BY SAM SPOKONY | Hurricane Sandy has already caused serious damage and flooding throughout the downtown area after hitting New York on Monday — and after many area residents stayed put because they believed the storm would be a dud.
A four-story apartment building on Eighth Ave., near W. 14th St., partially collapsed around 6:30 p.m. on Monday, officials said.
The building’s front façade was cracked and then ripped away by heavy winds, leaving the interior fully exposed. Although there was a good deal of falling debris, no one inside or outside the building was injured, the F.D.N.Y. said.
There was massive flooding reported in the East Village throughout the evening, especially along Avenue C.
The flooding reached the ConEdison power facility at E. 14th St. and Avenue C, and there were flashing lights and a sudden explosion at the facility around 8 p.m. on Monday, according to social media updates.
In addition, two people were injured in the East Village earlier in the day when a falling lamppost struck them as they were walking down the FDR Drive, officials said.
The incident took place around 3:30 p.m., when the two people were hit by the streetlight just north of E. Houston St. along the highway, the F.D.N.Y. said.
They were taken to Bellevue Hospital, one with serious but not life-threatening injuries and one with minor injuries, the FDNY said.
A local resident also reported around 9 p.m. that part of a glass balcony at the Standard East Village hotel, on Cooper Sq. between E. Fifth and E. Sixth Sts., was destroyed by the hurricane’s winds, scattering dangerous debris.
There was also dangerous flooding on the Lower East Side, particularly inside the building at 82 Rutgers Slip, according to Victor Papa, president of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council.
Papa, who lives at Southbridge Towers, and whose own apartment had already lost power, said he heard the report of flooding in the 82 Rutgers lobby and power outages throughout the building around 9 p.m. on Monday, and stressed that it was a potentially disastrous situation because of the building’s many elderly residents.
“We’re very concerned about our seniors in there; they have no elevators or electricity,” Papa said.
Authorities reported that there were at least five hurricane-related deaths in New York on Monday, and by Monday night over 500,000 city residents had lost power.
Only hours earlier, some locals were joking about why they thought Hurricane Sandy was all hype and no danger. Many had been underwhelmed by Hurricane Irene last year, and didn’t take the city’s evacuation warnings seriously.
“It’s going to be the same as last year, just a little bit of water,” said Hemood Ali, who at around 3 p.m. on Monday was working the counter at a grocery store at E. Seventh St. and Avenue D, just within the coastal area that had been under a mandatory evacuation order. He added that it didn’t seem like people on the surrounding blocks had been worried about the impending storm, and there was no rush to buy food and supplies before the hurricane hit.
“What, are you scared of some water?” Ali said.
Alfredo Cintron, a 20-year resident of the Lillian Wald public housing projects — at E. Sixth St. and Ave. D, also just within the evacuation area — explained on Monday afternoon that it wasn’t just a lack of worry that kept many of his neighborhoods in their homes as the storm approached.
“We don’t got no place to go, so of course we’re gonna stay put,” Cintron said, as he walked his dogs through increasingly heavy gusts of wind. “And anyway, we’ve been through worse s—t than this before.”
