Flotsam From The Flood

According to Wikipedia flotsam is floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo. Jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposefully cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore. Lagan is cargo that is lying on the bottom of the ocean, sometimes marked by a buoy, which can be reclaimed. Derelict is cargo that is also on the bottom of the ocean, but which no one has any hope of reclaiming.

Back in 2012 Hurricane Sandy's tidal surge flooded the lowlands of New York and New Jersey. The coastal devastation has driven hundreds of thousands from their homes and this week Fort Greene has seen an influx of bums, derelicts, and madmen who had previously populated the SRO hotels of Rockaway Park. The 'others' i.e. the white newcomers to the neighborhood ignore the new residents, however old-timers have been quick to comment on the meandering of the misfortunates.

"They have nothing." Ralph from Ralph Meats has been giving them free coffee. He has a big heart.

"They lost everything." I noticed a Hassidic slouch and a dangled-mouthed war veteran ambling to the subway. My wallet was light, but not that light and I called to them.

They looked guilty to be alive.

"I have something for you." I waved for them to come closer and they edged up the sidewalk like stray dogs in fear of the dogcatcher. I thought about having them split a dollar, but that would have been too cheap for words, so I gave them both a dollar.

"Thanks, mister."

"Good luck."

They needed more than luck as does everyone along the storm-ravaged coast.

We are all flotsam in this life.

The Forgotten Borough

Two weeks ago I ferried across the lower harbor to Staten Island. My college friend Nick had invited me to watch the Jets versus the Patriots at his house on Lighthouse Hill. We have a lovely day drinking wine, eating homemade Italian food, and even better the Pats beat the Jets. Nick drove me down to St. George to catch the 9pm ferry. It had been a good day. I just got off the phone with Nick, who's general practitioner of medicine. "We still don't have lights and there's no sign of any help on the way. Worse is that we have no TV or radios, so we don't know what's happening." Nick complained, having spent the greater part of his day giving tetanus vaccines to survivors of the Hurricane Sandy. "I drove down the bungalows on New Dorp and most of them are destroyed along with the million-dollar mansions. There's boats and debris everywhere. And the mayor wants to run the Marathon." I could hear his wife shouting in the background. "Rose is real happy about that." "Fucking Bloomberg." She shouted louder, as if to be heard in City Hall across the harbor. "One guy was guarding the boats with a gun." "Against looters?" "Yeah, they're going through the wrecks for the electronics and the old houses for valuables. There's no cops anywhere." "Except for those getting ready for the Marathon." Rose must have been sitting at his elbow. "If it gets really bad, come stay with me." It was a crazy offer, but these are going to be crazy times. Looking out the window of the Fort Greene Observatory I see the skies getting dark. The weatherpeople are predicting rain for tonight, but tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny day. Don't forget Staten Island and to see the CNN report on that borough, please go to the following URL http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/01/us/sandy-fema/index.html doctor

Let There Be Internet

The last two days the internet was cut to the Fort Greene Observatory. Service was restored this evening, but every gas station in the city is without gas. One of my neighbors is trying to drive fourteen miles to New Jersey. His gas meter says that the tank holds eighteen miles of petrol. I wished him luck.

Crazy Gay Climate Changers

hurricane sandy, religious right, john McTernan

Bible analyst John McTernan has proclaimed, “Just last August, Hurricane Isaac hit New Orleans seven years later, on the exact day of Hurricane Katrina. Both hit during the week of the homosexual event called Southern Decadence in New Orleans!” Strangely, both also hit at the height of hurricane season. COINCIDENCE?

“Obama is 100 percent behind the Muslim Brotherhood which has vowed to destroy Israel and take Jerusalem.” But — and here’s the shocking twist — “Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda.” Clearly a vote for either Obama or Romney is a vote for a FRANKENGAYSTORM."

Can't their Jesus come out of the closet in heaven and drag these motherfuckers into the sky, so we can live in peace?

We Deliver

The US Post Office motto of 'Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds' was lifted from Herodotus' account of the Persian Empire's postal system of horse relays 'It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed'. Last night I wasn't expecting any mail, but at the most furious hour of Hurricane Sandy hitting New York I telephoned the nearest Chinese Take-Out on Fulton Street and the young girl at the counter answered my call. "You want delivery?" I gave her my order for General Tsao's Chicken and Fort Greene address. "Thirty minutes." I gave the delivery man a $3 tip for a $7 order. A ten was all I had in the house, but this morning I dropped over to the store and gave him another two dollars. He said thank you without realizing for what. We all look alike to them.

Yikes Land Sharks

This photo from New Jersey appeared on Facebook. It might not be photoshopped, but judging from the height of the doorhandle I calculated that the sandshark is a 2-3 footer cruising the shallow floodwaters. He must be looking for a Micky Ds.

Storm Aftermath Day 1

This morning the East Coast woke up to the havoc of Hurricane Sandy. Reports of widespread destruction are just hitting the media. New Jersey bore the brunt of the storm's landfall, while Lower Manhattan was deluged by 13-foot high tides. Power is out for millions from Virginia to New England, as the remnants of the hurricane dissipate on its path through the Midwest to Canada. Most of my friends are fine, but a ConEd substation on Avenue D and 14th Street exploded last night. This vital link in the city's powergrid could harbinger muhc touhg times ahead, for in Katrina the chaos didn't start until after the passage of the storm. President Obama has declared a State of Emergency for New York. BBC News reported the following updates -Fire has destroyed about 50 homes in the New York City borough of Queens -More than 200 patients were evacuated from New York University's Tisch Hospital after power went out and a backup generator failed -A large tanker ship has been washed on to a street in Staten Island, New York -America's oldest nuclear power plant, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, was put on alert due to rising water, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said -The New York Stock Exchange will stay shut on Tuesday - the first time it has closed for two consecutive days owing to weather since 1888 -A crew member from a replica of HMS Bounty has died and the captain is missing after the ship sank in mountainous seas off North Carolina on Monday -New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the storm surge had surpassed the highest forecast, but he expected waters to start receding. Airports are shut. Railroads are shut. Subways and buses are shut. NYC is off-line, but the Fort Greene Observatory stays open.

So Far So Good Hurricane Sandy

Florida was spared a hurricane season and earlier this week my Palm Beach comrade hit the beach to enjoy the outer winds of Hurricane Sandy. Alison was surprised to be caught by the local newspaper photographer and even more agogged by the photo hitting the front page. Sandy was sunny in Florida. Not so in New York, but so far so good. My friends are safe and sound. Those is danger's path have retreated to safer ground to seek beer or wine to pass the time of weather, althoguht there are reports of flooding in Lower Manhattan. Hopefully we make it through without too much loss. Be safe. ps I was just out in Fort Greene. Safe and sound indeed. Looking for cheap wine. I drank the first bottle fast than the barometer dropped during Katrina.

Last Train From Grand Central

New York City is cut off from the rest of the world. Airports closed. Trains closed. Subway closed. We are where we are.

Storm Warnings For Sandy

The wind is light over the rooftops of Fort Greene, as the city prepares for Hurricane Sandy's landfall late Monday night. Mayor Bloomberg has announced the closure of the MTA's subways and buses at 7PM on Sunday night to prevent people getting stranded by the storm surges into low-lying flood plains such as the Rockaways and Lower Manhattan. Governor Christie closed the casinos in AC and the presidential candidates had cancelled all appearances on the East Coast. Even worse are meteorological predictions of this storm meeting up with an arctic cold front from Canada and a Nor'easter from the Atlantic to trifecta into a duplication of 1991's Perfect Storm. During that Halloween Nor'easter ships sunk at sea and the tides rose to inundate the FDR Drive. My good friend Tim and I went out to Long Beach to surf the next day and we confronted by a savage sea filled with houses. "Acres and acres of unbridled hell," one local surfer call the ocean. None of us attempted to master the chaos. Jsut last week I had been thinking that this year's hurricane season had been easy. Sandy may prove me wrong. I'm going out to buy food for three days; tuna, bread, butter et al. The hurricane is still far to the south. It won't stay there, so be prepared for the worst.