Cleaning Up the Streets of New York After Sandy Leaves Mess

The good citizens of New York came out on Saturday in droves to help some of the hardest hit areas in Brooklyn and Staten Island in the aftermath of the wrath of Hurricane Sandy.

The city sent volunteers to Brighton Beach and Coney Island in Brooklyn; Far Rockaway in Queens; and Midland Beach in Staten Island. One man was generous enough to part with his own unemployment check to help someone less fortunate recover from the disaster.

“We have donations, but it’s not enough to pay for everything,” the man said. “So I use that to, I don’t know. I do whatever I got to do, you know. I gave somebody money and the lady she needed some, there was no pampers or nothing. So I gave her $20 to go find something.”

There were hundreds of people on hand to help clean up in Coney Island, especially at the New York Aquarium and at the beach. The clean-up effort there was coordinated with the help of the non-profit coalition the Alliance for Coney Island.

“The amusements have six months to reshape, reorganize and rebuild, but the community, if you don’t have a roof over your head, it’s the worst,” said Dennis Vourderis, the chairman of Alliance for Coney Island.

Also helping organize the effort was City Councilman Dominic Recchia.

“All weekend we’ll be giving out hot meals and all kinds of food to take home with you” Recchia said to the residents. “We have plenty of clothing.”