Below is an article which appears on Crain's New York Business.com regarding the post-Sandy status of our sister town, Belle Harbor, across the bridge.
The recent NY Times article addressed the impermanence of Broad Channel as a viable thriving community because of sea rise and climate change and was replete with supportive descriptions of our town such as, "...a spectacularly beautiful but increasingly impractical and dangerous place to live..." and posing a "fundamental" question as to whether Broad Channel is even deserving of government aid in an era of "extreme weather", with recommendations that residents should be "bought out" and relocated..
On the other hand, the Crain's New York Business story regarding Belle Harbor describes that community as a "neighborhood...on its feet again. Almost nine months after the storm swept through, taking with it nearly two dozen businesses and as many homes, the residents and merchants of this tight-knit community have managed to rebuild—in some cases bigger and better than ever. " The story speaks of the "resiliency" of the residents of Belle Harbor, a neighborhood that "is no stranger to disaster." No mention of "buy outs" or "relocation" of residents, rather the story ends on an economic high note - "The market for oceanfront real estate is another area that has returned with surprising speed and strength. "You would think people might think twice," said Annette Farina of Belle Harbor Realty, "but I've recently sold two homes right on the ocean. Prices are down by 10%, she said, but houses are still selling for more than $1 million."
Judge for yourself. I have posted the Crain's Belle Harbor story below. After you finish reading it, go back and read the Times article on Broad Channel. As one West 12th Road resident here in Broad Channel remarked.... "God Bless Belle Harbor, I wish nothing but the best for all my friends there but talk about a difference in tone for a community just over the bridge from us, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Jamaica Bay on the other, arguably equally in as much harms way as Broad Channel."
Belle Harbor is back!
Many stores and homes in this Queens beachfront neighborhood have been rebuilt and even improved since Sandy swept through.
BY
The beachfront community of Belle Harbor, Queens, was one of the hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy. It's taken millions of dollars, not to mention many weeks of hard work and tears, but the neighborhood is on its feet again. Almost nine months after the storm swept through, taking with it nearly two dozen businesses and as many homes, the residents and merchants of this tight-knit community have managed to rebuild—in some cases bigger and better than ever.
Danielle McShane, owner of Danielle's Florist on Beach 129th Street, the neighborhood's one-block business strip between Cronston and Newport avenues, lost all her inventory in the waist-high surge of seawater that filled her shop. It took tens of thousands of dollars and six months to reopen her nine-year-old store, but Ms. McShane insists business is beginning to pick up as more people return to their homes.
"I'm selling more housewarming-type gifts like wreaths and houseplants," she said. "It's good to see people coming back."
Belle Harbor, which extends from Beach 129th Street to Beach 140th Street on the Rockaway Peninsula, is no stranger to disaster. The Sept. 11 attacks deeply affected this community, given that many firefighters call this neighborhood home. Just days after the attacks, an airliner crashed into Beach 128th Street, killing 265 people.
Showing resiliency
"There's a resiliency here," said Hank Iori, president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association. "At least one home per block was completely destroyed, and countless others suffered water damage in the storm," he said.
Contractors are still busy pouring concrete for new porches, drywalling interiors and laying new floors. But 15 of the 19 surviving shopfronts along Beach 129th Street are occupied and open for business.
Among them are two restaurants owned by 30-year Belle Harbor resident Bill Keating. After repairing smoke and water damage, he managed to reopen his Chinese-food eatery, East Meets West, less than two months after the storm.
But his popular spot down the street—the Rockaway Seafood Co.—with its charred ceiling beams and kitchen, in addition to its missing roof, posed a far stiffer challenge.
Mr. Keating said he received no help from the city or state and that his insurance covered only 40% of the quarter-million dollars it cost to repair the restaurant. In the end, totally drained financially, he decided he simply could no longer afford the overhead of running an upscale, white-tablecloth seafood establishment.
He opted instead to open a more modest Mexican restaurant, bringing in a chef from the West Coast and stocking a full bar that serves 25 kinds of beer. Mr. Keating said he is looking to create a cantina-style eatery with a lot of open space, plus room for outdoor dining.
"This will be the first restaurant of this kind in Belle Harbor, and I want to give our community a different dining experience at affordable prices."
The restaurant is set to open later this month.
A few doors south, Joy Choi and her brother Kyong Son were able to reopen their grocery store, Belle Harbor Foods, in March at a cost of $500,000. "We lost everything," Ms. Choi said.
Rebuilding took all of the siblings' savings, as well as money borrowed from friends. But there, too, the new place, with its exotic fruits and flowers, is a wonder to behold. For the first time, the store also boasts a deli counter, designed largely to cater to the beach crowd.
"Business is slowly getting better, little by little," Ms. Choi said.
Nearby, Ciro's Pastry Shop is back with a few key improvements, including an expanded kitchen and new pocket doors that will allow for outdoor dining on the sidewalk.
'Not a quitter'
It's a far cry from how the eatery looked the morning after the storm. When the five-foot storm surge finally receded, it left behind waterlogged kitchen equipment, tables, chairs and showcases. Owner Maria Bonadonna put the total cost of reopening in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and said she had no flood insurance and no help from FEMA. Nonetheless, she was back in business in April. "I did it all on my own," she noted. "I'm not a quitter."
Today, residents are once again flocking for its famous chocolate mousse and cream puffs. "It's nice to see the block come back store by store," Ms. Bonadonna said.
The market for oceanfront real estate is another area that has returned with surprising speed and strength. "You would think people might think twice," said Annette Farina of Belle Harbor Realty, "but I've recently sold two homes right on the ocean."
Prices are down by 10%, she said, but houses are still selling for more than $1 million.
All I can say is, "WHO'S A BUM!"
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