SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

As we all know by now, damage was widespread. For the most part, downed trees took out power lines, blocked off roads, crushed cars and shattered concrete like egg shells. In some areas trees fell into houses. Aluminum siding and roofing was stripped from some homes, as were signs from businesses. Boats slammed into the Ocean Avenue footbridge, splintering wooden guardrails.

In the worst damage I’ve seen from the storm yet, a stalled construction on MacKenzie Street in Manhattan Beach collapsed onto a neighbor’s home, knocking it off its foundation and causing the family to lose nearly everything (more on that later).

Ironically, Plumb Beach didn’t seem too badly damaged (more on that later, too).

These 111 photos come from Sheepshead Bites’ great readers, who went about chronicling the damage and sent us their photos. It’s only a selection of what we received. To see more photos – many with captions from the photographer – connect with us on Facebook and browse the photos tagged “Sheepshead Bites.”

Thanks to all of those who sent these in.

View photos of the March 2010 nor’easter damage

Tree uprooted. (Photo by Ray Johnson)

The high winds during yesterday’s storm on Saturday, March 13, 2010 has uprooted this tree on East 19th Street, between Avenue Y and Avenue X. Park officials were on the scene assessing the situation.

Passersby were checking out the situation, apparently glad that the tree didn’t fall onto their house!

Yesterday’s storm did more than just knock trees down and rip signs up, it totally submerged the Belt Parkway. New York City shut down the highway near Bay 8th Street because of truly epic flooding you see in this video. Thanks to David Z. for sending this over.

Courtesy of nolastname

We’re getting a lot of crazy reports here. Among them:

• Power lines are down in spots all across Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park, and surrounding neighborhoods.
• Gerritsen Avenue is “gone” under water.
• Sheepshead Bay – the bay itself – is overflowing. The footbridge is underwater and the Holocaust Memorial is being pounded by waves.
• There’s an all-hands fire on Hampton Avenue in Manhattan Beach.
• There’s a partial collapse at MacKenzie Street and Oriental Boulevard in Manhattan Beach.
• The sign at the Golden Gate Inn has collapsed.
• The sign at the gas station on East 17th Street and Avenue Y has fallen.
• Aluminum siding and yard fencing has been stripped away.
• The Bank of America property fence on Avenue Z and East 13th Street is falling into an adjacent property.
• Power line down on East 17th Street and Avenue Z, putting on a fireworks display.
• “A huge backyard gym set came flying down Ave Z and got wedged btwn and parking meter and a fence.”
• We’ve also heard that the boat from before was swept up over the guardrail, onto the sidewalk (which is a ~foot underwater), and then back into the water!

Crazy stuff, people. Add your reports in the comments section. Please – today, tonight, tomorrow – send us photos of the damage! You can send them to nberke [at] sheepsheadbites.com or upload them to Facebook and tag them “Sheepshead Bites”.

We’ve received reports of a fire at Coney Island Hospital (Avenue Z and Ocean Parkway). Several trucks and ambulances are on the scene and smoke is visible from across the street. We’re looking for more information. Please contact us if you know anything!

The silver lining in the recent devastation of Plumb Beach is that community leaders, and city, state, and federal agencies are finally considering long term solutions to erosion issues at Plumb Beach.

Congressman Anthony Weiner once again brought together officials from Department of Transportation, Parks Department, National Parks Service, Community Board 15, and Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic on Tuesday, December 1, to survey erosion’s threat to the important ecological zone and the Belt Parkway.

After surveying the damage, all came to a consensus: more needs to be done to protect the beach and highway. Continue Reading »

The devastation caused to Plumb Beach this weekend by the remnants of Hurricane Ida was “No surprise,” according to members of Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association and experts. As recently as January, officials from the community, city, state, and federal agencies convened at the Plumb Beach bathhouse to discuss protection of the increasingly dangerous bike path and the threatened Belt Parkway. The problem is greater, though, affecting the ecology and wildlife of the entire area.

The meeting, called by Congressman Anthony Weiner to survey nature’s threat, ended with calls for solutions. At the time, the surging waters appeared to be passing underneath the bike path. Water soaked the grass adjacent to the highway, suggesting that erosion was occurring beneath the Belt Parkway as well, undermining its stability. While SBPB Civic proposed a plan to shore up the coast and add more sand and rocks underneath the bike path to strengthen it, nothing has happened. Continue Reading »

This weekend’s storms sparked by Hurricane Ida battered the Plumb Beach coastline, leaving a trail of destruction and providing fuel for a new wave of jurisdictional battles between NYC Parks Department and the U.S. National Parks Service.

The tale of devastation was drawn in the sand, as rubble from the bike path dotted the shore, carving lines to the water. Trees lay like fallen solders, their sides partially submerged and their roots reaching into the air. The water clawed sand out from under roots and rock, leaving everything without ground to stand on. In all, as the hurricane swept up the northeastern coast, it pushed back Plumb Beach’s protective break-line several feet, felling dozens of trees, and crumbling about 100 yards of the bike path. Continue Reading »