I spent three days last week on the Rockaway Peninsula documenting the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy. The Rockaways were one of the hardest hit areas in New York City. Like Staten Island and lower Manhattan, they endured the colossal flooding that resulted from the storm’s tidal surge. This set of images were all taken in Rockaway Beach, the area near the cross
bay bridge.

There used to be a 5.5 mile boardwalk that ran between the beach and the waterfront apartment blocks. The storm destroyed most of the boardwalk, allowing the rising Atlantic Ocean to wash huge volumes of sand into the streets and residents’ properties. While I was there, the main municipal recovery work being done was moving all this sand, along with other debris, out of the streets and back towards the water. At the same time, residents, who had been without electricity, heat, or hot water for days or weeks, were removing all their destroyed belongings from their homes and discarding them on
the streets.

Home