Looking Back: Garden City Comes Together For Sandy Victims

It was one year ago today a storm now notorious for leaving such overwhelming devastation in its wake made landfall.

Sandy wreaked havoc across Long Island, flooding communities, igniting fires, damaging homes and downing trees, many onto power lines that left scores of Garden City residents without electricity and heat for weeks.

The Long Island Power Authority reported nearly 12,000 Garden City homes and businesses were without power and a snowstorm days later caused even more outages.

Through it all, Sandy brought out the best in people in Garden City. There was a daring rescue on Kenwood Road, food, clothing and sports equipment drives, holiday gift collections and more.

Frank Leto and his son, Matthew, emerged heroes when they rescued their elderly neighbor from his burning home. A fallen tree dislodged a gas line and caused an explosion at 15 Kenwood Road. The home was destroyed but the 87-year-old resident miraculously suffered only scrapes and bruises. Days following the explosion, many neighbors found his personal items strewn about their yards and were able to make contact with the resident's family member to return the belongings, some of which were wedding photos.

A simple gesture from a local parent sparked an email chain that created a Halloween wonderland at St. Paul's for a holiday forgotten in the midst of all the chaos. Parents armed with candy and kids donning their favorite costumes flocked to St. Paul's so super heroes and fairy princesses could trick or treat safely amidst the major power outage that knocked out traffic lights all over the village.

Resident Dana Caporicci got wind of the get together less than two hours before it kicked off. "It made the day feel a little more like Halloween," she said. "Kids got to fill their bags with candy while parents exchanged their stories of power outages and downed trees."

The Andy Foundation's High Top Shop, which has since closed, donated 100 percent of its December 2012 sales and collections to families devastated by Sandy. Moreover, Andy volunteers helped a family of six from hard-hit Breezy Point rebuild when the non-profit teamed up with local contractor Jeremy Cotty of Homecraft Contracting Corp.

The Garden City Public Library reopened Oct. 31 when power was restored. The day brought 1,075 people to the library to check out books and other materials, to read and relax in a comfortable environment and recharge cell phones and other devices. 

Nassau Community College (NCC) assistant professor of photography Carolyn Monastra coordinated with CARE for Sandy founder Lee Kelly to host a free scanning event for sandy-afflicted families at NCC, staffed primarily by students and college staff, that resulted in over 1,000 scans for future restoration by CARE for Sandy volunteers.

NCC served as a hurricane shelter for some 800 displaced residents and their pets. Most of the displaced were from Oceanside, Island Park and Long Beach, where flooding destroyed homes and businesses. Red Cross volunteers deployed from Florida, Texas, Ohio, Maine and New York, along with volunteers from Jet Blue Airlines, provided support for storm victims.

Local Garden City businesses opened their doors for residents seeking heat, company or just some place to charge their phones and laptops. Dunkin' Donuts on Seventh Street offered up a power strip that local residents took full advantage of to recharge essential items like cell phone batteries, iPads and computers. New York Sports Clubs (NYSC) on Franklin Avenue opened its doors so affected residents could take a hot shower, charge a cell phone battery or simply recharge their batteries with a stress-relieving workout.

Leo's let folks power up their electronics as well, as did Chase Bank, Prost Grill & Garten, the High Top Shop and A New Leaf.

The Garden City Hotel provided temporary refuge to some who couldn't return home after the storm. General manager Grady Colin said the hotel takes pride in the tight-knit community that is Garden City and said his staff worked tirelessly to offer relief.

"The hotel owner, Morris Moinian, made sure we got back on our feet and were as operational as we could be to help the community," Colin said. "We placed a priority for reservations for those in Nassau County most effected."

Sandy left Nancy Belliard and her family of seven homeless. The hotel's gracious gesture was more than appreciated. "I appreciate them with all of my heart," she said.

The Garden City Athletic Association donated two full truck-loads of mostly new baseball equipment to the Oceanside National League as well as children in other areas of Long Island and North Jersey. In January, members of Adelphi University's men's and women's track and field team headed to Long Beach to aid in the cleanup and restoration there.

Adelphi also hosted a free hurricane relief concert. Attendees brought donations of non-perishable food, water, cold weather clothing, blankets or other essential items such as batteries, baby supplies, toiletries and cleaning products.    

The Garden City Teachers' Association (GCTA) hosted a "Hurricane Sandy 
Relief Fundraiser" at Tin Alley Grill in November for district personnel severely impacted by the storm. The event raised more than $30,000 to support Garden City administrators, staff and teachers, like Claire Ellerman, a photography teacher at the high school who lost everything in her ranch house on the south shore.

"While it took over a week for us to be able to return to work, once we were back it took only hours to learn of the devastation that Hurricane Sandy inflicted on our colleagues," said Kevin Pollitt, computer teacher at Stratford School and GCTA executive board member.

In December 2012, Garden City Nursery School purchased tickets for families of the Blackheath Pre-K in Long Beach to attend its children's theater event, “A Fairy Tale Winter” performed by Plaza Theatrical at The Showplace at Bellmore Movies.

"Not only was this event a wonderful live theater experience for our children, but it was also a 'teachable moment' where the children learn empathy and compassion by taking actions that help others and watching parents who model kindness, generosity and compassion," Garden City Nursery School director Ann Amengual said.

For Breezy Point resident Trisha O'Malley, Garden City was a safe haven for she and her three sons, who were displaced for eight months following the storm.

"St. Anne's church and school opened their doors to us as well as their hearts. Father Tom, Dr. O'Sullivan, the faculty and staff were truly amazing to myself, my three boys as well as many other families who were displaced from our town," she said. "I am forever grateful to St. Anne's and the kind people of Garden City!"