Tireless Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer was a speaker at November’s luncheon meeting of the Long Island City/Astoria Chamber of Commerce, held for the first time at Da Gianni restaurant on 44th Drive near 23rd Street. The councilman and every other speaker covered the inescapable topic, Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath; sometimes ranging far from the chamber’s territory–the Rockaways, for instance—for stories of destruction and relief efforts. The fate of the heavily-damaged Waterfront Crabhouse, the restaurant at Second Street and Borden Avenue, which is the usual site of the chamber’s monthly meeting, prompted commentary. Also speaking were representatives of the Economic Development Corporation, Small Business Services and La Guardia Community College’s Department of Small Business Services.
Chamber President Arthur Rosenfield introduced Van Bramer, who began by praising his staff, calling it the hardest-working team he has ever seen. If he is perceived as being everywhere, he said, it is largely owing to the work his staff does getting him there.
He went over some of the sights he has seen near and far since the October 30 storm, among them a vintage automobile place in Hunters Point, near the river, that was wrecked in the storm. Van Bramer said that no possible compensation could make up for a loss of that quality and magnitude. The LIC Bar, 45-58 Vernon Blvd., lost its power and still had not got it back more than two weeks later, while nearby City Vet, 45-44 Vernon Blvd., had its basement flooded and the operating equipment therein ruined. He said he has seen Howard Beach and Broad Channel since the storm and hailed the spirit of the citizens in those places near or at the borough’s southern shore; but he also said the devastation was the worst he had ever seen. The library in Arverne-by-the-Sea recently had a $2 million renovation but got destroyed by Sandy. Libraries in general faced $350 million in funding reductions before the storm. The only repair funding for libraries brought up so far is a $175,000 grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Little Ones Pre-School 4-74 48th Ave., Hunters Point, was damaged considerably and empty quarters intended for another Little Ones school suffered even worse.
The good news includes the restart of school construction and the thought that the riverfront library in Hunters Point suffered no damage since it isn’t built yet. When it is built, on Center Boulevard in Hunters Point, Van Bramer said, the waterside level proposed for it before the storm should be raised,. He was asked about tax advantages for small businesses by Shawn Slevin, who worried about possible business desertion if consideration of its needs is lacking after this disaster. The councilman said he would keep that in mind as further repair expenses are considered. Immediate funding, $500 million worth from the City Council, will go to repairing schools and hospitals. The general feeling of the luncheon attendees about the city’s response to the storm was not favorable. Shawn Slevin, looking at the Rockaways in the storm’s aftermath, said she found public servants superb, particularly the police and firemen, but public service an abomination.
Councilman Van Bramer said Hunters Point’s new library, new school and housing for thousands is thrilling to anticipate, but how is it all to be handled? Hurricane Sandy has thus far been a powerful corrective, but we may not be able to make corrections at a moderate pace. He said he envisions even worse disasters to come. An oddly disturbing memory for him was the way the waters of the East River looked as they rose the day before Sandy struck. In retrospect it seems a warning of frequent troublesome weather from now on. But he’s not intimidated; he said he currently has the best and hardest job he has ever had. One of the luncheon attendees was Tony Meloni, the Astoria activist who is running for the 22nd Council District seat currently held by Peter Vallone Jr., and Van Bramer offered him advice. Running for office is hard, serving in it once elected is harder; so get ready, he said.
The three officials who came to the luncheon meeting to pass on information for those acutely affected by the recent disaster were Rosa Figueroa, director of the Small Business Development Center at La Guardia Community College; Shin Mitsugi, deputy executive director, New York City Industrial Development Agency (NYCIDA) and Build NYC Resource Corp (NYCEDC); and Bernadette Nation, director of the Business Outreach Team/Emergency Response Unit, City Department of Small Business Services.
Figueroa said that federal Small Business Administration officials are currently in place at La Guardia’s disaster relief office. Her advice to interested parties is to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and then go to the SBA people at La Guardia. With SBA, disaster relief applications are direct, with no banks involved. Loans are self-guaranteed; maximum is $2 million. Mitsugi deals in microloans and bridge loans at very low rates. (Hearing them described, one attendee murmured, “1 percent interest? Not bad.”) Nation said she and her office are “your liaison between business and government. . . . We will navigate government for you.” She said she offers a lot of pro bono legal advice, and emphasized that “We are the red tape cutters, we are the bureaucratic navigators.” She spoke so well that when she passed out her cards, many clamored to get one.
Tony Meloni had a word about Tony Mazzarella, owner of the Waterfront Crabhouse, who, though 76 years of age, is determined to rebuild his restaurant, heavily damaged in the storm, particularly from flooding of the interior. He is already in the rebuilding stage and hopes to reopen by spring. Glenn Laga, of Guardian Data Destruction and a chamber board member, sent his trucks to parts of Manhattan after the storm, beginning at Union Square, to give persons from below 34th Street an opportunity to recharge their cell phones, since the storm and failure at one power station cut off electrical energy in the southern part of the island. Another board member, Nick Vaglica, said an old friend of his from Greenpoint, who had moved upstate to Syracuse, heard of his friend Nick’s relief work in the Rockaways and got a notable local company, Hofmann Sausage, to donate a great amount of food to those displaced on the south shore.
