2014.047

Staff, Collected by

Collected by Staff

Museum Collections.

2012 - 2014

Date(s) Created: 2014 Date(s): 2012-2014

Notes: Archives 2014.047.0001 Record books, eight, with holographic entries of stories and comments by Hoboken residents and people from other areas as written by them about their experiences during and after Hurricane (Superstorm) Sandy (2012) and in Hoboken from 2012 to 2014. These lined paper volumes and pens were available to visitors at the Hoboken Historical Museum for the duration of an exhibition: Hoboken: One Year After Sandy, Lessons Learned about Preparedness, Resiliency, and Community. On view: October 29, 2013 - July 6, 2014. Transcription of text by volunteer Kate Peko in spring - summer 2014. Many entries were anonymous and undated. Names and dates are as stated by the writer. ==== ==== BOOK 1 Name (if known) / date ==== 3rd/Madison St. Patricia L. Banks At 9:11 (approx.) that Mon. night that the hurricane "struck" - my neighbor & I stood in our building doorway watching the water roll down Madison Street. As it flooded all the cars on the block their alarms went off. Within 3 minutes, the water rose to completely cover the cars & flood all of the basements, rising up to the stoop steps. We said nothing. The alarms started to stop, one by one and the lights in the cars dimmed & then went out when the cars were "dead". Eerie silence. And then my superintendent yelled for us all to dial the police or fire dept. We had live wires in the basement & thought the building would ignite...Next entry - robberies and strangers getting into the buildings…WE HAD NO HELP. WE HAD NO INFORMATION…. 1/29/14 Sandy Don't Dance Nancy Green The morning of Sandy while I was out doing some end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it provisional shopping, I passed by Govanni D'Italia, our beloved shoe repair shop. I asked Nick why on earth he was open. Were they expecting a flood of emergency shoe repair issues? He looked at me and in earnest said "Some people need their dance shoes". Well yes, some people do. And as we would soon see, some people would need their hip boots and waders including all at Giovanni D'Italia who found themselves under water, as most of Hoboken did that day. www.nancylearnsthetango.com ==== Sandy I waited for Hurricane Sandy to hit me hard and Sandy hit me hard suddenly I regretted it. My dad called me to go look outside and ==== I was at my Grandmas house. The light went out. It was dark. ==== It was dark. I used a flashlight. We didn't have power so we couldn't cook so we went to Albert S. ==== With no electricity for a week & a half, and darkness setting in @ 4:00 pm each night, my big problem was boredom. What to do for five hours each night? I had a "headlamp" flashlight and this was great for reading books. But you can't read for five hours each night. So I started sewing a quilt, a project I had been thinking about for years but now I had the time. ==== Lost my car trying to get to work in Elmwood Park - water came into car and I had to abandon it. It was towed the next day. I had to walk all of the way back to Hoboken. I saw so many basements covered in water, impossible to open the doors. I could not get back to Long Island for a few days. The city was so devastated. Ana O'Bne. ==== Ali Armand age 7 2nd Grade I stayed at home during sandy and me and my family helped my neighbors charge their phones, have a place to be (on our stoop) and eat. We even gave them coffee tea and chocolate chip cookies and even more food because they couldn't use their stoves. I was upstairs watching tv I thought about my family and that made me feel better that my town was flooding. But my Mom made me serve food to them. But I still thank God that we didn't have to share the bathroom. But I still loved that school was out. ==== David 6th Grade TBC I was watching tv then I walked outside to move my dad's car. I walked back upstairs and my electric was off. The next day the gas was off. The hot water was off too. ==== Catherine Hughes Hoboken, NJ Age 30 Hurricane Sandy was a big storm. It was so big, wide and tall that by the time it passed over Hoboken - I think it was raining start dust. What a night. ==== Kristopher Salinas 2/20/14 During Hurricane Sandy me, my brother and my cousin went to Clock Towers in the dark with a group of people and walked around, playing games all day. At home, we had no electricity, so all we did was play board games. Me and my dad waited on a line for 3 hours to get Benny's pizza, but it was all worth it at the end. At this moment, everybody worked together to go throught these hard times. People who had power let people charge their phone, they were very kind. Me and my cousin went to a building on 11th and Park and a really generous lady offered us snacks and hot chocolate. Hurricane Sandy was a hard time but we worked together and got through it. ==== March 15, 2014 I was at a Halloween party at Liberty Theatre. Came home at 5am, slept late and began making breakfast/brunch. It was 1:30pm when I turned on the TV in my living room in Breezy Point. I started to cry simultaneously while watching every station evacuate, and had the police outside my door. I cried and packed and ran to my computer thinking it was (?) over - (?). My friend's mom (?) counties contacted me thru Facebook and said run - the U.S. can't disclose how dangerous the storm is. I packed and left for Garden City. Today is March 15th, 2014, my house and town is still not recovered. ==== Julia Young 2nd Grade 3/15/14 Yardville, NJ We lost electricity No School for one week. ==== Peter My family. I live in a ground-lvl [level] house with a finished basement. That's where the kids play. The kids were downstairs playing X-Box when the flooding started. Stephen the youngest one ran upstairs to call us. Before we know it the basement was flooded to the second level. All was lost. Furniture, electronics, washer/dryer, water heater. 30K worth of damage. But our neighbors were just as bad. We all went outside helping another salvage what was left. We came together & now years later, as a community we are stronger than ever. ==== Ruby 7th Grade I lost power during Sandy, so did my whole building. The elevator didn't work and there was no light in the stairs and hallways. Every time I went outside I walked down and up 12 stories of stairs. Why did I have to live on the top floor??? ==== Lucy 7th Grade I was on a block in Hoboken that didn't get hit. Yeah we got some rain but that's it. We didn't lose power, no flooding. We were unaffected. We thought it was just a little storm until we turned on the TV. We saw all the destruction that had happened to the town. My dad and I came up with the idea to set up power cords in front of our house. So we put out a table, some power strips and a table of coffee in front. We were so surprised when dozens and dozens of people came to charge their electronics. I met so many people who said that what I did helped them so much. Later in the day, a camera crew from AP came and took pictures and videos of me. The next day I was invited to be on GMA (Good Morning America). I was also on dozens of other shows and was actually invited to come into a studio. People were so desperate for good news that the small thing I did became a big deal. The appreciation I got was more than I asked for. I only wanted to help people. My story shows how the small deed of one person can affect the lives of many. ==== Noah, 5. July 2, 2014 Our lights went out. Our nabre (neighbor) helped us. She gave us Power. I went to seti (City) hall to help. ==== Karen Hale May 10, 2014 Almost two years later & still many families have not been helped. Rebuilding is slow, will things ever be the same? Planning for the next disaster is a must! ==== ==== BOOK 2 Name (if known) / date ==== DeBlusio I was homeless in my apt. for about 3 weeks. No heat or telephone, lost food. Had to (*) outside for 3 - 4 weeks. U.S. Army (*) Fox Hill. Got mentally sick. I would love to get $50,000 from the U.S. for emotional distress. Lost shift Fox Hill. All projects need a buck. Our generator, food, clothes, medical, job pantry, pay phones (5) (Rest of page unreadable) ==== Livy I was at my grandma's house because we went there not knowing that Sandy was coming and then we got stuck over there. ==== Carrick O'Connor Porter, 21, Stevens Student, President, Beta Meta Pi We did not lose power at all throughout the whole storm and aftermath. Castle Point Terrace and Hudson were the only ones. Under the album submitted by Joe Epstein there is a photo of me in a yellow jacket/hood, on my bike around Willow and 1st. I rode through the flooded sections of town post storm with the water up to my handlebars at some points ~ still riding!!! Despite the crazy destruction everyone I met on their stoops was very positive and excited for the news I brought of the rest of the town. Can't wait for the next storm!! LOL ==== Feb 2, 2014 Cell phone service was down and my office lost power. Some people were stranded and had no way to reach home. My office suffered damages that led to its shutdown. 20 people were laid off, but I was fortunate enough to maintain employment. Trees fell all over town and residential roads turned into waterfalls and rivers. Despite the massive destruction, people came together in numerous ways, which led to the massive band of strength New Jersey has today. We will remain Jersey Strong and Jersey Proud. - CU ==== July 5, 2014 I helped set up a shelter in the basement of Sts. Peter & Paul for Hoboken CERT. Two small areas kept their power during the black out - Sts Peter & Paul & St. Matthew on 8th St. I told Father Bob at Sts. Peter & Paul how amazing it was that they (almost alone) in Hoboken kept their power. Father Bob replied matter of factly 'not a miracle' as if well of course the Church would keep its power. ==== ==== BOOK 3 ==== Name (if known) / date ==== Dominic & Tina Rivera October 29, 2013 Oh, Sandy! It's been a year, something that I pray would not happen again in my lifetime. It is important though to remember for the lesson. ==== Veronica Pidduck, Point Pleasant Beach October 29, 2013 One year since Sandy hit the Jersey Shore. It is sad but empowering to remember the events leading up to, during & following Sandy. I pray that people never forget how we felt a year ago; Sandy brought people together in a special way. ==== Ligia Patricia Valencia One year ago I was lucky enough not to lose power. It was a great opportunity to help others and to reflect on how vulnerable we are. Nature still has the upper hand. I invite you all to prepare for the future. Sandy won't be the last storm. We must work on rethinking the (?) of our coastal cities. ==== Laura Bubeck, Stevens Office of Communications & Marketing I was lucky enough not to lose power in my town, Nutley, but my sister & brother-in-law moved in for 10 days while they were out of power. Meanwhile, I helped communicate to the Stevens community about closings, safety warnings, updates on the campus situation, etc. - working remotely with the emergency management team - by posting constant social media announcements on Steven's channels. ==== Bill Together we can do what we can't do alone. ==== R.S. I, too, was lucky. In Hoboken on the river, my apartment lost electricity, but we were not flooded. I rolled up towels to line the windows, which absorbed the water that seeped through. The people in my building truly bonded. I invited neighbors to dinner. My gas stove allowed me to cook one night, but I had to throw out the rest of the food in the fridge after that. As I walked along Hudson St., I was heartened to see neighbors helping each other. ==== Livy I was at my grandma's house the whole entire time. I heard a lot about happened to Hoboken. ==== John Carey I was ok. I helped out where I could for the next couple of weeks. I kept busy. ==== Nikitas Georgas, Stevens Institute I tried to forecast Sandy. Nature surpassed ne by feet. ==== Valerie Hufnagel I live in Maplewood, NJ and was lucky enough to be one with power. So our home became the changing, shower, laundry station. I was so thankful we could help those who did not have power for 3 weeks. On TV, I sat and watched Hoboken fill with water and was so saddened by the events of Super storm Sandy, that the town I love so much was being swallowed by the Hudson. Thankfully Hoboken came through the storm and is better than ever. ==== Dan Altilio daltilio@unitedwayHudson.org ==== Annmarie Rizzo annmarierizzo@verizon.net My family was surrounded by water for a few days on 5th & Madison St. with no power. Luckily there were no major tragedies or fatalities in Hoboken. ==== Brandon Otero Last year when Super Storm Sandy hit Hoboken it was crazy. In my building, on my parking lot everything got flooded. Cars were floating on the streets and people on army cars. ==== Joseph Moretz 12-18-13 During Hurricane Sandy, I was scared when it happened. My family provided supper, fed me and gave me shelter. After the Hurricane, I felt better. ==== Michelle Kestenbaum 1/18/13 Luckily we didn't lose our home! We actually lost power early that afternoon due to the wind which blew out our transformer on our block. We called friends & headed up to 6th & Park. As the rain came & lots & lots of wind. The water in the street kept rising. My husband has a big truck w/big tires & yet it wasn't high enough to keep the water out. I made a decision to move it up one block, Garden was bone dry. Then our friends lost power that night. We were fortunate that they had 'gas' stove to cook on. My husband and I made a foolish mistake & decided to trudge through the water to check on our home. We walked through waist deep water full of garbage & oil. I watched an ambulance truck float by. I lost my car & our storage was flooded, but again, very lucky not to have lost our home. I've never seen anything like 'Sandy' in my lifetime & hope it never happens again! Thank goodness for good friends & finding the positive. ==== Maria During Sandy, our daughter Anna was 21 months old. She enjoyed playing with her friend upstairs. We kept our doors unlocked & neighbors were letting themselves in & out. We all watched out for each other. ==== Karen Tilsijian, Hoboken, NJ I was very lucky not to lose my home or belongings. From what I could see, people really bonded together and helped out their neighbors. It was the first time I got to know my neighbors! It was a silver lining for sure. ==== Arnie Corrado, cell phone 201 394 3164 I lived in Hoboken from 1949-1958. Remember as a kid lived on 14th & Willow. By the way, the Tootsie Roll Factory, Hostess Cupcake, The 14th St. Diner and the Traffic Lounge on 14th Willow corner. My uncle and I used to swing on a rope under the Viaduct; very dangerous but who had any fears in those days. Also if you walked to the top of the Viaduct and turned left, a short ways up was the North St. pool. I am Personal - look me (?) any pictures of the Traffic Lounge on the corner of 14th and Willow and pictures of the rope that we used to swing on under the Viaduct. ==== Sensoy Family We were living on the 7th floor of SkyClub (700 1st St.) at the time. Luckily our unit was fine but we couldn't leave the building for about 4 days and National Guard came to evacuate. We, along with many of our neighbors chose to stay. My mom was visiting from Istanbul, Turkey at the time and it was an adventure. We were grateful that no one we know was hurt, but it was sad to see so many people losing their homes and so many businesses destroyed on First St. During the storm we spent a lot of time in the hallway. Our daughter (7 at the time) played for hours with neighbors. We boiled water and took old-fashioned bucket baths. By the end of the week we took up an offer from kind friends across the street (who lost their car) and did laundry in their apartment. I remember a fishy smell throughout the city. We were very touched and grateful for the kindness of strangers who drove here from all over the country to bring food, supplies etc. I was sad but understood when the NYC Marathon (of which I was a participant) was cancelled. ==== Patty Bifulco 7/6/14 Amazing to see 3 feet of water in our garage and lobby. So thankful for awesome building neighbors as we all pulled together to make sure everyone was ok, well fed, had company, candles, cleared out together. And (?) Hoboken Community - total strangers took us in day 2 to charge all our phones - before charging stations became all the rage. Hoboken shone proud as the great community it is. Proud to call Hoboken my home! ==== ==== BOOK 4 Name (if known) / date ==== Anonymous How did people help each other during Super storm Sandy? People in my building gathered in the hallways and in the stairwells, where there was light, to talk. Since their apartments were dark because the power was lost, many people felt lonely and scared. By chatting with each other, they cheered each other up. They also gave each other ideas about how to get through the storm. When I found there wouldn't be enough power in our building's back-up generator to power the elevator, I finally decided to leave town. I live on the 7th floor and have back problems. I was afraid that I would not be able to get down the stairs in the dark with my luggage. The power was going out that night in the hallways and in the stairwells. My car was not flooded, and I live at the edge of town (north), so I was able to drive to a friend's house in a much less flooded area. I know how fortunate I was because I knew that others could not leave. After the storm, I had volunteered at Wallace Elementary School and saw many people sleeping on small cots with a thin blanket. It was very cold in the building; there was no heat. ==== Anonymous I was at my grandmother's house. ==== It was very scary at night. All of our food went bad and couldn't get to any stores for money. It was something I've never experienced. ==== Sandy was bad. My family was amazed and terrified. I would go out to take walks with my mother. My family all got flooded but my house didn't get flooded. I was terrified in the night by myself. Were you flooded? If you were, circle yes. If you did not get flooded, circle no right now. YES NO ==== Samantha Sannazzaro As horrible as Sandy was to Hoboken (and NJ in general) I must say that it restored my faith in humanity and our Hoboken community. The damage was devastating. The night the storm hit, I saw cars floating away on Hudson Street right past and the alarms continued late into the evening. Water crept up to our front doorstep, but thankfully never flooded our building (13th & Hudson). The next morning we walked & explored the damage. There was a huge uprooted tree on Steven's Campus, power lines down & debris everywhere. But there were also power stations on Hudson. The RiteAid opened its doors, and a breadline had formed. It was depressing then, but after the storm and some time to reflect, it was probably the most pleasant and uplifting sight in the aftermath. ==== Raven II May 23, 2014 Raven II is an Americorps NCCC group working with rebuilding together of Bergen County in the towns of Moonachie and Little Ferry. We're excited to be a part of continued disaster relief efforts so that people (often still displaced) can get back into their homes! We consist of eight members: Nyx Robey (Team Leader) from San Pedro, CA Michael Khederian (crew member) from Plymouth, MA Troy Mucchefti from Philadelphia, PA Hope Martindale from Elk River, Minnesota Arturo Zambrano from Cicero, Illinois Courtney Bollie from Madrid, Iowa Rose Wise from Murfreesboro, IN Nolan Veldey from Madison, WI ==== ==== BOOK 5 Name (if known) / date ==== Erik Bradley, 23, Hoboken, NJ October 27, 2013 Where to begin? My 21st birthday was on August 28th, 2011. Does that day sound familiar? Hurricane Irene. Public transportation shut down - bars shut down. Everything shut down. Worst birthday ever. The worst part? Nothing happened to us. I woke up the next morning and the ground was dry and life was ordinary. Maybe it was a blessing that we were unaffected. Jump to 2012. We hear horror stories about Hurricane Sandy. After having my 21st taken away from me by a false alarm, I expected nothing from Sandy. I was wrong. I spent five days with my girlfriend huddled under a blanket doing whatever it took to keep warm. We played Pokemon Master Quest and charged our phones in the car. Living without updates on when civilization was going to return to normal felt so archaic. It was refreshing to know that I could survive in the event of such a catastrophic apocalypse. The last time I lost power was the huge American blackout of 2003. My family was less fortunate. They spent 11 days without power. Unfortunately, I was unable to vote for the 2012 presidential election because of this. Everybody in NJ was supposed to be classified as a displaced citizen. You were supposed to be able to vote at any registration booth. I tried to do this and I was denied. I explained my situation and nobody would accommodate the fact that my home and my choice of location for my vote registration was defunct. What they did was illegal! I understand that a lot of other people went through a lot worse than me. I felt for the marathoners and everybody who lost property or had their health impaired. I still had hot water and a gas stove. I still had my life, my property, and my friends and family. I many not have been able to vote, but one of my favorite bands, Shiny Toy Guns, came to Hoboken in their tour bus and picked up seven of us fans to bring to their concert in NYC. Everything worked out and it was something to remember. The end. ==== Jacob, 11, Hoboken, NJ During Sandy I learned to knit. We also made a lot of pumpkin bread before Sandy came. It was fun. ==== During Super Storm Sandy, my house was almost flooded. I felt so sorry for my neighbors because their houses were flooded. It was very scary. I was up at night to learn that the water was gone. ==== Gianna, 12 We lost power for 14 days. Trees were down. Holes were in roofs, and homes were flooded. I had no school for 2 weeks and couldn't leave the house because live wires were everywhere. We couldn't call our family and friends, so we had no way of telling if they were still alive. I was freezing. To and 11-year-old, it was a real-life horror story. ==== Danny Shot 2/26/14 It all started when we lost power. No, that's not true, it started before then but the rain and wind didn't seem all that bad. Thank god Caroline, my wife, insisted that we bring some of the more valuable stuff in the basement, upstairs. Of course I thought she was over reacting, but I often think that. We heard sort of a rushing sound in the basement. Water was coming in - through the back wall. That was weird, it never happened before. We grabbed buckets and I'm not sure buckets is the right word. She grabbed a pink beach pail and I grabbed an orange beach pail. After about 15 minutes of continuous bailing, we were starting to get exhausted. Then the power went out. It was dark in the basement and the water was still streaming in through the walls. We made our way upstairs and waited. And waited. Outside, car alarms were going off. And then the power transformers started exploding. The wind was howling. The roof was leaking. It sounded sort of apocalyptic. There was nothing to do but huddle under the covers in bed. Neither of us slept. Well maybe I did a little. When morning came, I went outside and looked around. Our block (7th St.) was covered with water. Our neighbors Chris and Jen, and Jason across the street looked shell shocked. Caroline somehow made coffee and I brought it out to the neighbors. Everyone was hurting, bleary eyed, and tired beyond belief. Nobody had electricity or heat, but we helped each other out. I think that was the closest I ever felt to the people on our block. Over the next couple of months, we helped each other with stuff like getting electricity, dealing with insurance companies (don't ask) and getting our homes in working order. We all survived, all of us a little poorer (thank you insurance company) but appreciative of our Hoboken neighbors who were (and will be) there for us. ==== Kevin Pasini 3/16/14 As a long time resident of Hoboken, I was expecting Sandy to be more hype than anything else. I had seen multiple flooding, but it never affected where I lived. The power went out around 8:30. I spent the rest of the night with my girlfriend watching in stunned amazement as the Hudson River slowly crept up my block on Hudson St. At the peak of the tidal surge, the water was only a couple of inches from the front door of my building. I was very lucky it was not worse. The next day we went out to survey the damage and were amazed by the wreckage. The streets were covered with debris. Totaled cars were everywhere. There were tons of uprooted trees. At the same time, the people of Hoboken really restored our faith in humanity. The RiteAid opened its doors, we went through there with flash lights and shopped on the honor system with cash only deals. People with electricity, which weren't many, opened up their homes and set up charging stations. The community stood strong and helped each other out. ==== I didn't like Sandy. ==== ==== BOOK 6 Name (if known) / date ==== Jack O'Brien Hoboken Native of 85 years Veteran of WWII, North Atlantic Ocean. When I look out of my window on Morning of Sandy - Much to my amazement, I saw 2 Rubber Row Boats coming down 4th & Clinton. I thought I had been back in The Atlantic. ==== Gabby Goldstein I live in Hoboken. I love clear skies. So when I heard from my grandparents in Florida that in Sandy, they did not get hit so bad. I thought oh then it probably won't be so bad for us. But I guess I thought wrong because where I was I got hit really bad. There were three dead fish. We were trapped for more than a week. Sincerely Gabby Goldstein P.S. My age is 9 years old. ==== Livy In Sandy, it rained a lot. Also it was windy and the wind blew down lots of trees. ==== Jason I lost power at first, so I played board games but it got worse at night. It was hard to see so my Mom lit candles. A couple of days later my garage started to flood and cars got damaged. After Hurricane Sandy was over people had to get new cars. ==== Dennis English Hello. My name is Dennis English and my wife and I have lived in Hoboken for more than 13 years. When super storm Sandy came to town with lots of wind and much rain we lost our electric power. We live at a high enough elevation that we had no water or flood damage, but we were without power for 7 days. During the day, we passed out food from local restaurants, to people who needed food - we walked the major streets of Hoboken to check on and visit with friends. At night we read by candle light. We were also lucky that the weather was very cool but not too, too cold - without power we had no heat - no hot water - no lights - no TV - no way to charge our computers or cell phones. Often we would go to The Elysian Café, a local restaurant, which also without power but it was lit up with several hundred candles. Other people would gather there as well, and we would swap tales and rumors about surviving the super storm and about when we thought the power would come back on. After 7 days the power did come back on and we did some cleaning and straightening up of our condo - we had to buy all new or fresh and frozen food, which we did. We also assisted our friends and neighbors with clean up. We donated lots of clothes and warm items by taking our donations by the Hoboken High School and dropping things off. All in all, we were very lucky to have just lost power - but my wife and I dressed warm and took care of each other. I hope we don't ever have to go through another experience like super storm Sandy again. But if we do we will do everything possible to get through and survive. ==== Roma I was at my grandma's house. It was hard to (?) ==== Troy Hi - may name is Troy and my house was flooded and it was up to two inches. My grandfather is still fixing my house. ==== Sorry. I was in Tokyo… ==== I thought the house was going to flood. ==== ==== BOOK 7 Name (if known) / date ==== Rebecca Kramnick Kramnick - Cohen Family Memories of Sandy in Hoboken My family lives on 11th St. & miraculously we didn't lose power. We set up a charging station on one stoop and for a week we had a steady flow of people sitting on our stoop charging their phones. The vast majority of whom we didn't know. It was strange walking through a crowd of strangers every time we opened our front door! We were glad we could help out. Because City Hall did not have power, the Mayor's aide Dan Bryan set up shop at our house for a few days taking conference calls and coordinating the city's response. One night I made spaghetti for 10 people. Our children had a constant stream of friends over to watch TV. Their friends without power needed their TV fix. When And... [truncated due to length]