Red Hook's Very, Very Slow Recovery After Superstorm Sandy

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School buses drying out in a parking lot.

Breeze Demolition on Bay Street had to do some demo on their own building.

Old trash and new sheetrock at Breeze Demo

The Sol Goldman recreation center sustained lots of damage

It is currently closed and the NYC Parks Department won't be able to use it for a long time, if it can be re-opened at all.

The foundation of the building was undermined ...

and water rushed right in.

National Grid hard at work to restore service

Just one of many cars destroyed by the storm surge.

Flooded art space on Van Brunt Street.

Fairway working hard to repair damage to the store. Apparently, when it reopens in a few weeks, it will have a bigger restaurant and tasting areas.

A group of volunteers heading to the meeting place

Billy Durney surveying the damage to his soon-to-open  Southern barbecue place "Hometown" at 454 Van Brunt Street.  If everything goes well, the eatery will still be ready for its opening in Spring 2013.

While the building is slowly drying out,  one can still see the water mark on the walls.

The big grill is one of the only things he was able to save.  Over the last twelve days, people have been donating over a 1000 pounds of meat that he has been barbecuing non-stop to feed local residents, volunteers and utility workers.

Brisket slowly cooking on the barbecue.

Folks at Brooklyn Ice House not defeated by Sandy.

Red Hook Lobster on Van Brunt Street was hit hard.

But the Red Hook Lobster folks are working long hours so that they can re-open soon.

Flooded business on Van Brunt Street

Just one of many flooded basements in Red Hook

George Fiala of the Red Hook Star Revue distributing the latest edition of his newspaper to local residents.

Flooding inside a friend's Red Hook home.

Refrigerator, oven, washing machine and all other appliances have to be tossed out.

A volunteer tossing garbage into a dumpster

Long lines wrap around Visitation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic church.  Local residents still need food, dry clothes and batteries.  Some still don't have power.

National Guard looking on

Brad Lander with local residents and  veterans who have found temporary housing at 165-167 West 9th Street because their shelter was rendered uninhabitable during Hurricane Sandy.

The group was going to walk over to Red Hook to volunteer.

It's been twelve days since Hurricane Sandy brought much misery to Red Hook.  The storm flooded most of the neighborhood and left homeowners, renters and business owners with massive destruction.
Slowly, they have begun the hard work of drying out and rebuilding their life, though life in the neighborhood is still very tough.
It would be fair to say that rebuilding will a slow process, but Red Hook residents are determined.
They still can use all the help that they can get, so please continue donating.
From what I saw, rubber gloves, masks, bleach, and garbage bags will be greatly appreciated.
So will words of encouragement and most importantly, a heaping hand.