Red Hook Brooklyn still hurting and needs your help
Donate to the Redhook Initiative Hurricane Relief Effort
All across NYC, volunteers are showing up to help out the victims of Hurricane Sandy. One of the hardest-hit areas is Red Hook, a small, economically depressed neighborhood much of which is cut off from Brooklyn by the Gowanus Expressway. It’s slightly gentrified, but still has large segments of public housing and impoverished blocks.
I’ve been deeply moved by the volunteerism shown by New Yorkers during this crisis. As a transplant to New York, I’ve found that New Yorkers tend to complain a lot— but in the shadow of Sandy, all I’ve heard is people talking about the welfare of others, their friend down in Brooklyn, their aunt they had to evacuate, or just empathizing with the people in general. And every volunteer opportunity I’ve been too has had more than enough volunteers to accomplish their mission.
But there is a long way to go. A very long way. A lot of the small businesses which are so vital to a fragile economy had their inventories damaged or destroyed. Some have re-opened; many are still cleaning out basements. Some people lost everything, their whole business gone and drowned.
I live in the area so it’s easy enough for me to go ahead and help, but please remember, as the memory of the hurricane fades, some people will take years to recover, that some people will never recover from this.
Do what you can. I worked with the Red Hook Initiative people in the donation link. They were competent, eager, and tireless, and you can trust that the money is going directly to help the people in need.