created by members of the JASA Senior Alliance Senior Center and JCCGCI’s Coney Island Seaside Innovative Senior Center, under the guidance of artist Jennifer Wade. The tiles project, funded by the MetLife Foundation Creative Aging Program.
The tiles, each an original design, were presented in a ceremony that took place Tuesday morning on Coney Island’s boardwalk. Rabbi Moshe Wiener, Executive Director of JCCCGI; New York City Comptroller John Liu; Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein and Assemblyman Alex Brook-Krasny addressed the standing-room-only
gathering.
At a future date, the tiles will be installed on one of the boardwalk fountains.
A year after Superstorm Sandy deluged coastal communities with seawater, many people still can’t believe they’re not back in their homes. Others are thankful for small victories in the long, arduous recovery process.
Devastated residents on Tuesday recalled the help they got from strangers in the days and months after Sandy. Some have mostly recovered from the storm, while others are still homeless or living without heat. In one touching moment, mothers sang “Happy birthday” to their 1-year-old babies who were rescued from darkened hospitals at Sandy’s peak.
Sandy came ashore on Oct. 29, 2012, sending floodwaters pouring across the densely populated barrier islands of Long Island and the Jersey shore. In New York City, the storm surge hit nearly 14 feet, swamping the city’s subway and commuter rail tunnels and knocking out power to the southern third of Manhattan.
The storm was blamed for at least 182 deaths in the U.S. — including 68 in New York and 71 in New Jersey — and property damage estimated at $65 billion.