WRITING CULTURE 2012: Film, Food & Beyond

I was luckier then a lot of other people when Hurricane Sandy finally hit. My neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn was a respectable distance inland and rested on top of a hill, giving it the elevated ground needed to avoid any real danger of flooding. By and large all the storm really did to me was ensure I was locked up at home for two days, with all the amenities like water, heat, electricity, and internet (though very spotty at times) still readily available. But as unaffected as I was by Sandy itself, the scars it left behind are all too real for me. 

Despite the wind strength, my neighborhood was fortunate in avoiding the hazards of fallen trees. But even then it’s hard not to notice the contrast in the landscape Sandy created whenever I walk down the block and see branches stripped clean of their bark or a sign turned on completely on its head.

Walking down a bit further and past the local supermarket and you can see an even more telling example as work crews work daily to repair a missing banister that was torn right off.

Still, all these things are minor inconveniences at worse, it’s only walking down even further that you can see where the real impact is being felt.

Unlike the image above my local BP gas station was still completely empty of patrons because it’s still completely empty of actual gas, even several weeks after Sandy’s passing. I can only be thankful that, despite the long delays and only partial restoration at the time, this city has an extensive subway system that I can get by on, otherwise I’d have be like some of the poor suckers I’ve seen who have to carry their own fuel canisters like the ones above to fill up their cars and hope its barely enough to get them wherever they need to go.

Having several internships with government offices keep me in tune of just how much bigger these problems are in other parts of the city though, especially in the areas of lower Manhattan and Staten Island. I don’t even want to get into the stories I still hear outside of the city, where my aunt’s family on Long Island are still without power and heat in the middle of winter!

And so I’ve been doing what I can to help victims that have had it much harder then myself, which I am extremely thankful for. Just this week after Thanksgiving, I was inviting community board leaders to attend and contribute to a food drive, coordinating and setting up the venue in the American Museum of Natural History, and moving an entire truckload of cartons of dehydrated milk and water to be shipped off to the NYC Food Bank. Even now though, while it helps to know I’ve done something to help alleviate the difficulties of others in this trying time, its still disheartening to know it probably isn’t enough, and likely won’t be for some time yet. Life may go on, but the scars still linger.