My Hurricane Sandy Post from Greenpoint Brooklyn

What my life looked like on Halloween night

I have been sharing information on where people can get help around the 5 boroughs and that is about the extent of what I can do being somewhat landlocked here in Greenpoint. I do not drive and even if I did gas has been reserved for first responders. Although buses were running last week the details regarding how things are running can be your doing or undoing. There was no way to check the frequency of the B62 bus on Manhattan Avenue. After waiting for an hour, when temperatures started to dip I thought it wise to head back home. The number of people in New York City is literally in the millions. During trying circumstances like these it's better to think thoroughly and slowly about the outcomes than find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation with little to no recourse. As for getting around, finally the bike is being repaired today. The L and G trains to Manhattan are not going to be ready in the forseeable future. In Union Square as of Saturday there was a corral of trucks parked on the market square. The task is on to clear the water and repair the damage to that stop. For those who have asked ; "What use a bike could possibly be?"  or "Why is staying healthy important? ',  Hurricane Sandy has made that abundantly clear.  I was able to walk for four hours  without losing my breath or suffering swollen ankles, over and back on the Williamsburg bridge.  With a snow storm headed here this week I pray that all those who are freezing in the Rockaways, Staten Island, Breezy Point, Red Hook, etc. have much needed blankets. I will be open about my wondering aloud what the Red Cross is doing exactly on the ground here as basic things such a warm blankets are badly needed. If anyone has any information to share regarding that kindly comment in the comment section here.And I don't mean just to give them more money. Personally I'd like some proof of activity.

Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop

LOCAL RELIEF EFFORTS
Walking through the lower east side Saturday 11/3/12, I saw plenty of signs that New Yorkers are pulling together to help each other with donations of food,water, clothing and general supplies. The ING NYC marathon had been cancelled and many of  runners that were  here are headed to Staten Island to help the flood victims that have been really hit hard! So many homes have been destroyed and it is humbling to see that Mother Nature exacts respect. Obviously we need to change the way we live here on the East Coast. New York City uses something like 90% of energy compared to the rest of the state! My downstairs neighbor Mr. Woodrum went out to the Rockaways and said it was pretty grim. He said he thought he was mentally prepared but really nothing could have prepared him for the shock of "third world" conditions with many renters sitting in the cold with no food,water or heat abandoned by landlords who "just don't care". The other extreme were those who were somehow able to mobilize. The bonds of community are apparently coming back into style. Governor Cuomo looked genuinely worried.

 http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/rockaways/
https://www.facebook.com/OccupySandyReliefNyc
https://www.wepay.com/donations/occupy-sandy-cleanup-volunteers
http://redhook.recovers.org/
https://lowereastside.recovers.org/
https://astoria.recovers.org/
http://brooklynbased.net/email/2012/10/sandy-in-brooklyn/
http://brokelyn.com/volunteers-needed-and-other-ways-to-help-sandy-recovery/
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/relief.html

USANA GREEN http://www.usana.com/Main/myUsana/page/USANAGreenArchive
It is good to know that a company like Usana Health Sciences  is actively using solar and wind in their manufacturing plant, sourcing only non contaminated ingredients and that anyone not using a hybrid car has to park at the back of the lot and walk to the front. If only EVERY company on the planet was doing the same Mother would be feeling well.  It's clear that the rubber has met the road and that really no more fooling around kids. If you are building a house use solar and wind, if you can conserve and recycle your water do so.
Look here for more info on what USANA does to make a difference. http://www.usana.com/Main/myUsana/page/USANAGreenArchive

Wake Up Govenor Cuomo & Mike Bloomberg You are Playing with Fire Water and Gas

Dear Govenor let this be a cautionary incident. Anyone who is native to this city like your Honor, knows that New York is literally layers of 450 years of new upon old construction. Rickety would be an apt desciption in terms of the way everything by some act of God fits together. But there is a lot we don't know.  The 91 homes that caught fire on Breezy Point make it clear that running a gas pipeline is the equivalent to running a bomb through the region. New York, as much as I love her (and I do) , is held together with spit and masking tape. Her fragile infrastructure is sitting on arguably THE most important watershed on the entire East Coast with a straight shot to the oil refineries in New Jersey right across the Hudson river.  The plan is reckless and heedless. I hope that Super Storm Sandy has made it abundantly clear that the Governor and Mayor need to put a screeching halt to all fracked gas constructions in The Rockaways to the Spectra Pipeline on the Hudson River to a stop. You ain't seen nothing yet!  The dimensions of human misery, ecological disaster are hard to fathom but if you think about it just a little bit and multiply what just happened by the entire East Coast and throw in some explosions you will want to stop before you begin. Companies from Texas have no idea what real weather is like. Fury doesn't really begin to describe what will happen if we don't wake up now.  And I mean NOW. Apparently so does Sandy.