More Than 6,100 New Yorkers in Shelters
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced schools will remain closed Wednesday. The toppled crane at the top of a high-rise building under construction at 57th Street is stable and will be secured for removal later, he said.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city and state officials have delivered several briefings about conditions in the five boroughs following Hurricane Sandy's landfall Tuesday evening in southern New Jersey. The diminished storm has moved west past the city, but it killed at least 10 people in the city and caused extensive flooding, fires, and damage. Power remained out to lower Manhattan early Tuesday, public transit and airports and city parks have not reopened, and a fire in the Breezy Point section had destroyed about 80 homes. Bloomberg said that blaze resembled a forest fire, with embers being blown from structure to structure and igniting them.
"We are hoping and praying that there was no loss of life in those fires, but even if we can save every life, we know that many people have lost their homes. I want them to know they have our full support in the days and weeks ahead," the mayor said at the city's Office of Emergency Management. He said the city's 76 shelters harbored more than 6,100 people Tuesday night and will remain open until people displaced by the storm can return home or find temporary housing.
No first responders lost their lives during the storm, he said.
Bloomberg said restoring mass transit operations and restoring power are the biggest immediate challenges for the city. The boom of a construction crane that toppled early on, before Sandy came ashore, has been declared stable by the city's Department of Buildings. It is hanging from the crane at the top of a high-rise building under construction at 57th Street. Once winds subside sufficiently, it will be lashed to the crane's support structure and will ultimately be removed by a second crane that must be erected at the site.
Almost 4,000 requests had come in seeking help with damaged or fallen trees, he said.
President Obama declared major disasters for New York and New Jersey as the storm moved inland. The declaration means residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties within New York and New Jersey can begin applying for assistance by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-FEMA (or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired).