Robin Hood Foundation Grants for Hurricane Sandy in 2012: Millions Disbursed

Robin Hood Foundation Grants for Hurricane Sandy in 2012: Millions Disbursed (select this link to see a list of grantees)

The Robin Hood Foundation, founded in the 1990s as an antipoverty organization in New York City, made an immense commitment to Hurricane Sandy recovery in Brooklyn and throughout the city. Their name became almost a household word with the "12-12-12" blockbuster concert in December 2012 that sought to raise millions in recovery funds. But even before then, the foundation committed dozens of sizable grants from $25,000 up to $80,000 for dozens of nonprofit groups working in Brooklyn, based in Brooklyn, or who extended some services to storm victims and storm-battered communities in Brooklyn.

One concern with nonprofits and foundations is the question of how much money goes to overhead, and how much to actually helping the cause in question. One of the major features of the Robin Hood Foundation is that as a matter of policy, their deep-pocketed board of directors pays all administrative and fundraising costs. So, a hundred percent of all donations go directly to program, not overhead.

The list, provided by the Robin Hood Foundation, identifies the first "wave" of Hurricane Sandy relief and recovery funding in Brooklyn in 2012, during which $2,370,000 was granted to the organizations below for storm related work.

That period of time, during Thanksgiving and in the ramp-up to Christmas, was particularly poignant.(Read Thanksgiving 2012: Gratitude but Also Grief.

Robin Hood Foundation Grantees for Hurricane Sandy, Through Dec. 15, 2012

(The list does not include recipients of funds raised during the 12-12-12 concert.

Also, all descriptions of the projects listed below are based on information provided directly by the Robin Hood Foundation.)

Filmmaker debuts documentary about his family struggles on PBS

Filmmaker debuts documentary about his family struggles on PBS

(Excerpt)

Growing up in Coney Island, NY, William Caballero describes himself as being an artsy, quirky and nerdy kid who got on everyone’s nerves. Although he always loved his Puerto Rican-American family dearly, he says he always felt like an outsider looking in.

William Caballero with his parents
 on his graduation from
 New York University in 2008.
(Courtesy William Caballero)

He had to look no further than to his not-so-perfect family for inspiration for his first feature-length documentary.  On December 30, “American Dreams Deferred” will be premiering in 26 states on PBS World Channel.

Real Estate Market Along Coast Upended by Hurricane

Real Estate Market Along Coast Upended by Hurricane - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)

John Vento knew exactly how much his home was worth. The retired New York City police officer put his two-family house in the New Dorp Beach area of Staten Island on the market for $580,000 in February. Soon after, he refused an offer of $510,000.

But that was before Mr. Vento and his wife watched from the top floor as 10 feet of water ruined the home in which they had raised their three children. Last week, he sold it for $279,000, less than half his original asking price, unable to wait for a better offer.

“I was fortunate to get what I got,” he said. “I’m 72 years old. What am I going to do? Wait until I’m 82? By that time I’d be living in a nursing home.”
The real estate market along the New York and New Jersey coastlines has been as upended by Hurricane Sandy as the houses tossed from their foundations. In places where waterfront views once commanded substantial premiums, housing prices have tumbled amid new uncertainty about the costs of rebuilding and the dangers of seaside living.

Homeowners have had to decide quickly whether to sell out or pour more money in to fix storm-damaged homes, as the real estate speculators who have descended on these areas make offers that would have been preposterous just two months ago.

Some owners have indignantly balked and even gone so far as to take houses that were already on the market off, waiting for values to rebound. But many others who lack the means or the desire to rebuild say they have no choice but to try to get out from under these properties for whatever they can.

Christmas Sanda

We've seen this before

On Christmas Day hundreds of parks department employees shoveled and swept the sand from the boardwalk.

Again.

Strong winds can easily blow sand onto boardwalk

There is more sand on the boardwalk than last week.  Much of the sand that was already swept off in earlier operations is back and the work to get if off is once again repeated.. 

This is sand that blew back across the boardwalk because

 a) the sand that was swept off the boardwalk was piled too close and too high on the beach near the boardwalk so strong winds easily redeposited the sand back to where it was taken from or/and
 b) no snow fencing to block and reduce the amount of sand blowing from the beach onto the boardwalk.  (existing snow fencing was destroyed by Sandy)

On Ravaged Coastline, It’s Rebuild Deliberately vs. Rebuild Now

AnnMarie Willis and her husband, Bob, have decided to rebuild in Breezy Point

On Ravaged Coastline, It’s Rebuild Deliberately vs. Rebuild Now - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)

The big thinkers have emerged in force since Hurricane Sandy. Environmentalists and academics call for a retreat from rising tides and vulnerable seashores. FEMA pores over flood photos, redefining the areas of highest risk. And city engineers and lawyers revisit building and zoning codes. All hope to ensure that whatever rises from the debris can survive future assaults by extreme weather.

But for all the policy debates, the actual decisions that will shape these communities are already being made by individual homeowners across New York and New Jersey, providing reason to be skeptical that any cohesive, unified vision of a rebuilt coastline will eventually emerge. Unable to wait for updated guidelines, let alone far-reaching plans — or unable to afford the new costs they may entail — many families and business owners are already acting in ways that will determine whether those more ambitious goals can be met.

Their responses range from faithful reconstruction to fatalistic retreat — and embody the essential tension of post-disaster recovery: rebuilding quickly, or rebuilding right.

City Rejects SFS and NBBL's Offer to Settle PPW Bike Lane Suit with New Traffic Safety Study

City Rejects SFS and NBBL's Offer to Settle PPW Bike Lane Suit with New Traffic Safety Study - Windsor Terrace-Kensington, NY Patch

(Excerpt)

Jim Walden, a lawyer representing NBBL and SFS, wrote Michael Cardozo a letter, the Corporation Counsel from New York City Law Department representing the NYC Department of Transportation, proposing to drop the suit if the DOT agrees to hire an independent expert to conduct an “objective study of traffic and safety impacts on Prospect Park West.”

If the study concludes that traffic and safety conditions have improved compared to the period before the bike lane was installed, “we will withdraw the lawsuit,” Walden’s letter read.

But, as Walden’s letter continues, if the study concludes that traffic and safety conditions have not improved, or in fact worsened, “then DOT will concede that the bike lane has failed to achieve its stated objective (calming traffic) and will remove it.”

Coney Island landlord cuts merchants a break

Coney Island landlord cuts merchants a break | Crain's New York Business

A Brooklyn developer is giving back to his storm-tossed stomping grounds.
Thor Equities CEO Joe Sitt is offering to cut rents for four storefronts he owns on Coney Island by 40%. The idea is to lease the spaces to local Brooklyn merchants ahead of the 2013 beach season.
The spaces are small storefronts on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues. Market rate rent would usually be between $50 per square foot and $125 per square foot.
A Thor Equities spokesman noted that Mr. Sitt is from the Coney Island area and that he wanted to make sure his part of Brooklyn didn't get overlooked in recovery efforts. Though the area has recently seen a major revitalization, those efforts were set back by Superstorm Sandy. But as Coney Island cleans up and rebuilds for next year Mr. Sitt wants to do his part.
"South Brooklyn doesn't have all the same amenities that North Brooklyn has now," said the spokesman. "So we want to see who we can get for a really exciting 2013 season."