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Inside an Occupy Sandy Distribution Center
While the history of relief efforts for Sandy victims in places such as Staten Island and Red Hook is still being written, a move on Friday by New York City will probably go down as one of the stupidest moves any governmental authority EVER made:
This Friday morning Staten Island police representing the mayor’s office have threatened eviction action against the crucial Staten Island hub at 489 Midland Avenue, in the heavily hit Midland Beach area. Aiman Youssef, a 42-year-old Syrian-American Staten Islander whose house was destroyed in the hurricane, has been running a 24/7 community pop up hub outside his property at 489 Midland Avenue since the day after the storm. He and a coalition of neighbors, friends and community members are serving hot food and offering cleaning supplies, non-perishables, medical supplies, and clothing to the thousands of residents who are still without heat, power, or safe housing. This popular hub is well-run, well-staffed, and has a constant hum of discussion, support, and advice as well as donations and pick ups and volunteer dispatch through another pop-up group, volunteers who call themselves “The Yellow Team.”
Occupy Sandy is looking for vocal support – call, email the Mayor’s office to keep these very vital hubs operating. Public Advocate’s office: (212) 669-7250 9am-5pm
EMAIL: GetHelp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov
UPDATE: The 626 Midland Avenue hub in Staten Island has been evicted.
Donate here to send blankets to Sandy victims.
Photo by Jeremy Zilar under Creative Commons license.
66 Comments
Thanks (Aunt) Toby.
Rec’d.
Tweeted.
Recommended.
It’s purposeful but the kitteh is out of the bag. If Torontonians can dump key men so they can put out Ford, NYCers can remove the key men so they can put out Bloomie.
My favorite comment to the above article:
“Anyone that wants to shut this down should be immediately removed from office and sent out to sea.”
From the article:
OFFSITE ACTON
—Demand the Mayor’s office end community hub eviction and instead support hubs with space and equipment
—Public Advocate’s office: (212) 669-7250 9am-5pm EMAIL: GetHelp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov
What an outrage! First, the city doesn’t get the help needed for the people who are in a desperate . Then they want to stop the people that are helping. Bloomberg’s an evil man. I’ll be calling first thing Monday morning.
I’ve sent an email with multiple choice words and asking them to let me know what they’ll be doing to rescind the eviction and to help the hub with space and materials.
I am soooo angry. This needs to be front paged.
Wtf, is running thru Bloomie’s blanken noggin…? *gah*
It sounds like he’s hiding behind the owner of the parking lot:
The NYT has more:
…community-run disaster relief effort “vending,”…
And with a ‘Big Gulp’, Gahhh…! 8-(
Even better (and by ‘better’ I mean ‘worse’):
Just as the prick Bloomberg was shutting down the Staten Island Occupy Sandy hub, he made a stealth, unannounced visit to another Occupy Sandy hub!
I kid thee not:
Here’s the video: http://youtu.be/uZSSJX0z9g4
Neighbors helping neighbors – what a surprising idea. Stupid politicians. I thought that’s what this country is all about.
Bloomberg and others thought they had driven a stake through the heart of the Occupy movement.
It’s too dangerous not to stop.
…It’s too dangerous not to stop…
It’s not ‘dangerous’ to begin with, but, hopefully, it shall outshine all others…!
Not dangerous to you and I, the non-billionaires. But to the control class?
We can see their response.
Can someone please tell me what the fuck Bloomberg’s office was thinking by bringing in these brownshirts? Did he mistake the relief hub for #OWS or something?
…Did he mistake the relief hub for #OWS or something?
It is indeed an offshoot of OWS stepping up, jp…!
Why is Bloomberg doing this?
Definitely, the burning question, eCAHN…! ;-)
Is there a reason presented in the press release? It seems from post that it might be sanitation related, but whatever the reason is, it should be the job of the poster to present it, and if indefensible, to provide reasons why. Otherwise, how can commenters respond intelligently.
I think Bloomberg identifies “Occupy” as a dangerous “brand” (a term I hate) that was put down nationally (when it was clear that it could not be controlled by the monied SOBs) with some un-pleasantness not too long ago.
Or, as Twain said, “neighbors helping neighbors.” Pretty soon, they’ll expect and demand that their government actually serve them, and not the billionaire siphoning class.
Link? Or other evidence?
Conjecture. “I think” It’s on me.
Fair enough.
I don’t discuss conjecture. Not personally intended.
…it should be the job of the poster to present it, and if indefensible, to provide reasons why. Otherwise, how can commenters respond intelligently…
Are you serious, eCAHN…? Ain’t it indefensible, under the dire circumstances alone…? 8-(
I understand and respect that.
Link? Or other evidence?
Have you not been paying attention, eCAHN…? Seriously…?
No. There may be reasons.
And if there aren’t (and I suspect there aren’t) it should be easy to document and present. Then we can all be at ease with evidence at hand and refutation.
Very much paying attention.
Trying to instate some intellectual discipline on bleeding heart lefties, wh seems, yet again, impossible.
Or put differently, make the case objectively, not emotionally.
You do realize that FEMA and the Red Cross have given many kudos to Occupy Sandy’s tireless efforts…!
Link?
RC and FEMA are hardly objective observers. Since they didn’t show up in the poor places where they are needed, their voices diminish as witnesses (if you want links to RC & FEMA not showing up, let me know & I’ll find them).
You seem to misunderstand my stuborness.
I am not against the hypothesis exposed in the post. I want it defended.
*heh* How’s about Bloomie in ‘stealth mode’… Cold And Mold In The Rockaways: Bloomberg’s Stealth Visit…,/a>
Bloomberg’s people wouldn’t respond to questions from the NYT.
The sanitation pretext is a joke considering that this was the same excuse used by Bloomie — he who presides over the incredibly filthy New York subway systems which he refuses to clean up properly — to clear out the OWS encampments. It’s doubly risible considering that Sandy victims have been trying to get him to do something about the mounting public health crisis caused by all the moldy and rotting buildings damaged or destroyed by Sandy, and the lack of heat or other utilities. But he’ll still helicopter in for photo-ops.
Cause Dirty Fucking Hippies are well dirty.
To peal back the layer of onion, there is a Bloomberg agenda. It does no good to rail at what we know it to be. It is our job to document why it is bogus.
Evidence against sanitation argument might be how many peeps have gotten sick from Occupy provided food. Suspect there is little or no evidence.
Or, maybe I’m being an asshole bc no matter how much evidence one accumulates, it will make no diff.
Reasonable peeps may disagree.
Or not.
The Red Cross and the National Guard have been coordinating with Occupy Sandy for weeks now. This is from November 10:
Here’s a NYT from the same period: Where FEMA Fell Short, Occupy Sandy Was There
But of course why am I telling you all this? You’re a high-powered and very smart former Wall Streeter, who follows current events and knows how to use search engines. I’m sure you know all of this already.
OK.
Socratic method failed.
Here’s my hyp: Vulture capitalists’ going to buy up beach front props at cents on the dollar.
IOW if you don’t identify what the real agenda is (not sanitation) you’ll flail hopelessly.
FWIW.
…IOW if you don’t identify what the real agenda is (not sanitation) you’ll flail hopelessly.
FWIW.
Don’t you suppose Occupy Sandy is well aware of the present circumstances, eCAHN…?
Thank you.
If you were looking to get people all fired up, you certainly got me all fired up.
http://www.thestarshollowgazette.com/diary/6996/eviction-of-occupy-sandy-staten-island
http://www.docudharma.com/diary/31495/eviction-of-occupy-sandy-staten-island
I didn’t use BREAKING !!!!1! but that’s certainly how I feel. Secondary sources on Google News are notably absent at this point.
Hopefully that will change.
Indeed.
hmmm. Socialism.
The US strafed the vietnamese for the same thing, according to Chomsky. Really effective Hyper-Capitalism requires social atomization, so Bloomberg is just protecting national interests of the elite like the military does overseas.
I could see you were leading to this point. Suck-em up for pennies and sell-em to climate deniers. Suckers born every minute.
The City of New York shut down the Advantage program, putting tens of thousands of once homeless people back on the streets. I’m not at all surprised by this move. I think the City is run by psychopaths.
I don’t know what specifically you mean, but no, I’ve not been impressed by Occupy’s command of the obvious.
want no witnesses.
I was looking for something in the NY Times but didn’t see anything. Thank you, I’ve left a comment over there.
eCAHN, have you checked out the UPDATE in the post above. In addition to the official saying it was unsafe, apparently Bloomberg has defined the 489 relief effort as “vending”, which is apparently illegal. of course, it’s not vending, regardless of Bloomberg’s definition.
“…maybe I’m being an asshole.”
DING DING DING DING DING!
No more calls, kids, we have a winnah!!!
I think eCAHN is on to something about the beachfront land grab.
If the people sicken, die, lose heart and just want out, that land will go cheap.
and instead of one and two story homes, there will be big apartment buildings with parking garages on the first 3 or 4 floors so that storm surges will not damage the apartments.
Thank you Toby. Recommended and shared on OccupyChicago twitter and FB pages.
Incredible. Thanks for the info, I hope there will be sufficient pushback to this move. If it is staging for a land-grab, all the worse.
I have that discussion every day with my wife. I loose.
A reason people enter local politics is to get advance information on land development.
Others may enter local politics in a desire to serve their community.
You can decide for yourself the ratio between these two groups :-). My guess is 95:5 or so, with only empirical evidence of a local small sample.
Some indications that there is an awareness of Shock Doctrine issues:
https://www.facebook.com/events/376947009056528/
11/7 meeting event Zuccoti NYC
Naomi Klein with Occupy Sandy in Rockaway Park:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et3shqUBnsg
Recent tweet
Dustin M. Slaughter@DustinSlaughter
En route to Ortley Beach, NJ – under quasi-martial law – to investigate potential land grabs of damaged property. #ShockDoctrine #Sandy
http://www.nycga.net/events/recover-resist-rebuild-labor-speaks-out-after-sandy/
Meeting 12/7
Thanks for the wake up, eCHAN.
My immediate presumption upon recognizing the storm devastation was that the most severely affected areas would be off limits to any reconstruction and made into public shore or left to revert or be converted to some natural barrier or buffer areas minimizing effects of next year’s 100 yr storm surge. Silly me.
http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/2012/12/01/bloombergs-stealth-visit/
Occupy Sandy Call to Action [12/15]
The PtB supporting Occupy Sandy’s recruiting efforts in an unconscious backhanded way. Watch the police whack-a-mole idiocy that coming. How many potential distributions sites are there in the five boroughs? How many police?
Yes, light up Bloomies’ switchboard.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Otherwise known as demographic cleansing. And that charming euphemism, “gentrification”.
eCAHNomics # 24: I don’t discuss conjecture.
eCAHNomics # 38: Here’s my hyp: Vulture capitalists’ going to buy up beach front props at cents on the dollar.
Synonyms for conjecture:
speculate, theorize, theorise, hypothesize, hypothesise, hypothecate, suppose
Naomi Klein on Sandy & Disaster Capitalism and how to resist/reverse it:
http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-hurricanes-capitalism-democracy/
FWIW…I live at the Jersey Shore, where every neighborhood east of about two blocks from me on lagoon has lots of homes with piles of personal belongings in front of them for weeks, being hauled away by our impressive DPW.
Few days ago I went into a store where a Salvation Army rep was ringing the bell and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. I said to my son, “she can ring that bell all she wants, I haven’t seen ‘em down here”. Got a glare and a hissed “did you hear what that woman just said???” from a bystander, but it’s true. Salvation Army, a trailer 3-4 hours a day in my local Shop Rite, in a community to the south of me that was was slammed worse than us.
Occupy Sandy? Few days ago there was a great story about helping out in Asbury Park, north of me, that showed a one-on-one involvement you’ll never see from the paycheck deduction charities. Occupy will never be ringing a bell outside the supermarket because they’d be arrested (probably for being too equitable), but that’s what works.
Thank you Occupy for doing the debris hauling, mold clearing work urgently to be done instead of ringing the bells in the parking lot.
Not disagreeing with you that this will happen, but…
The beachfront is already largely held by the 5% at best. And the whole 100% will be in a pickle here in NJ. Toms River, in Ocean County, announced the other day that nonconforming structures may be rebuilt as they were without variances. Nonconforming uses continue to need zoning board approval.
However…
Nevermind the towns. There is at least one set of NJDEP regulations that applies to those properties that didn’t when they were built. Depending on where they are (and these areas exist where I am) they can have the double whammy of Coastal and Pinelands regs.
Moneybags Mikey looks like an incomptent fool beside the sincere and helpful and hugely effective occupy kids. Naturally Mikey does not like to look like the clown he is, so he and his 35000 billy-club army will do whatever it takes to throw these kids out in the street, where they can’t help anybody.
Way to go Mikey; everybody is just desperately waiting for you to leave office (good effing riddance), and go back and play with your toy airplane again!
Many older residents of homes close to the beach, by definition hard-hit by Sandy, were barely holding on because of gentrification/rising property taxes. The costs of dealing with Sandy’s aftermath will put a lot of them over the edge and they will lose their homes.
This is a tragic thing – these aren’t property speculators – many of them have been living there for decades.
It would not surprise me at all if 1% vultures were licking their beaks at the prospect of buying up beachfront places for a song from desperate retirees.
One thing that struck me during my brief time w/Occupy Sandy was the value of having a looser non-hierarchical structure when confronting a problem the size of the Sandy clean-up.
I ended working side-by-side w/FEMA & the Red Cross – and they were great. Nobody who’s wrestling with the clean-up wants to do a bad job. The thing is that both FEMA & the Red Cross have long-standing procedures, developed over time, that I image work very well when they can get their arms around the disaster. That bureaucracy probably allows for good triage and establishes needed priorities. Sandy is just too damn big and I think the scale of it overwhelms their systems.
Occupy Sandy can move faster and can find the holes. What I saw (in my admittedly short time) was a synergy between those two ways of approaching the problem.
Bloomberg is out of his mind for even thinking of throwing that away.
The 1% must truly hate the positive contribution of Occupy here – hate it enough to lose out on the benefit of having that kind of nimble response. But then, they don’t give a shit about anybody but themselves, do they?