10/27/2013
By Ivan Pereira
At the South Street Seaport, tourists and New Yorkers arrive daily for the latest deals.
In Coney Island, people are out catching a bite at Nathan’s Famous and other restaurants before the cold really hits in.
And along Beach Channel Drive, some surf shops and other beach-themed restaurants are closing up following a disappointing summer season.
Superstorm Sandy affected more than 23,000 business throughout the five boroughs, and shop owners worked hard to get to this point, but they say they still have a long way to go before they’re back to normal.
The way back
“It’s going to take a few years, definitely, but we’ve got the strength to get through it together,” said Amanda Zink, the owner of the Salty Paw pet grooming store in the South Street Seaport.
Zink, like many of her neighbors on Front Street, lost everything when 11-foot-high water flooded her shop during the Oct. 29 storm. She mostly had to use her own money to get it back and running 11 months later.
Despite the hardships, Zink, a married mother of two who lives in downtown Manhattan, said the community is optimistic and constantly tries to display its high spirits with many events, including a block party two weeks ago to commemorate the anniversary of the storm.
The city has paid out $185 million in grants and loans to pay for renovations and flood mitigation work for affected small businesses, but groups say the process for getting that funding has been complicated.
Chuck Reichenthal, the district manager of Brooklyn’s Community Board 13, which covers Coney Island, said a lot of boardwalk businesses had a hard time hashing out the paperwork. Then they played the waiting game for financial aid.
“Information was helter-skelter and sometimes conflicting,” he said.
Help from city
Mayor Michael Bloomberg brought federal officials to the affected business districts in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
When he stopped by Goodfellas Pizzeria in Staten Island in February, the mayor said many of the borough’s shop owners had to deal with dual headaches, since many of them also lived in the area and lost their homes.
Owners who work in the borough’s commercial strips like Midland Avenue and Hylan Boulevard, where several stores are still undergoing repairs, said they had to open with what they had despite not being back to 100%, because their neighbors not only depended on their services, but also they wanted a sense of normalcy.
Despite the mayor’s reassurances, business owners in beach areas said they couldn’t wait for government assistance and banded together to regroup by the summer.
Reichenthal said there were only two businesses on Surf Avenue in Coney Island that haven’t reopened yet, and the 10 million visitors who soaked up the sun this summer acted as if nothing had changed.
“In terms of people visiting, yes, it was enormous. The events went and everyone was happy,” Reichenthal said.
In the Rockaways, which had 3.3 million visitors this summer, compared with 7.8 million last year, businesses have more work cut out for them.
The peninsula’s iconic boardwalk is still waiting for restoration, and many people have the mistaken notion that the community is a wasteland, according to Jonathan Gaska, the district manager for Queens Community Board 14.
“A lot of mom and pops begged, borrowed and saved to get back up and running,” said Gaska, who estimated that 40% to 50% of businesses are still under repair.
Volunteers lend a hand
Dan Tubridy, the owner of the Bungalow Bar and Restaurant on 377 Beach 92nd St. in the Rockaways, said the rebound wasn’t as hard thanks to the tremendous support that came from outside the city. Not only did volunteers come out in droves to help rebuilding, such as the crew from the Spike TV business fix-it show “Bar Rescue,” they helped to get the word out and bring in customers.
“When they see you suffering, people really care. And we’re grateful for their help,” Tubridy said.
The business owners agreed that their loyal customers have given them the will to keep on, despite the setbacks and delays.
“I will admit, there were times when people here thought about throwing in the towel, including myself,” Zink said. “But there was one time where I met a girl outside the store and she asked, ‘You’re coming back, right?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’ “
