were looted in the wake of the Frankenstorm. Department of Eduction officials are compiling a tally of losses, but one school in particular took a massive hit: "We discovered that approximately 90 iPads were stolen and six to 10 iMacs," Brian O'Connell, the principal of Scholars' Academy in Rockaway Beach, tells NY1. He estimates that the total value of the stolen equipment to be over $100,000.
Looters also relieved Scholars' Academy of two automated external defibrillators, each estimated to be worth about $1,600. The high school was flooded under a foot of water during the hurricane, and, like many schools, it has yet to reopen, and students have been attending classes in temporary classrooms in Brooklyn. And Scholars' isn't the only one that was looted; a DOE spokesperson says at least 29 other schools were robbed of all sorts of equipment, including computers, projectors, cameras, and calculators. Because we all know how much you can get for a moldy calculator on the black market!
Even worse, officials at Scholars' Academy, which is located on Beach 104th Street and is part of the NYC public school system, say their insurance doesn't cover the thefts. They're currently soliciting donations to help the school get back on its feet through this fundraising website.
Tagged
frankenstorm
hurricane sandy
rockaway beach
the rockaways
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.
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