A LOOK BACK AT HURRICANE SANDY, AND HOW YOU CAN STILL HELP
FLICKR USER DAVID SHANKBONE
Almost a year has passed since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, and the effects of the storm can still be felt throughout many areas of the city. We asked our friends in the restaurant community to revisit the storm, discuss ways in which they were affected, remain affected, and the overall imprint the storm left on the hospitality industry, and the city at large.
Take a look below to see what they had to say, then keep reading for ways you can still help out. If we missed any, please feel free to share them in the comments, along with your own recollections of Sandy.
Zach Mack
Owner, Alphabet City Beer Co.
“We were a five-and-a-half month-old business when the East River came through our front door. This is a catastrophe for businesses of any age, but when you’re young and just getting a cash flow going, it’s the scariest thing in the world… But a year later, we’re feeling great. Sandy was one of the hardest experiences we could’ve suffered, but it was also the greatest teacher we’ve ever had. We learned how to keep our head up when things get stressful, which helps us every day. When things get stressful, I think back to the moment I was standing in my businesses basement, stagnant floodwater up close to my knees, emptying our destroyed equipment and trash. It instantly puts everything into perspective.”
Leah Tinari
Owner, Fatta Cuckoo
“Those three days, I was anxious to get out of bed and head to Fatta to serve the people. I felt I was doing something important and it reminded me of why I opened a restaurant in the first place; to feel that energy of satisfying people and giving my neighbors a place to come to be together and eat and drink. It is a simple idea, and though it was a very difficult time, it somehow felt so simple. When the lights came back on, I had a brief moment of sadness and then I was like, ‘don’t be [freaking] crazy!’ The first phone call I received that evening about an hour after the power went on, was someone inquiring if we would be serving the full menu?? Ha, how soon we forget!”
Mark Maynard-Parisi
Senior Managing Partner of Blue Smoke
“At Blue Smoke Battery Park City, we were fortunate to open 48hrs after the storm, and the restaurant became a beacon of hope for neighbors and employees alike. Many on our team lost their homes, so we worked together to take care of each other, serving meals, helping them find accommodations, and generally comforting one another. Our 27th St location was without power for a week, and we were in danger of wasting tons of food. The teams worked together to move product from Flatiron to BPC so that the food would not go bad, and so that we could take care of the hundreds of downtown residents who needed a place to land.”
Roberto Deiaco
Chef, East 12th Osteria
“We were scheduled to open right after Thanksgiving, but because of Sandy, that date was pushed back. And then it was pushed back again to December. That was the goal, but we missed it completely. In order to survive, and eventually open my restaurant, I had to quit my job [at Armani Ristorante] earlier than I planned, and start doing a lot of the construction work by myself. I had no choice. I hired a team and continued building, without my contractor. I did a lot of the plumbing, put up walls, laid tiles, built the entire concrete basement. By myself, I assembled the furniture, and built the restaurant interior, the entire kitchen, everything. I set up the dishwashing area, I put up the stairway to go downstairs. It took months and months — but we finally opened.”
Morten Sohlberg
Chef/Owner, Smorgas Chef
“Arriving at Smorgas Chef in the Financial District the morning after Hurricane Sandy, we really learned how hard we were hit by the storm. Cars were literally floating up and down like fishing bobbers outside our restaurant. My wife, Min Ye, and I opened this location right after September 11th, in defiance of the 9/11 attacks, and we were not going to be deterred by a ‘little’ storm. We were able to renovate the restaurant within a week, and were among the first restaurants to re-open in the Wall Street area.”
Ralph Scamardella
Chef/Partner, LAVO Italian Restaurant, TAO Uptown, TAO Downtown, Arlington Club, Dream Downtown
“In Staten Island, the boardwalk is still in ruins and hasn’t been addressed. Plus, all the burnt-down and blown-out areas are still in shambles. Out of sight, out of mind. Areas like Manhattan and New Jersey are much better, but there are still a lot of people who need help, a lot of local businesses and restaurants as well.”
Sab Sharma
Partner, Ken + Cook / Lil’ Charlie’s
“We actually served dinner that night. We lit up the restaurant with candle lights; gas was still working — we tried to find a generator, but all the generators were out of stock — so we used a battery-powered boom box and the chef cooked all the food the night the power went out. The other powerless nights we kept the restaurant open. We started bringing pizzas from Lombardi’s and served them. It was a tough time — the staff couldn’t make it to the restaurant, we and they lost pay, food [was] wasted which is always hard to watch, but we tried to make the best of the situation and serve the neighborhood.”
Benjamin Prelvukaj
Owner, The Sea Fire Grill
“We were trying to open The Sea Fire Grill, which was scheduled to celebrate the grand opening on October 31st. That opening date was pushed back to November 19th, and there was a great deal of struggle to make that happen. We did not want to lose our staff, who we had trained and promised jobs to, so we moved as many as possible to Benjamin Steakhouse, and allowed the others to work with us on constructing the restaurant, as city resources were low. I still feel fortunate that we were only delayed by three weeks, because I know that other people lost so much more.”
Chris Miller
Owner, Hometown and Miller’s Near & Far
“Hurricane Sandy simply devastated Red Hook. We were wiped out. We were three months into building Hometown BBQ when Sandy hit. The corner outside our restaurant had 5 or 6ft of sea water surging up and down Van Brunt St. Inside the space, we had a water line 6ft high to match. Everything we had done was lost. Massive stainless steal ranges and refrigerators had been tossed about the space. The only surviving piece was our trailer smoker, which we used to cook for the community in the following weeks. We had lost a lot, but we were the lucky ones; people had lost their homes and their livelihood. The silver lining to Sandy was watching the community come together to support each other. Everybody was lending a hand to their neighbors. Red Hook has come back for the most part and it seems stronger than ever.”
Bill Fletcher
Owner, Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue
“Fletcher’s was amazingly spared from any physical damage. No flooding, power stayed on, etc. Our biggest struggle was deliveries and supplies. If you remember, gasoline was in very short supply, so piecing together enough food and paper supplies from disparate vendors was a constant challenge. We opened our doors for the first time just a few days after Sandy… It was a really unexpected and rewarding experience to serve food and drink to our friends and neighbors during that time… A lot of our crew volunteered with Operation BBQ Relief, which is an organization that travels [across] the country bringing food to disaster relief areas. They are a really amazing organization made of some of the best people you’ll ever meet.”
Abraham Merchant
President/CEO of Merchants Hospitality (Merchants River House, Black Hound Bar & Lounge and SouthWest NY)
“We have several properties that were destroyed in Hurricane Sandy… I live in Battery Park City but had to stay in Midtown for a few days. Even Times Square at midnight during the storm was very quiet — I had never seen anything like that before. We are working 24/7 to reopen as soon as November 10th. But the dining room at Merchants NY Café at 90 Washington St was ruined when it was inundated with three feet of water.”
Jeffrey Bank
CEO of The Alicart Restaurant Group (Carmine’s, Virgil’s Real Barbecue)
“Our restaurants in New York and AC were in regions that were severely hit by the storm… In NYC, Carmine’s and Virgil’s were closed for a couple of days. Below 42nd St, the city was dark and without power almost entirely. Carmine’s and Virgil’s in Times Square, as well as Carmine’s on the Upper West Side, were spared the power outage and flooding. During the power outage, everyone seemed to come uptown — neighborhoods on the Upper East Side and West were mobbed with people dining. There seemed to be lines at restaurants, pizza joints, anywhere serving food.”
Jeremy Wladis
President, The Restaurant Group (A.G. Kitchen, Amigos, Brad’s, FUEL Pizza, Firehouse Tavern, and Good Enough to Eat)
“One of the best memories I have is from the day after the storm. We banded together and set up a donation center in front of our restaurant, Firehouse Tavern on Columbus Ave. With the help of our friends and neighbors on the Upper West Side, we collected everything from batteries to clothing to food. In the end, we packed up about 20 trailer-loads and drove them out to the Rockaways. I went out to the Rockaways to help with distribution, and it was so moving to see everyone come together.”
Eduard Fraunder and Wolfgang Ban
Co-owners/Chefs at Seasonal, Edi & the Wolf, and The Third Man
“Although we were hit pretty hard on Avenue C, it was really empowering to see the community come together to help one another out. We were lucky to have the gas-powered pizza oven at Edi & the Wolf in order to make a little hot food for the neighborhood, because people were really hurting.”
Some of the ways you can still help:
Donate or volunteer your time with Occupy Sandy
Buy the #SANDY photo book, where all proceeds will go towards helping to rebuild destruction from the storm
Join the Student Conservation Association for a day of work on Staten Island
Donate or volunteer with SandyRelief.Org
Volunteer with the All Hands Project
On October 24th at 6p, Videology in Williamsburg is having an event to benefit those affected by the storm in Cuba
Attend a party at No Idea Bar put together by Do Your Part on October 26th
Through the end of the month, a portion of all burrito sales from Tres Carnes will go to Friends of Rockaway. You’re also encourage to post burrito photos with #buildwithburritos; if you do, you get a free drink
Ken + Cook will be shutting out all their lights on the anniversary and donating a portion of all proceeds of dinner that night to charity
Donate to or volunteer for the Battery Park Conservancy
Donate to the Brooklyn Recovery Fund
Donate to Breezy Point Disaster Relief
Donate to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy
Donate to the Staten Island Foundation
Head to an event on October 23rd benefiting the Shore Soup Project, which’s helping feed and rebuild the Rockaways