St. Helen’s provided space for the Howard Beach Senior Center to operate until it moved to its new home this summer. Here, seniors dance at St. Helen’s at the space where individuals were also able to receive counseling and other support to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. File Photo
The view from Msgr. Alfred LoPinto’s office at St. Helen’s Church in Howard Beach is, compared to last year, extraordinary in its ordinariness: There is no sea of floating cars with screaming alarms, no winds whipping around downed wires, no water rushing into buildings and homes.
Instead, there is the hum of construction workers, a mother pushes a child in a stroller, a man lugs grocery bags home. It is a scene of normalcy now vehemently embraced by a community that knows what it is to lose everything to nature – and to then often be left stranded by government and insurance companies.
“There were winds of over 120 miles per hour – they were so strong they were ripping lines from transformers,” LoPinto remembered of the worst night of Hurricane Sandy. “You looked out and there was a river out there. Alarms were going off because the cars were under water. The parking lot was loaded with dead cars; people had brought their cars there because they thought there would never be flooding in St. Helen’s. We never thought the water would come here.”
But, the water came. St. Helen’s sustained about $250,000 in damages, and the church’s furnace had to be replaced, as did part of the electrical system. Additionally, the entire basement of the school, located across the street from the church on 157th Street, had to be rebuilt – including a new cafeteria, a science lab, and the installation of a new hot water heater and kitchen.
Almost immediately after the storm hit, the church opened up Father Dooley Hall as a relief center, from where groups like Catholic Charities and Mayor Bloomberg’s office stationed themselves to assist residents. The National Guard arrived at St. Helen’s with water and ood, and the American Red Cross also came with meals.
At the church, three meals a day were being provided with food from different area businesses, including Ragtime and Gino’s.
People flocked to St. Helen’s – for food, for community and for warmth, as many had lost power and St. Helen’s had managed to secure a generator.
“By that Wednesday, we had the snowstorm, so the heat at Dooley Hall was very important,” LoPinto said. “People were hungry and cold and confused. Many people were walking around in shock. It was a devastating experience.”
St. Helen’s ran the relief center through Thanksgiving – at which time the Lindenwood Alliance gave out free turkeys in front of the church and when LoPinto held a holiday meal, with food cooked by Frank Russo and his team, for hundreds of people.
After Hurricane Sandy, St. Helen’s has opened its space for many community meetings to help residents deal with the fallout from the storm – including this town hall meeting where community members discussed funds for rebuilding and insurance rates.
“I’d approached Frank Russo and asked if he could cook turkeys for our Thanksgiving dinner – he did that and brought everything you could think of for Thanksgiving dinner,” LoPinto said.
Like many of the churches in the area. St. Helen’s played a crucial role for people in the community – and not only because it was providing clothes and food. For many, it was a place where people could go and try to make sense of what had just happened to them – of how it could be that they just lost the longtime home – a place where they raised children, where their parents were born, where they grew up. How was it that in a matter of hours, everything changed?
“People came – particularly seniors,” LoPinto said. “It was a gathering place. People came and shared. They were in shock. There was total disbelief; you couldn’t comprehend what had happened.”
Still, despite the devastation and the surrealness of the entire situation, LoPinto said the residents were amazing in their ability to immediately reach out and lend a helping hand, despite having nothing themselves.
“One of the great things was the community’s ability to support one another,” he said.
Since the hurricane, LoPinto said his church has worked hard to continue to be a space where people can get help – on everything from workshops on how to access various resources to providing space for the Howard Beach Senior Center could operate until it was able to relocate to its permanent home on Cross Bay Boulevard. Additionally, it has provided space for various community forums, including ones for residents to discuss and learn more about the looming skyrocketing flood insurance rates that could occur because of federal legislation that essentially eliminates subsidized flood insurance rates.
“People are having to deal with [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], with insurance – there are a lot of for sale signs going up,” LoPinto said.
But, whatever happens with insurance – or with any future natural disasters – LoPinto said the community at least knows one thing: The residents of South Queens will always look out for one another.
By Anna Gustafson
