Occupy Sandy

The story of Hurricane Sandy and the destruction wrought by her force has been told countless times. No power for weeks, downed trees, and dangerous conditions. Photos of people banding together as a community to help each other recover from the damage. But one story is just starting to be recognized by major media outlets like the NY Times and MSNBC, and the full details have not yet been revealed. That story is how Occupy Sandy, a movement that shares certain characteristics with Occupy Wall Street but is also distinctly different from it, has met or even surpassed the efforts of government organizations like FEMA in order to help those affected by the storm.

Most of the movement's effectiveness stems from the fact that it has no "administrative overhead," and its volunteers do not feel that they are completing a service which they should be paid back for, but rather completing an obligation to humanity. It is for this reason that their work in the relief effort is not called charity, or chesed for those who are Jewish, and there are many Jewish volunteers, but rather" mutual aid." This term indicates that a person cannot just give and be done with it, but instead must make ongoing contributions to the relief effort. It also points to the importance of giving effectively. Raiding your closet and giving all your old summer tanktops, or giving large quantities of perishable food is not really going to help the victims. Fundamental to what the movement is doing is the understanding that for the time being, differences in political agendas must be partially cast aside to better alleviate the suffering of hurricane victims. Cooperation is essential, even with organizations such as the NYPD, that have had a long history of clashes with occupiers. This produces a serious dilemma for those involved in the movement: "As Occupy gains mainstream acceptance and recognition and cooperates with the government, are the initial principles being lost?"

Former Flatbush student and current Occupy Sandy volunteer Yoni Miller answered many important questions about the exact efforts of the movement.

Q: What conflicts have arisen from cooperation with local government organizations, specifically with the NYPD?

A: Some numbers to note, we have over 35 distribution hubs all over NY, working with community based organizations, religious institutions, NGO's (non-governmental organizations) and even Christine Quinn's Office (Democrat, Speaker of the NYC Council), Mayor's office, NYPD, National Guard, and the Red Cross. Some people view these relations as very positive developments, but it is important to note that Occupy Sandy specifically does not want to develop formal relations with these bodies, many who just a year ago violently evicted and shut down Zucotti Park (the main site of Occupy Wall Street protests in Lower Manhattan from September to November of last year) as part of a legally disputed raid. It is important to understand that many of the 47 deaths in NYC were preventable, but because the National Guard enforced an evening curfew, NYPD arrested those looting food, and even threatened lines of people with arrest if they didn't go away, due to "unsafe crowd conditions", the number of fatalities was higher than necessary. (Sic) The National Guard also ran through a red light and killed a Chinese immigrant in the Lower East Side. In the projects (New York City Housing Authority) people's electricity is still not working, basements are flooded, and pipes are clogged. It is illegal to assist the people in these sanctioned ghettos, but there will come a certain point where Occupy will have to defy immoral laws, and step in. Most of the food we handed out violated Bloomberg's regulations on distribution of food.

Q: Why exactly was the number of fatalities higher due to government intervention?

A: In Far Rockaway, the first 2 weeks (post disaster) curfews of 6pm were enforced, preventing aid from coming through, and the worst was during the Nor'Easter when FEMA left because of the storm, leaving us with bigger tasks ahead of us. Coney Island NYPD protected private property over anything else. In RedHook, NYPD maintained law and order, as bed bound elders literally died from dehydration. We had to illegally open the only medical clinic in the area, and provide our own insulin, generators and other resources. It is scandalous that the city wants to claim a positive role in all of this, when it was already too late on many counts. In Lower East Side, the 7th precinct was directed to the CAAAV (Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence) center, while also harassing and threatening the crowds that amassed there. When people get evicted from their homes, the police are following orders, not serving the people. Make no mistake, that Occupy will not collaborate with these violent and racist institutions.

Q: How is Occupy Sandy connected to Occupy Wall Street?

A: People like to proclaim that Occupy has now focused on disaster relief, on the contrary we were built on disaster relief from (the effects of) Wall Street and capitalism. Occupy Sandy is not an offshoot of OWS, it is one of the many exciting projects that we are undertaking. We will be seeing over the next few months rent strikes, eviction resistance networks, and self sustaining communities, doing what FEMA, Bloomberg, and Andrew Cuomo are paid to do, only we don't get paid. The same networking skills I've used to help mobilize a 15,000 person strong anti fascist demonstration against NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) I am now using to organize the 30,000 #SandyVolunteers, $600,000 in liquid cash, and the millions more in material aid, but none of this would be substantial if it were not for our principles of solidarity- not charity-and an understanding that recovery is and should be political.

The gap between what government organizations have been doing and what needs to be done to help victims is illustrated further in a video segment from PBS News Hour (it can be viewed here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs3F-MpDXD4). Residents of the Rockaway Peninsula describe how FEMA has mostly been unhelpful. Detailed footage of the destruction is shown as well as scenes of Occupy Sandy volunteers working with the National Guard to clean garbage from the street. Occupy worker Shlomo Roth, in regular circumstances a real estate agent, explains that many people are still left without running water or power. He also describes the fear that not enough has been done in Rockaway, and that if the pace is not stepped up he is scared of what he'll be confronted with the next time he opens someone's door. In a later discussion Mr.Roth clarified that he is afraid of finding seniors who are disabled and have been bed bound with no aid, left to fend for themselves in possibly dangerous conditions. These conditions might be worsened by the growth of toxic mold.

On whether or not the gap left by government organizations can be filled in by Occupy Sandy, Mr.Roth says that he has seen an amazing amount of collaboration, and although Occupy Sandy is connected to Occupy Wall Street, a tremendous amount of volunteers have come through who had no previous ties to the Occupy movement. Technology has been a major factor in such massive turnouts, such as the 30000 volunteers previoisly mentioned by Mr.Miller. Roth also said that the main difference between Occupy's approach to relief and the approach of other organizations is that Occupy focuses on working with victims as humans, rather than having lines of people waiting to receive food. People have put aside race and other considerations which have been divisive in the past, and worked to help one another. He says he has seen hardcore anarchists serving kosher food to Jewish victims.

Still, rebuilding many commmunities which were totally decimated by the storm, especially Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, and other Rockaway neighborhoods, will take years. Mr.Roth sees the rebuilding process as a silver lining to all the grief that has resulted from the storm. He says this can afford hard-hit communities a unique opportunity to revision the way that their communities work, and incorporate new ideas, such as better architecture (to better survive any future storms), and green power.

After such a massive show of solidarity and people with the desire to help out, can Occupy Sandy fully complete the work left unfinished by government organizations? For now that question remains unanswered.