slow recovery

today was a particularly productive and moving day spent out in the field. we collected data for several properties but were able to speak to more residents than we have been able to in the past. one gentleman in particular was brooklyn-born but raised in breezy point and has lived there all his life. he told us in detail the work he had put into his home and his love for the community. he also mentioned how his ninety-seven year old mother was living in a converted firehouse within the community and had lived there since before he was born. she is currently getting ready to come back to her home and start the recovery process.

seeing these homes that are half still abandoned even six months after the storm is a strange situation. walking around this small beach community that reminds me a lot of the beach communities I grew up around in southern california has put a lot into perspective for me. I've been able to see firsthand how mother nature can take away so much from a community. she doesn't discriminate and it seems at random who gets their property destroyed from a storm and who's* barely hangs on by a thread. the love and commitment these residents have shown towards their neighbors and the whole of their community is the most moving thing I have ever witnessed. after having these homes taken from them, some which date back to the early 1900s, these resilient new yorkers return to their sand-ridden communities with broken dishes and silverware still buried in the middle of walkways, and start to slowly rebuild their homes. and they don't just rebuild their own...they help each other rebuild together.


(*side note: not to take away from the topic and the insight I was sharing, but I know my mother passed out my blog address to some of my high school teachers and if my senior year ap english teacher is reading this, I apologize for my lack of knowledge regarding when to write "who's" versus "whose." I'm just going to continue to use them interchangeably and want to apologize in advance).



this photo is an example of the beautiful spirit that breezy point has. these wooden stars are tacked to posts all around the community with various words of encouragement written on them.