- Families, elderly people and young residents were seen sifting through garbage outside a Key Food supermarket in the East Village yesterday
- Store had discarded piles of food that had gone bad after Hurricane Sandy
- Both Lower East Side and East Village neighborhoods have been in dark since Monday and power isn’t expected to be restored before tomorrow
- Death toll passes 90 and continues to rise
New Yorkers have resorted to digging through filthy dumpsters for food ahead of their fourth night without power and, for many, without water.
Shocking images captured groups of residents sifting through garbage outside a Key Food supermarket at Avenue A and East 4th Street in the East Village yesterday.
Families, elderly people and young residents were seen climbing into the dumpster hunting for whatever they could find to eat.
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Hungry: Families, elderly people and young residents were seen climbing into the East Village dumpster, pictured, for whatever they could find to eat
Desperate: Residents in parts of New York without power are becoming increasingly desperate as the days wear on
Shopping carts full of food await disposal at the Fairway supermarket in in Brooklyn. The food was contaminated by flood waters that rose to approximately four feet
The Fairway supermarket in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn was broached by four feet of floodwater
Shopping without the supermarket: A customer browses food piled into shopping carts on Brighton Beach Avenue
According to NBC New York, whose crews came across the shocking scene, the local supermarket had discarded piles of food that had gone bad after Hurricane Sandy shut down power in the area on Monday.
The dumpster divers in the East Village pried open the overflowing bin before climbing inside to pick through the garbage for something to eat or take home to their families.
The Lower East Side and East Village neighborhoods have both been in darkness for days.
As the death toll passes 90 and continues to rise, thousands of apartments, bodegas and restaurants remained closed yesterday after they were flooded and left without power during the storm.
Some have been selling their wares for cash, as their credit card facilities are disabled while others were giving away perishables earlier in the week while they were still edible.
The desperate situation, which is seeing both neighborhoods appear more and more like a war zone, is expected to continue.
Four days after superstorm Sandy lashed the East Coast with high winds and a huge storm surge, thee city is still recovering from the devastating effects
Poignant: A child’s doll lies discarded in the mud following Sandy’s impact on New York City
Shelters: Many residents have been in shelters for days as they wait to return home
Destruction: A New York house reduced to ruins by the devastating force of Hurricane Sandy
Traffic is backed up on 10th Avenue: The city will take weeks to recover from the widespread damage
Hundreds of residents of downtown Manhattan are still living in shelters after Sandy left their buildings uninhabitable.
One shelter is allowing people to power up their phones to make calls to let friends and family members know how they are doing, although many are still unable to get a signal.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city will send bottled water and ready-to-eat meals into the hardest-hit neighborhoods throughout the weekend, but some New Yorkers, dispirited after days without power, water and heat, decided to get out.
‘It’s dirty, and it’s getting a little crazy down there,’ said Michael Tomeo, who boarded a bus to Philadelphia with his four-year-old son. ‘It just feels like you wouldn’t want to be out at night. Everything’s pitch dark. I’m tired of it, big-time.’
Clean water: Residents fill up with water from a water refill station in New York
National Guardsmen load bottled water at Floyd Bennet Field for delivery to neighborhoods that were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy
Hauled away: Garbage men disposed dozens of shopping carts full of ruined goods on Wednesday at the Fairway supermarket in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York
Resourceful: Some people have taken to filling up buckets of drinking water from fire hydrants to survive
Always upbeat: Determined New Yorkers show their spirit is not flagging as they continue the clear-up
Rima Finzi-Strauss decided to take the bus to Washington, DC. When the power went out on Monday night in her apartment building on the Lower East Side, it also disabled the electric locks on the front door, she said.
‘We had three guys sitting out in the lobby last night with candlelight, and very threatening folks were passing by in the pitch black,’ she said. ‘And everyone’s leaving. That makes it worse.’
Rosemarie Zurlo said she planned to leave Manhattan for her sister’s place in Brooklyn because her own apartment was freezing – but she was worried she wouldn’t make it back.
‘I don’t have three people to put in my car,’ she said.
‘I’ve been stranded here for five days,’ said Stuart Zager, who is from Brooklyn and was trying to get to his place in Delray Beach, Florida.
‘I’m afraid to get on the Jersey Turnpike. On half a tank, I’ll never make it.’
Just a few weeks ago I saw Spain digging thtu dumpsters for food also going into the stores and taking three tons of food I said it is going to happen here well part one is in progress part two on the way riots are coming unrest is here already people suffering all around us nothing is going to be the same
The biggest mistake we are making is putting our faith into the government to take care of us. It’s sort of like putting all your eggs in one basket… It’s sort of like a parent trying to take care of so many children at once that those children become neglected in many ways..
So if each state prepared to take care of their children in disasters, doesn’t that make more sense? Maybe the government should return some of that tax money to each state for a disaster fund to prepare and have a vault ready for disaster.
America is naive in thinking we can’t become a third world country because America has been so spoiled.. Until now.. And it will only get worse because of being naive..
doomsday preppers say “we told you so!”
Yes a lot of those shopping carts have food in them that is perfectly fine!
Just clean the canned goods or the jars, anything that is sealed is good as long as it does
not have to be refrigerated prior to opening/eating. And people say preppers are crazy, anybody who had a couple weeks supply of food and essentials is doin pretty good right now.
I do feel bad for everybody in NY and NJ, but we all need to be a little preparred for emergency situations. God Bless You All.
I could not agree more Paul. Who knows what might hit you as an emergency in the future..it can be the weather, power cuts…even politics these days. The people did have quite a lot of warning to prepare a few supplies….unfortunately there isn’t much you can do for the huge amount of destruction that hit them. The emergency supplies need to be there with them NOW as there are signs another storm is going to hit them next week…..nothing like Sandy but enough to cause more damage and increase their suffering.