The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

New York CityNYC events & culture

The New York that got away: Hurricane Sandy spares parts of Northern Brooklyn

The New York that got away: Hurricane Sandy spares parts of Northern Brooklyn
1 November 2012
Martina Dechevska
Avatar
Martina Dechevska
1 November 2012

Hurricane Sandy hit New York after 6pm on Monday, 29th October, 2012. Every report focused on the destruction set to be unleashed on the city, a natural disaster affecting “the modern Babylon – New York”. The worst storm to hit in 70 years, the signs were apocalyptic. 

Red Hook, Brooklyn flooded at around noon on Monday. Photo: Fabio Martinez

However, what I experienced was very different from what the media was showing.

I live in Bedford-Stuyesvant, a neighbourhood in northern Brooklyn. It’s not too near the water that wreaked havoc on the city, but it’s not too far either. 

After days of warnings, on cue the wind started blasting harshly at around 4-5pm, accompanied with a light rain that persisted all night. I decided to stay home, despite invitations to a number of “hurricane parties” and my roommate going for a drive here and there from time to time. The subway was down, as well as all the bridges, but he kept driving occasionally from one place to another. I’m not sure if I was scared, cautious or just too lazy to go with him. 

Fallen branches on a Brooklyn street at around midnight on the night Sandy hit. Photos: Fabio Martinez

My roommate returned laden with photos of flooded scenes in nearby Red Hook, and, comparing them to another photo on Twitter, concluded: “See, it’s not that bad, if you look at the other photo it looks much more flooded. It’s the angle of the picture…”

I agreed with him, but decided to stay home, just in case, and to put all my documents and electronics in one garbage bag lifted high, just in case. Then I lay comfortably on my bed and continued watching a movie. The entire time I had both internet and electricity. 

From my apartment it all looked pretty calm. I even had the window open a little bit for some fresh air. Yes, it was blustery and you could hear the wind, but in the part of New York where I live it wasn’t that bad. Some delis were working, and one of my neighbours even took his dog out (which we later discovered could have been very dangerous as two people were killed walking their dog in Ditmas Park, a nearby area of Brooklyn).

The only evidence of the storm – the fallen fence in Bedford-Stuyesvant, Brooklyn. Photo: Martina Dechevska

Looking out of my window now, I can see people walking down the streets as though we were in a different world to the rest of New York. 

I don’t want to say that the disasters and the destruction around New York City didn’t happen – people all over the world saw the fallen facade of the building on 14th Street and 8th Avenue and over 80 devastated by flooding and fire houses in Breezy Point (one of the finest beaches in New York). The truth is that Sandy did irreparable damage to many areas and, more seriously, many lives. However, it is also important to know that not all of New York was like that and in some neighbourhoods, like mine, Sandy passed through almost unnoticed. 

The only destruction I actually saw around me is the fallen fence in our backyard.

Martina Dechevska

Related Items

More in New York City

Four New York theatre shows you need to see this winter

The editorial unit
Read More

Radio City Music Hall Rockettes star in New York Spectacular

★★★★★
Patricia Contino
Read More

Five bars in NYC to enjoy a classic cocktail

Mariana Howard
Read More

Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belasco Theatre

★★★★★
Mariana Howard
Read More

Othello: A Dance in Three Acts at American Ballet Theatre

★★★★★
Patricia Contino
Read More

The Flatiron Hex at Dixon Place

★★★★★
Patricia Contino
Read More

Kopecky at Mercury Lounge

★★★★★
The editorial unit
Read More

Merrily We Roll Along at the Astoria Performing Arts Center

★★★★★
Patricia Contino
Read More

High River Sauces presents the third annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo

★★★★★
The editorial unit
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Eiffel
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances
    Theatre
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • “Film offers a way of looking at the past, the present and the future simultaneously. That’s its wonder”: Sarah Beddington on Fadia’s Tree
    Cinema & Tv
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Five Days at Memorial
    ★★★★★
    apple
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Ten must-see concerts in New York City this November
The show goes on at Bette Midler’s Hulaween fundraiser