By IKIMULISA LIVINGSTON, ERIN CALABRESE and DOUGLAS MONTERO
With POST WIRE SERVICES
Hell no, we won't go!
A hardy collection of salty holdouts have vowed to weather the worst Hurricane Irene has to offer and refuse to blow out of town -- despite the mayor's mandatory evacuation orders for their neighborhoods.
"I ain't leaving," said Daniel O'Sullivan, 53, a retired Department of Transportation carpenter from Broad Channel, Queens. "I ain't listening to Bloomberg. Tell Bloomberg I ain't going anyplace. No way I'm moving. What's he going to do, lock me up?"
O'Sullivan refused to board up his windows and said he will take advantage of his oceanfront view on West 14th Road, smack in the middle of the city's evacuation zone.
"I'm going to sit on the back porch and watch the water as the storm comes in," he said.
"I'm going to sit on the back porch and watch the water as the storm comes in," he said.
O'Sullivan believes the mayor's call to evacuate is more about making up for the way the city bungled last winter's big blizzard.
"They're just trying to cover up for that," he said.
Next door, O'Sullivan's neighbor had plastered his own house in boards and fled the storm.
"They just moved here," he said. "They don't know any better."
Down the street, Stacey Walsh, 44, also was hunkering down to weather the storm.
"If we leave, our boats could sink," she said. "I'm scared as hell, but I can't leave my husband by himself."
Another holdout, Igor Birger, 52, has lived in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, for nine years and had no plans to flee.
"I don't think it's going to be that big a deal," he said. "I used to live in Russia, and nothing scares us. I have my house. I can't leave it."
Birgir said he is prepared for the worst Irene has to offer.
"I bought flashlights and water. I have cash in my pocket, I have plenty of vodka in my freezer, and a couple of cartons of cigarettes," he said. "We'll be fine . . . I have nowhere to go, no house or friends upstate. "The news people like to scare everyone. What's the big deal?"
Hell, no, we won't go either! We're on W 12th Road and we've already chased off the block two cars with kids that looked like they were casing houses. Same thing is happening in Belle Harbor by the in-laws' house. Glad we're staying. Someone's got to look out for our neighborhood. Keep your eyes peeled!
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