New York City's billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, stepped out of a helicopter midday Thursday in St. Camillus' parking lot, ironically an Occupy Sandy relief distribution hub in the Rockaways, Queens.
The
visit had been kept under wraps and not listed on his official schedule.
Bloomberg and a small party accompanying him were whisked off in
black cars. He missed a greeting from community members in an area
still reeling from Hurricane Sandy, with quickly-lettered signs:
"Rockaways in Health Crisis," "We Need Safer Housing."
Bloomberg
made his way to the still-shuttered offices of The Wave, the Rockaways
weekly newspaper.
As word spread about the stealth visit, a crowd
gathered outside hoping to explain those signs to the mayor: a month
after Sandy hit, swamping homes with seawater, many residents --
homeowners and tenants -- are still living without electricity, without
heat, without working appliances, with black mold taking hold of walls
and other surfaces. Temporary housing is desperately needed, absentee
landlords must fix their properties.
The mayor
emerged behind a row of police, thanked the group, and was quickly
driven away -- avoiding a repeat of his November 4 visit when residents
lambasted him for ignoring them.
A more detailed statement is available at Occupy Sandy Recovery
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