Rockaway Recovery, Part 2: Eat More Tacos!

About a month ago, Rockaway Taco--one of the best taco stands in the city, and a Rockaway mainstay since its debut five years ago--reopened for the first time since Superstorm Sandy hit the beachfront community. When we visited on Memorial Day, the patio was alight with families fresh from the holiday parade as well as interlopers from the other boroughs (ahem), all eager to participate in the return of the Rockaways, and all enjoying delectable fish tacos, elote (corn) and fried plantains. Summer has arrived, and if you've never been, there's no better time than now. And if you haven't been since Sandy, there's no better time than now. Without further ado, a look into the wonderful shanty world of taco town...

Clockwise from top left: Elote, Watermelon Juice, Guacamole, Fried Plantains, Fish Taco

As it turns out, Blue is apparently a big fan of plantains, too.

Rockaway Taco is located at 95-19 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Queens, NY.

Rockaway Recovery, Part 1: Head to the Beach!

It's been seven months since Sandy destroyed much of the Queens shoreline, and fire decimated Breezy Point. Foundations are all that remain of many homes, as the debris has long since disappeared. Sheets of sand cover traces of driveways and front yards, and blue tarps still stitch together gaping roofs.

Sandy's waterline is still visible throughout the beachfront community.

But rebirth and recovery are the prevalent themes everywhere you look. Rebuilding proceeds apace, and the streets are dotted with contractors' placards and wooden "Stars of Hope," sent by well-wishers around the country and nailed to telephone poles.

"Star of Hope" in Breezy Point, Queens

Rockaway Beach is back, trailed ever so slightly by a very new--and very sturdy--concrete boardwalk, handsomely detailed with crushed glass aggregate of blues and greens.

A utilitarian, but cheerily-painted, brick concession stand sits on the upland edge of the boardwalk, evidently still under construction. Undoubtedly the Rockaway Beach Club vendors are anxiously tracking its progress in the hopes of soon returning.

Opposite the concession stands, a galvanized steel structure has been erected, still adorned in shrink wrap and awaiting the rest of the sun shades that have begun to form a canopy.

Along the east end of the boardwalk, we stumbled upon two exquisite alien life forms... a couple of modular beach structures designed by DUMBO's Garrison Architects. Merely a half year ago, NYC selected Garrison to design and build 37 such buildings as part of the reconstruction of the city's beaches most damaged by the storm. They will be used as lifeguard stations, comfort stations and offices, all easily accessible by ramp from the boardwalks. The prefabricated buildings were sized to travel to their sites on the backs of flat bed trucks. Once there, they were fastened to a series of concrete piles, ensuring that the stations would be elevated above FEMA storm surge levels. As further defense against the elements, the buildings are constructed with a galvanized steel super frame, bolted to the concrete piles, and clad with high-grade stainless steel and glass-fiber reinforced concrete (what looks like wood siding in the photos below). Reported to be net-zero energy users, the stations feature rain screens and double-ventilated roofs, natural lighting through clerestories, skylights and reflective louvers, natural ventilation, and photovoltaic solar arrays to offset energy consumption.

A corrugated stainless steel outer skin is perforated at the roof, providing thermally-efficient ventilation of the enclosure. In the second photo below, you can see that the sheathing--which will eventually continue across the underside of the building--is attached to the structure with steel zee-clips.

The corrugated metal sheathing traces the edge of the galvanized steel super frame.

Detail of lower corner, with glass-fiber-reinforced concrete siding, galvanized frame, and corrugated cladding

View of concrete piles anchored to the shore

Though we traveled by car, the subway lines have recently reopened to Rockaway Beach. To get there, take the A Train to Far Rockaway/Mott Avenue. At the last stop, transfer to the S line, taking it towards Rockaway Park/Beach 116th Street. Get out at Beach 98th Street, and walk south towards the beach.

Heartwalk Hits DUMBO

This week, DUMBO became the new home for Heartwalk, a heart-shaped art installation designed and built by Brooklyn's SITU Studio, using planks reclaimed from four Sandy-ravaged boardwalks along the New York and New Jersey coasts. Originally built in Times Square, Heartwalk was the winning entry in a Valentine's Day design competition sponsored by the Times Square Alliance and the Design Trust for Public Spaces. Now you can visit Heartwalk at the Pearl Street Triangle, next to the base of the Manhattan Bridge, where it will live through the end of April. A few more photos of the installation at night:

Maura and Blue

How to Raise a Family in Connecticut

This past weekend, we took a drive along the shore in Milford, CT, where we were stopped cold by a sight we don't see every day:

A handful of existing houses are in the middle of serious reinventions, most likely due to the devastation wreaked by Sandy last fall. Much of Milford's shoreline falls within a Coastal High Hazard Area, defined by FEMA as an "area subject to high velocity wave action from storms or seismic sources." That means that any home within such a zone that "was substantially damaged or is being substantially improved" must be elevated so that the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member rests at least as high as the Base Flood Elevation (BFE). How high the structure sits relative to the BFE affects the  amount of the homeowner's flood insurance premium.

In this case, it appears that the house has been lifted off of an existing foundation, which was compacted with dirt. Four Jenga towers of wooden cribbing temporarily elevate the house more than a story in the air until piers can be built below. While small steel beams act as a belt around the midsection of the cribbing, it appears that the joists of the lower floor are supported by built-up wooden beams--of 4x4s, 2x8s and other miscellaneous lumber. For an overview of various methods for lifting houses, look no further than this FEMA manual. Discussion of the method used in the phone above begins on page 104 (page 17 of the PDF).

UPDATE: Just as an addition to the above--evidence of new construction on the same road employing the elevated living strategy. The house features an uninhabited ground floor with a car port, so that all living spaces are located above potential flood levels.

Yvette Mattern's "Global Rainbow" Tribute over NYC

For a couple of nights this past week, the sky over New York was illuminated by a spectacular laser light tribute to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The New York- and Berlin-based artist, Yvette Mattern, projected the colors of the rainbow from the roof of the Standard Hotel out across the boroughs, supposedly reaching all the way to the Rockaways, one of the hardest-hit areas of the city.

A few looks at the view from DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights:

 

Red Hook and Beyond, A Week and a Half On

Scenes from Red Hook and Carroll Gardens this morning, a week and a half after Sandy.

Storefront on Van Brunt Street

Service Station on Van Brunt

Temporary lighting provided by NYPD

Conover Street

Cleanup at Fairway Market

Kitchen equipment collected in Fairway's parking lot

Reed Street

Van Brunt Street

Coffey Park

Coffey Park

Outside Carroll Park, Carroll Street

Across Carroll Street from the tree above

Carroll Park

Photo of the Day: Still Drying out in DUMBO

Last night at the corner of Main and Water Streets:

Sandy: One Week Later

Last night it looked like a few more buildings had power downtown, but many along the river still don't. And there's a Nor'easter coming tomorrow.

In Search of Light

Lower Manhattan continues its slow recovery, not yet fully illuminated as of last night. Our friends from Red Hook came over for dinner--their building (our old building) is still lacking power and heat, and it might not return until this weekend. Maura and I will be riding the subway into the city this morning for the first time in over a week. For us, business will resume, albeit not quite as usual. We have been incredibly lucky.

Others were not. According to the mayor, anywhere from 20- to 40,000 of the city's residents are now homeless. We can help in ways large and small. Close to us, the Red Hook Initiative has been working non-stop since the storm to assist the neighborhood's residents--many of whom are still living without power or heat. Donations are accepted through its website. Of course, you can also donate to the Red Cross' hurricane relief efforts. Treehugger has a more exhaustive list of ways to donate time or money.

Red Hook Needs Your Help!

There's still plenty of recovery to go in Red Hook. The great people at Red Hook Initiative have been doing fantastic work and can use help. Please check their Twitter feed for updates on what is needed: https://twitter.com/rhookinitiative. As you can see from the poster below, you can provide help in various ways.

via Red Hook Initiative

UPDATE: Maura and I stopped by Visitation Church a little while ago, just before they closed up shop for the night. Neighborhood residents were still there seeking assistance. It seemed they had plenty of food (for now). Huge needs at the moment are coats and blankets, as many people still have no heat and are using their ovens for warmth. Please stop by 98 Richards Street (at the corner of Richards and Verona) tomorrow with any donations.

The Disappearance of Gas

This afternoon on Atlantic Avenue, police were directing traffic from a dedicated lane to the Shell station. The line was backed up nearly to the BQE. On the other side of the lot stood a line of pedestrians, maybe 20 long, with gas cans and buckets in hand. While I was watching, they ran out of gas. Welcome to the '70s.

Sandy Fallout

The skyline, as seen from the Promenade last night. Aside from a few buildings in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan is dark, as are Jersey City and Governors Island. Note the termination of the Brooklyn Bridge lights as they approach Manhattan. It's pretty eerie.