Yeshiva World News

The Jewish Agency for Israel and Israel Scouts on Wednesday sent 15 young scouts to assist victims of Hurricane Sandy in hard hit areas. Most of the group are Russian speakers who will address members of the Russian-speaking community. The Jewish Agency officials have experience with dealing with persons from the former Soviet Union.

According to the Jewish Agency, close to 800,000 Russian Jews live in the United States today, with a quarter of them found in the East Coast area. Many of the victims are elderly and live in apartment buildings that remain cut off from electricity and other services.

Jewish Agency officials stress the organization sends aid to Jews in need worldwide and this is yet another example.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will probably need to request a congressional bailout of its flood insurance operations, as claims from superstorm Sandy could be as much as four times greater than the program’s capacity, a top FEMA official said on Wednesday.

The National Flood Insurance Program, a FEMA subsidiary, has $2.9 billion in borrowing capacity but expects Sandy-related losses of $6 billion to $12 billion, Edward Connor, FEMA’s deputy associate administrator for federal insurance, told a meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance.

“As we go into this, we are looking at Sandy and the numbers are staggering,” Connor said.

The NFIP is essentially the country’s only flood insurer for residential properties. It received a bailout after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, leaving it with a debt load of just under $18 billion, an amount the government has said the program will probably never be able to repay.

A reform package signed into law this year is expected to improve the program’s finances eventually, although such changes are years away and have been criticized as insufficient by elements of the insurance industry.

For now, extending the program’s borrowing capacity beyond the current $20.7 billion cap would require authorization from Congress, something Connor said he expected the Homeland Security Department would request soon.

“In terms of when we will borrow, we know that with the way the claims are coming in now, the burn rate, that we expect that probably by the end of this month we are going to have to tap into our remaining $2.9 billion to pay the claims,” he said.

He said he expected Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to appear before Congress to request additional borrowing power.

While the NFIP is a government program, it contracts with private insurers to write and administer many of the policies on its behalf. A senior executive of the largest such underwriter said she fully expected Congress would allocate the necessary funds.

“We can’t speculate on the final dollar outcome, but obviously FEMA has made a stance,” Patty Templeton-Jones, chief operating officer of Wright Flood, said in an email.

Between the losses to private insurers and to the federal government, Sandy is expected to be the second costliest natural catastrophe in U.S. history, behind only Katrina. Disaster modeling company RMS said on Wednesday it expected insured losses of as much as $25 billion.

(Reuters)

An administration official says Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to request at least $30 billion in federal disaster aid to rebuild after Superstorm Sandy.

The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly because the details haven’t been finalized. The official confirms that the administration will use the money to cover costs to repair bridges, tunnels subways and commuter rail lines. It will also help rebuild homes and apartments, reimburse local governments for emergency services and make loans and grants to businesses.

The plan was first reported by The New York Times. It’s based on an estimated $50 billion in damages and would help cover the cost of improvements like a power grid meant to improve utilities’ ability to find and fix outages and upgrade New York City’s gasoline supply capacity.

(AP)

The number of households and businesses still without power in the Eastern United States nearly two weeks after Superstorm Sandy hit fell below 300,000 on Saturday, with nearly half of those on New York’s Long Island, government data showed.

The Long Island Power Authority, or LIPA, which has come under growing criticism over its response to Sandy, still had 130,000 customers without power, half of those in Nassau County and over 30,000 on the Rockaway Peninsula, according to LIPA figures. That’s down from 207,000 customers on Friday.

In total, 145,000 customers across the affected area had their power restored over the past day, the Department of Energy said, leaving 289,239 without power in New York, New Jersey and West Virginia by Saturday morning.

Some 8.5 million people across nearly two dozen East Coast states lost power after Sandy delivered an unprecedented blow to the New York City area. Another 150,000 were cut off when a Nor’easter blew through a week later.

Other utilities were also hard hit but have recovered more quickly. New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group (PSE&G) , which had peak outages of some 1.7 million, had restored power to all but 23,000 of them by Saturday morning, most of those related to the Nor’easter, PSEG said.

Consolidated Edison, which serves New York City and Westchester County, had only 15,000 customers without power, down from over 1 million, according to its website.

Almost all of state-owned LIPA’s 1.1 million customers lost power in Sandy; still more were knocked out by the Nor’easter that came a week later. It now has 14,000 people, including 8,200 utility workers and tree-trimmers, working in its area.

The utility has been among the slowest to recover, making it a target of fierce criticism from both local residents and state politicians. Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday that LIPA had “failed the consumers,” and has threatened to replace the group’s management.

At LIPA’s headquarters in Hicksville on Saturday, residents vented their anger and frustration at a peaceful protest of a few hundred people. Two 13-year-old girls held up white cardboard signs decrying LIPA’s slow response. One, in pink letters, read: “LIPA Stinks!”

One of the girls’ mother, former NYPD cop Diane Uhlfelder, said her family has been without power for 12 days.

“It’s been terrible,” she said. Every night “… we wake up in the middle of the night and it’s freezing. My sister’s asthma has been acting up because of the cold.”

John Michno, 36, of Westbury, who is unemployed, said he lost power the Monday night of the storm, got it back last Monday, and then lost it again on Thursday.

“It’s maddening,” he said. “It’s so cold in my house it’s been very difficult to sleep. I wake up, turn on the gas on the stove just to get warm, and then turn it off and try to go back to bed.”

(Reuters)

President Barack Obama will travel to the New York area next week to view the recovery from Sandy and thank first responders, the White House announced Friday.

The president is set to make the trip on Thursday.

Obama visited the Jersey Shore last week after Sandy pummeled the tri-state, telling storm victims: “We are here for you and we will not forget. We will follow up to make sure you get all the help you need to rebuild.”

At the time, Mayor Bloomberg said he told Obama’s chief of staff that the city “would love to have him, but we’ve got lots of things to do.”

Hundreds of thousands are still without power throughout the region, and the storm is estimated to have cost tens of billions of dollars in damage.

(AP)

Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder, Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr. joined with community members today at the St. Francis De Sales Church in Belle Harbor to demand action for their hard hit Queens communities. They were joined by State Senator Malcolm Smith, Delores Orr, Chair of Community Board 14, Jon Gaska, District Manager of Community Board 14, Hank Iori, President of Belle Harbor Property Owner’s Association, Vivian Carter, Rockaway Resident and Historian, Steve Stathis, Owner of Boarder’s Surf Shop, and Dan Mundy, Jr., President of Broad Channel Civic Association.

Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the New York City area more than a week ago. Southern Queens and the Rockaways were among the most devastated areas, experiencing significant destruction of homes, businesses and other buildings as a result of high winds, flooding and fire. Despite being one of the hardest hit communities, residents remain without power as a result of miscommunication, lack of coordination and disorganization.

“The coordination and efforts to restore power and heat to the residents of Southern Queens and Rockaway have been dismal and completely unacceptable. As a result of inaction and neglect by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and Con Ed, the health and safety of our most vulnerable neighbors are being jeopardized,” said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder. “We have been without power for almost 2 weeks and received no information from any entity explaining a time line or what the process will be for restoration.”

Congressman Meeks added, “There is an abysmal lack of clear and coordinated information to the public. This should not be the case ten days out from the storm. This is a function of the lack of coordination between city government and the utility companies. People in the affected areas need precise answers to when and how services will be restored, what is being asked of them, and what assistance is available to help them to prepare for the restoration of power, heat and water.”
Residents have been patient, however, with each passing day, new processes and different answers are presented by the Mayor and the power companies. None of the plans are coordinated and as a result, residents are growing confused, frustrated and scared.

Prior to restoring power, certified safety inspections of energy equipment are required. Unfortunately, unannounced door to door canvassing is not effective as displaced residents have to be home for the inspections to take place. Late yesterday, customers were notified that it is incumbent upon them to obtain the inspection certifications, adding another expense to residents struggling to recover from the devastation. It is impossible to make progress when agencies refuse to coordinate efforts, added Goldfeder

Representatives of the Mayor’s office as well as LIPA and Con Ed must meet with residents in a coordinated fashion to end the confusion and restore power. Town hall meetings should be planned throughout the community immediately to clearly explain to residents what steps will be taken to restore power and what actions residents are required to make to expedite this process.

“LIPA this is a disgrace, we are unable to get a clear and precise answer by your company on when power will be restored to all of Rockaway. The people of Rockaway deserve much better service and, yes, heads should roll on this one,” said Danny Ruscillo Jr. President of the 100th Precinct Community Council.

“While we understand the magnitude of the damage to the power grid in Rockaway and Broad Channel and recognize the challenges involved restoring power, it is clear that because of the lack of coordination between the City and LIPA it has made a bad situation more much more difficult and has left our residents in the dark. Our residents have suffered enough. The City must provide leadership and clarity so the power can be restored immediately to our homes and buildings,” said Jonathan Gaska CB14 district manager.

“There needs to be accountability and responsibility for the ongoing suffering of these New Yorkers. We are demanding a coordinated effort, regular updates and a concrete plan to get this community back on its feet,” said Goldfeder.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced today he would empanel a special Rackets Grand Jury, to investigate claims that certain businesses used Hurricane Sandy as an opportunity to commit illegally raise prices and to generate various scams.

“The sad truth about a tragedy is that while it brings out the very best in people, it can also bring out the worst,” said District Attorney Hynes. “To raise the price of a hotel, as people seek emergency shelter is just unconscionable.”

The Grand Jury will investigate claims that businesses, such as hotels and gas stations, committed Grand Larceny by Trick, when they dramatically raised prices in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The Grand Jury will also investigate claims of Grand Larceny by False Promise: scams, like fake charities collecting – and keeping – contributions, or bogus construction companies accepting payments for work they never plan on doing.

Anyone with information concerning storm-related price spikes should call the District Attorney’s Action Center: (718)250-2340.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

New York City and Long Island will begin rationing gas to relieve frustration and long lines at the pump as the region continues to recover from damage to fuel distribution caused by Sandy last week.

Mayor Bloomberg, along with Nassau and Suffolk counties, announced the emergency program would begin Friday morning. Drivers with license plates ending in an even number can purchase fuel only on even-numbered days and drivers with plates ending in an odd number can buy on odd-numbered days. Vanity plates or others without numbers will be considered odd.

On Long Island, rationing begins at 5 a.m.; in New York City it starts at 6 a.m. It does not apply to emergency vehicles or taxis, officials said.

Also Thursday, the MTA said limited L train service has been restored between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The tunnel under the East River had been flooded 15 feet high for its entire length, officials said.

Meanwhile, as the region tries to recover from the storm 10 days ago, FEMA has begun moving trailers to Sandy disaster zones in New York and New Jersey.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said the disaster relief agency has several hundred mobile homes in its inventory of emergency supplies and has started moving some of them to the tri-state.

He told reporters Thursday that officials still don’t know “what total demand would be.”

Since Sandy hit last week, more than 317,000 people have registered with FEMA for financial help and the agency has approved more than $300 million in emergency aid. In New York and New Jersey, FEMA has determined that more than 101,000 people are eligible for temporary housing at hotels or motels in the region but it’s unclear exactly how many people are taking advantage of that option.

More than 56,000 people have also been ruled eligible for FEMA’s individual and households program, which provides money for renting a new place or housing repairs.

(AP)

As New York continues to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, further complicated by a record-breaking November 7 snowstorm, a key concern for many locals as life begins to return to normal is the pursuit of fuel for their personal vehicles. Yet, as gas becomes more readily available in much of New Jersey and upstate New York, the shortage in the five boroughs and Long Island still persists. That relief from the shortage is not being felt equally by all parts of the Tri-State area has led to a great deal of frustration and confusion, as area residents still struggle to go about their daily lives. According to industry experts, New York’s gas distribution network may be to blame.

The system by which gas makes it from the refineries to our neighborhood gas stations is a decentralized network of service stations, each having their own contracts with distributors—there are approximately 800 such distributors in New York State alone—who, in turn, bring in the gas from regional terminals. Those terminals receive and store fuel brought in via tanker.

Many gas stations in New York City are dependent on distribution terminals in Brooklyn and Queens that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy or lost power, and have yet to fully recover.

Fuel providers in New Jersey have recovered more quickly than those in New York City because most of the terminals in the southern part of the state were left largely unscathed by the hurricane. Also, gas stations in New Jersey are nearer to regional refineries and key transportation routes. A rationing system enacted by Governor Chris Christie (whereby gas is made available to cars bearing even-numbered license plates on even-numbered days of the month, and odd-numbered plates on odd days), has also been credited as helping balance supply and demand in the Garden State.

Providing a stark illustration of the problem, GasBuddy.com, which is keeping track of which stations have fuel in the area hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy, showed at as of Wednesday (Nov. 7), 75% of New York City’s gas stations were non-operational, roughly three times the regional average.

Patrick DeHaan, who works for GasBuddy, tells the New York Times that “It’s a lot of logistics behind the scenes that will determine why the shortage is better in some areas than in others.”

DeHaan went on to explain that the shortage has been further exacerbated by drivers who, seeing the long lines, panicked and felt the need to stock up. Drivers have shown “a sudden, insatiable demand for gasoline,” he said. “That’s placing the system under enormous stress.”

Michael Green, a spokesman for AAA, offers a similar explanation. He notes that, initially, much of the shortage was due to the blackouts taking the pumps offline. But as more and more gas stations are receiving power again, the fuel distribution network itself is being faulted for the ongoing crisis.

“This week, it is shifting more to being a supply-system problem: getting gasoline from storage to distribution terminals to gas stations to the car you drive,” said Green.

Regardless of the underlying cause, news sources are reporting that this shortage could go on for weeks.

(Daniel Perez – YWN)

Superstorm Sandy may consign as many as a quarter of a million new and used cars and trucks to the scrap heap, a loss that could eventually lead to a spike in new auto sales, automakers and dealers said.

So far, automakers have reported that some 16,000 brand new vehicles will have to be scrapped due to the killer storm that flooded coastal areas in New Jersey and New York. Many of them were stored at the port of Newark when Sandy hit.

That figure may grow once the two biggest automakers by U.S. sales, General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co, announce how many vehicles they lost due to Sandy. By Wednesday, nine days after Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, neither GM nor Ford gave estimates of vehicles that are a total loss.

Sandy, one of the largest storms to strike the United States, left more than 8 million homes and businesses in the Northeast without electricity. All but a handful of New Jersey and New York auto dealerships were back in operation by Wednesday, some operating on generator power.

At least 121 people were killed in the storm’s rampage through the Northeast, including 80 in New York and New Jersey.

Some consumers with damaged vehicles may need to replace them with a new car, which automakers have said will boost sales eventually, said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.

But, Schienberg added, because of the distress caused by Sandy’s wrath, “Right now, I don’t think car sales are on the top of everybody’s mind.”

Last Thursday, Toyota Motor Corp, No. 3 in U.S. auto sales, said that 30,000 of October industry sales were lost due to less customer traffic or delayed purchases by consumers.

Each of the major automakers said they expected those sales to be recovered later in November or in December.

Six of the leading eight automakers in terms of U.S. sales said on Wednesday that at least 16,000 new vehicles were damaged, and the lion’s share of those will have to be scrapped.

Counting cars in consumer hands increases the total loss estimated to at least 266,000 vehicles.

“We believe that between 100,000 and 250,000 vehicles currently in operation could be removed from used vehicle supply once all is said and done,” said Laurence E. Dixon III, senior analyst with the National Automobile Dealers Association.

That compares with the 325,000 cars flooded during Hurricane Katrina, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

AUTOMAKER DEALS ABOUND

All major automakers are offering some form of financial relief, allowing owners to defer payments for up to three months for customers in areas hardest hit until the end of the year.

Nissan Motor Co will offer employee pricing and discounted financing for Nissan and Infiniti vehicles in areas hit by Sandy through January 2. Nissan has 225 dealerships in the affected areas.

GM, Ford and Chrysler are each offering $500 cash toward the purchase or lease of a new vehicle for those who lost one from the same automaker because of the storm.

Hyundai, which lost 400 new vehicles to the storm, will cut the cost of a new replacement vehicle by $750. Toyota also announced on Wednesday that it would delay monthly payments for three months to people in affected areas who need to buy or lease a new vehicle because they lost a Toyota or Lexus in the storm.

Honda Motor Co sent out 500,000 emails to its customers in the storm-hit region, and will handle deferred payments and lease extensions on a case-by-case basis, said Chris Martin, company spokesman.

NEW VEHICLES FLOODED

Nissan will have to scrap 6,000 new cars and trucks, the most of any automaker, according to Travis Parman, Nissan spokesman.

Toyota is next with at least 4,825 vehicles damaged, most of which will have to be scrapped, said Jana Hartline, Toyota spokeswoman in California.

Several carmakers lost vehicles stored at the port of Newark in New Jersey, including Toyota, which had about 4,000 new vehicles stored there.

Green car startup Fisker Automotive said it lost more than $33 million worth of luxury Karma plug-in hybrids, 330 sedans priced at more than $100,000, at Newark.

Auto dealers and the automakers in less densely populated areas of the country are able to store cars and trucks on their own lots. But in the New York-New Jersey area, space is at a premium, so a high number of vehicles are stored at the port rather than being shipped to dealerships, Schienberg said.

GM lost an undisclosed number of new Chevrolet Spark subcompact sedans that were at the port that had been shipped from South Korea, the company said.

The losses could have been higher, said Jim Cain, a spokesman for GM, who said many dealers moved cars and trucks away from coastal areas ahead of the Sandy’s arrival.

Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, said auto dealers moved to higher ground when they could, having learned their lessons from Hurricane Irene which struck the state in 2011.

(Reuters)

A state official says New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo fired his emergency management director for diverting crews to remove a tree from his driveway during Superstorm Sandy.

The official says Director of Emergency Management Steven Kuhr was let go after the governor was told Kuhr called a Suffolk County crew to remove a felled tree from his driveway on Long Island.

Kuhr was working in Albany at the time last week, shortly after Sandy hit.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the personnel decision wasn’t announced. The New York Times first reported the action.

Kuhr was paid $153,000 as executive deputy commissioner of the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

A phone number listed in Kuhr’s name was not working Wednesday night.

(AP)

Councilman David G. Greenfield is calling on the state and federal government to take immediate action under the state of emergency declared in response to Hurricane Sandy to end the ongoing gas crisis in New York City that continues to cripple the economy and force residents to endure unacceptably long wait times at gas stations. Councilman Greenfield is also demanding answers from the federal Department of Energy, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as to why this situation has continued with no relief in sight, while other neighboring states have not faced similar shortages.

“I share the outrage of the countless residents and business owners who have called me in search of answers to this unacceptable situation. Officials at all levels of government must make solving this issue a top priority as we continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy. The impact this shortage is having on our city is crippling and cannot continue. I am demanding that real steps, including gas rationing, be immediately taken to abate this shortage, and that the city and state provide clear answers to the public,” said Councilman Greenfield.

Councilman Greenfield is calling on the governor and mayor to put restrictions in place to help alleviate the strain on gas supplies, including instituting a rationing system similar to the one imposed in New Jersey – something Greenfield called for in New York days ago. The rationing system would allow drivers to fill up only every other day depending on their license plate number. Greenfield is also seeking to limit the amount of containers individuals are allowed to fill at the pump to a maximum of 10 gallons to help reduce lines and the potential for gas hoarding. Finally, in order to bring long-term relief to motorists, Councilman Greenfield is calling on the federal government to increase the amount of gasoline it is allocating to the New York area, and for officials here to ensure that these supplies reach local gas stations as quickly as possible.

As the gas shortages and long lines at local stations have persisted, the problem has begun impacting a huge segment of the city’s population, beyond motorists who rely on their vehicle to get to work or school. Businesses have suffered greatly due to the inability to make shipments or receive deliveries and the inability of their customers to reach them. Equally frustrating is that on major streets like Coney Island Avenue in the Councilman’s district, businesses are complaining that metered parking spaces are now inaccessible due to lines extending along the roadway from a nearby gas station. More critically, residents who need to get to the doctor or hospital for life-saving medical treatment have been endangered.

The shortage has forced the city to divert a large police presence to maintain order at gas stations following several reports of violence between drivers waiting in line at a time when all available officers are needed in neighborhoods devastated by the storm to prevent looting and residential burglaries. In addition, two officers were injured in Bay Ridge after they were struck by a car driven by a man who got into an argument at a gas station there. The shortage has also contributed to a price increase of nearly 10 cents per gallon, created a black market with gas being offered online and on street corners at prices of up to $20 a gallon and led to price gouging by some taxi drivers.

As a public servant who needs to travel around his district by car, Councilman Greenfield is experiencing the same problems as his constituents. Just the other day he made a midnight trip to New Jersey to fill his tank with gas. Councilman Greenfield is trying to use technology to inform his constituents. He is constantly providing the public with updates on local gas availability through his Twitter handle, @NYCGreenfield, and he spearheaded the creation of the hash tag #NYCgas that hundreds of New Yorkers are now using to find gas.

“This situation has gone on for far too long without any real action or answers from the mayor or governor. As the community’s elected representative, I am demanding answers on why we are still in this situation and what exactly is being done to resolve it. Simply put, this is a failure of leadership and we need answers and action now,” added Councilman Greenfield.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Residents of New York and New Jersey who were flooded out by Superstorm Sandy waited with dread Wednesday and heard warnings to evacuate for the second time in two weeks as another, weaker storm spun toward them and threatened to inundate their homes again or simply leave them shivering in the dark for even longer.

In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered police to use their patrol car loudspeakers to warn vulnerable residents about evacuating, one of a number of measures that the beleaguered city was taking even as weather experts said Wednesday’s nor’easter could be weaker than expected.

“Even though it’s not anywhere near as strong as Sandy — nor strong enough, in normal times, for us to evacuate anybody — out of precaution and because of the changing physical circumstances, we are going to go to some small areas and ask those people to go to higher ground,” Bloomberg said Tuesday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency put a number to the storm’s homeless in New York and New Jersey, saying 95,000 people were eligible for emergency housing assistance. In New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, more than 277,000 people have registered for general assistance, the agency said.

In New Jersey, winds were kicking up Wednesday morning and some battered shore communities were ordering mandatory evacuations for later in the day.

Atlantic County, in the southern part of New Jersey, activated its emergency operations center and told residents to restock their emergency supplies.

Officials were waiting for the first high tide to see if flooding would occur and also hoping the winds would not lead to more power outages.

“We have almost everyone who possibly can be reconnected back on. The idea we could now be facing power outages again does not come at a good time,” county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore said.

Major airlines were scrapping flights in and out of the New York area ahead of the storm.

United, the world’s largest airline, suspended most New York City service starting at noon American Airlines was shutting down in New York at 3 p.m. Wednesday, and was also stopping flights to and from Philadelphia at noon.

Most other airlines asked passengers to reschedule their Northeast flights for a later date.

While New York City officials strongly encouraged storm-ravaged communities to seek higher ground, some refused, choosing to stick close to the belongings they have left.

And weather experts had some relatively good news. As the storm moves up the Atlantic coast from Florida, it now is expected to veer farther offshore than earlier projections had indicated.

Storm surges along the coasts of New Jersey and New York are expected to reach perhaps 3 feet, only half to a third of what Hurricane Sandy caused last week. While that should produce only minor flooding, it will still likely cause some erosion problems along the Jersey coast and the shores of Long Island, where Sandy destroyed some protective dunes.

And it still carried the threat of wind gusts that could bring down tree limbs weakened by Sandy. High winds, which could reach 65 mph, could extend inland throughout the day, potentially stalling power restoration efforts or causing further outages.

The city was closing all parks, playgrounds and beaches, as well as ordering all construction sites to be secured. Tuesday evening, the mayor ordered three nursing homes and an adult care facility evacuated from Queens’ vulnerable Rockaway Peninsula because of fears the weather might knock out electricity already being provided by generators. About 620 residents were being moved.

Since the superstorm made landfall more than a week ago, killing many of its more than 100 victims in New York City and New Jersey and leaving millions without power, police said overall crime has actually gone down. There are few reports storm-damaged homes being looted.

But Alex Ocasio wasn’t convinced. The nursing home worker planned to ride out the latest storm in his first-floor Rockaway apartment — even after seeing cars float by his front door during Sandy.

As the water receded, men dressed in dark clothes broke down the door and were surprised to find him and other residents inside, he said.

“They tried to say they were rescue workers, then took off,” he said.

He put up a handmade sign — “Have gun. Will shoot U” — outside his apartment and started using a bed frame to barricade the door. He has gas, so he keeps the oven on and boils water to stay warm at night.

“It gets a little humid, but it’s not bad,” he said. “I’m staying. Nothing can be worse than what happened last week.”

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said it wasn’t wise to stay put. “I think your life is more important than property,” he said.

Police have arrested 123 people citywide since the storm blew in last week, 54 burglary arrests and 41 others stemming from gas line disputes, Kelly said. Most were in areas suffering from the storm.

“You would think, under the circumstances, you would see much more,” Kelly said. “We haven’t seen that.”

Burglaries were up 6 percent citywide compared to the same period last year, but overall crime was down 27 percent, police said.

(AP)

Hundreds of nursing home residents in New York City’s storm-battered Rockaways section are being evacuated ahead of a storm expected to bring more bad weather to the region.

State and city health officials said Tuesday that three nursing homes and an adult care center in the coastal community were being emptied of residents and staff.

More than 620 people live in the four facilities. None of those nursing homes had been evacuated for Superstorm Sandy.

Wednesday’s nor’easter isn’t expected to be nearly as bad, but health officials say the homes are already running on emergency generators. They are worried about first responders in the neighborhood being stretched too thin.

(AP)

Airlines are again looking at canceling flights in and out of the Northeast, just a week after Superstorm Sandy led to more than 23,000 cancellations in the region.

This time it’s a coastal storm that’s leading to travel headaches.

United Airlines is grounding about 500 flights between noon Wednesday and noon Thursday out of Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports.

Many United passengers were automatically rebooked on other flights to their destination, connecting through those hubs.
Passengers can rebook themselves on other flights without paying the usual change fees.

Other airlines said they are evaluating which flights will and won’t be canceled. Delta Air Lines and US Airways also issued fee change waivers, while American Airlines had an existing waiver for this week related to Sandy.

(AP)