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November 3 - November 13, 2012
Downtown Express photo by Sam Spokony
National Guardsmen unload boxes of FEMA-supplied rations outside Smith Houses, where hundreds of desperate locals had swarmed on Thursday night to get much-needed food and water.
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give her last name. “It’s gotten so bad that people are actually just taking shits in bags and throwing them out in the incinerator.” Shatima, who arrived at Confucius Plaza around 3 p.m. on Thursday with several neighborhood friends, echoed the Mott St. tenant’s earlier explanation by stressing that they were all without food and water at that point because not enough people were ready for the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. “I just didn’t expect it to be this bad,” she said. “We all remembered Hurriane Irene last year, that nothing really happened, and we just weren’t prepared for all of this. It sounds sad, but now we’ve just been asking people for food on the street, and we’ve been wearing the same clothes since Monday.” Shatima and her friends were forced to find other options for food and water that night, but they were able to charge their cell phones outside Confucius Plaza at Speaker Silver’s “mobile district office” van, which was there from 3 to 6 p.m. Silver and his top aides had rented a large van, staffed with volunteers, that they stocked with water and an array of electrical outlets available for charging phones and other devices. The mobile office began its much-needed journey on Wednesday afternoon, and was at the corner of Madison and Gouverneur Sts. on Thursday before heading to Confucius Plaza. “We’re just trying to do all we can,” Silver said. As people waited fruitlessly for the National Guard to arrive between 3 p.m. and around 5:30 p.m., Silver was joined outside Confucius Plaza by a host of other local politicians and community leaders who have been active in recovery efforts ever since Hurricane Sandy struck on Monday night. Along with Squadron, they included Councilmembers Margaret Chin, Jessica Lappin and Robert Jackson; Community Board 3 Chair Gigi Li; and staff members of Asian Americans for Equality, the Chinatown BID and the Chinatown Partnership. While waiting there before he and Silver headed over to Smith Houses, Squadron asserted that the real test of the storm’s impact is beginning now. “It’s really important to remember that the crisis didn’t end when the wind died down, or even when the waters receded,” Squadron said, adding that he and his colleagues “pushed the city very hard” to implement in the FEMA
ration deliveries via the National Guard. “It was clear that we needed to be more proactive in dealing with the challenges posed by a long-term blackout in high rises with low-income or senior residents, or people with other needs,” he explained. As for future National Guard deliveries to the Downtown area — whether through Sunday or, if Con Edison fails to restore power by then, perhaps longer — it’s clear that better communication will be key to reaching residents more swiftly. The Salvation Army member who was at Confucius Plaza on Thursday — and who was supposed to be the main point of contact between the National Guard and the people at the drop-off site — was at a loss each time the politicians asked him for an update on the status of the delivery. He explained to this newspaper that he could only communicate with Guardsmen at headquarters, rather than those in the actual delivery trucks, thus there was no way for him to reach the Guardsmen driving to the site in order to give them directions or get an accurate estimate for their arrival. N.Y.P.D. Fifth Precinct officers who were controlling the crowd outside Confucius Plaza were equally confused. Throughout the evening, they repeated that they were receiving conflicting or false information about the whereabouts of the delivery trucks. As she stood waiting in vain for the trucks to arrive, assuming that the drivers didn’t know the best route to take, Chin vented her frustration. “People have been waiting a long time for this, and [the National Guard] should have somebody driving with them who knows the city,” she said. “At a time like this, how could they send drivers who don’t know our streets? But later, after the delivery at Smith Houses was completed and at least some of the earlier tension was lifted, Silver put the events of the day into the perspective. “Look, sure, it’s been a little chaotic, but this whole situation is chaotic,” he said. “And once you go through a process like this on the first day, you can hopefully understand what went wrong, and have it go a little more smoothly the next day.” As for his own plans, Silver pointed out that he and his staff would be taking their van through the Downtown area again the following day, to speak with residents while providing some valuable resources as the posthurricane crisis continues. “I’ll be around,” he said.
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
Dr. Robbi Kempner, Chief of Breast Surgery at New York Downtown Hospital in conjunction with the Department of Radiology, will sponsor our Hospital’s second Mammogram-a-thon at our new Wellness & Prevention Center October 4th and October 25th from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Please call (212) 312-5253 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to schedule your screening mammogram appointment for either day. Most insurance plans will be accepted. In 2011, an estimated 230,450 U.S. women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. In 2011, there were more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. “A mammogram takes ten minutes and can save your life. If problems are found early, new treatments can be most effective.” Early detection saves lives! For an appointment with Dr. Kempner, please call (646) 588-2578 WELLNESS & PREVENTION CENTER 170 William Street, New York, NY 10038 www.downtownwellness.org