Rebuilding a Community After Disaster: Coney Island after Hurricane Sandy

What is Sandy? Facts & Figures

• Hurricane, category 3 at its peak, was a post-tropical cyclone when it hit New Jersey on October 29th

• Costliest disaster of all time ($75 B)• Water surge expected to be 8-9 ft, was 12-13 ft (NYC)• Flood Zones A and B affected – new flood maps being

developed– Insurance costs – Building codes issues (house elevation levels), predicted

ready in June

What Sandy Did

• Destroyed 305,000 housing units (NY)• Over 110 killed, primarily in SI (NY)• Over 8 M Homes without power (16 states)• Hundreds of people remain in shelters• Still over 1,000 meals being served every day– Where does Sandy end and recovery begin?

Map of Damage

Coney Island – Before Sandy

• 1830s-early 1900s: popular vacation destination

• 1950s: rezoned for residential use, particularly low-income housing

• 2003: Mayor bid Coney for Olympics 2012, but it fails.

Coney Island – After Sandy

Example of a Community Initiative:

• Met Council and other organizations were asked to come into Coney to help get the community back on its feet by helping the local non-profits join forces

• Met Council and partners organized under the banner of #Coneyrecovers– Hired a coordinator– Organizing community meetings– Information hub (FEMA, etc)– Access to benefits (special Sandy SNAP)– Giving out grants

Key Players of #coneyrecovers

• Met Council– metcouncil.org

• Astella Development Corporation– astelladevelopment.org– service directory

• Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)– NYCEDC.com

Why did we do that?

Finding Solutions: A Few Things to Keep in

Mind

“First seek to cooperate, then seek to lead”

• Non-profit is not like business!• Organizations I work with:

FEMA, EDC, OEM, JCC Shorefront, Shorefront Y, Friend of Kaiser Park, Coney Island Generation Gap, Coney Island Cathedral, Coney Island New Church International, Friends of the Rockaways, Occupy Sandy, Occupy Sheepshead, Culinary Kids, Gerritsen Beach Cares, Sea & Salt Mission, Bay Improvement Group, NYDIS, World Church Services, Brooklyn Long Term Recovery Group, New York Cares, World Cares Center, Far Rockaway Long term Recovery Group, Respond & Rebuild, Coney Island Gospel Assembly, Cristo Vienne, JCC of Greater Coney Island, Astella Development Corporation … and many, many more!

• We build with and on other organizations’ efforts!

Bill Clinton

The Importance of Local Knowledge

• Mosquito nets– Understanding the local community

• Need to understand demographics, socio-economic conditions, government relations, law… and much more, which you will learn about doing your assignment!

The Crucial Component: Community Buy-In

• Now that you’ve understood the local context… you need the buy-in of the community!

• Example: Met Council and our Sandy Survivor Challenge event this Summer – Task: Met Council wants to do a carnival event for the local youth in

Coney – go do it!

• Different community, need local help & credibility to succeed

• Outcome: partnered with local youth non-profit

Good Luck!