Media Coverage
Joseph Tirone Jr., a homeowner, leads the Oakwood Beach Buyout Committee on Staten Island. “These people have been so beat up,” said Mr. Tirone. “It’s just gotten to be too much.”
“Cuomo Seeking Home Buyouts in Flood Zone"
February 2, 2013
"After Sandy, Only a Few Getting Buyouts”
October 28, 2013
The forces of nature had been threatening the Staten Island's Oakwood Beach neighborhood for years, flooding the streets every time it rained, sending crabs skittering into bungalows and swamping basements so regularly that it was just accepted as part of life.
"Managing the Retreat from Rising Seas — Staten Island, New York: Oakwood Beach Buyout Committee and Program”
July 15, 2020
The members of the small community formed the Oakwood Beach Buyout Committee, and petitioned the state government to buy out entire neighborhoods, which resulted in large-scale risk reduction and cost-saving benefits compared to individual buyouts.
Nearly two years after Hurricane Sandy, New York has begun a “managed retreat” from some low-lying areas that are vulnerable to flooding and storm surges. Many residents of the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island have opted into a program that allows them to sell their homes at pre-Sandy value, to the State of New York, which intends to return hundreds of parcels of land to nature.
Staten Islanders are among the beneficiaries of the state’s recently announced $16.7 billion Superstorm Sandy recovery plan, which includes sweeping coastline recovery and protection measures.
"Retreat from the Water’s Edge”
October 16, 2014
"NY to buy homes in NYC neighberhood hit by Sandy”
November 18, 2013
Residents of a flood-prone area battered by Superstorm Sandy are getting a financial lifeline, with state officials announcing a plan to buy all 129 homes in a neighborhood sandwiched between a tidal marsh and the Atlantic Ocean.
"Four Years After Hurricane Sandy, One Neighborhood Gives Itself Back to Nature”
November 4, 2016
Joe Tirone, a real estate agent who owned a house in the neighborhood, felt that it wasn’t safe for people to live there anymore. He hoped to convince the state to buy their property so they could move elsewhere. But first, he needed his neighbors’ consensus. After giving a presentation at a local meeting, “I asked how many people would be interested, and I was totally floored,” Tirone says. “The entire place—200-plus people—all said yes.”
A Staten island neighbohood where three people died during Superstorm Sandy will be the first to get state-sponsored home buyouts.
While many city neighborhoods hit by Hurricane Sandy have yet to rebuild, Staten Island's Oakwood Beach is returning to its original state at breakneck speed.
In the four years since Hurricane Sandy, no neighborhood in New York City has changed as radically as Oakwood Beach in Staten Island.
On the southern shore of Staten Island, the remains of a street called Kissam Avenue stretch across the marshland, a trail of ruins leading to the sea. When Pedro Correa first drove down the street six years ago with his wife, their young son and a real estate agent, he was amazed that a street so secluded and serene still existed in a city of eight million people.
"Gov. Cuomo to Sandy victims on the coasts: Sell your house”
January 24, 2013
ALBANY — Go.v Cuomo wants Hurricane Sandy victims who live along the coast to consider rebuilding their homes on stilts or selling their houses to the state and relocating.
"Staten Island's Hurricane Sandy Damage Sheds Light On Complicated Political Battle”
December 6, 2012
"Coastal Recovery Plan Emphasizes ‘Living Shorelines’”
January 12, 2014
"Four years after Sandy, Staten Island's shoreline is transformed”
October 27, 2016
"Hurricane Sandy final blow: Staten Island neighborhood abandons all hope as residents seek buyout”
February 17, 2013
They’ve had enough.
On the far end of Staten Island on a vulnerable patch of marshland, a collection of modest bungalows was hit so hard by Hurricane Sandy that the entire neighborhood is getting ready to pack up and leave.
"Staten Island Hit by Sandy Chosen for Buyouts”
February 25, 2013
"Oakwood Beach: Sell Out, Tear Down and Leave”
October 22, 2014
"Stories From Main Street: S.I Sandy Victim Getting New Custom Guitar From Brooklyn Man”
January 28, 2013
"The entire house was just covered in sewage, in mud," said Andrew Carro of Oakwood Beach, Staten Island.
"Staten Island homeowners in Limbo”
May 3, 2013
A few weeks ago, in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island, it looked almost as though some sort of neighborhood reunion was taking place. Former residents milled about chatted amicably in what remained of the seaside community where Superstorm Sandy left three dead. scores of properties either destroyed or badly damaged, and many people still homeless.
"Oakwood Beach Buyouts”
Joe Tirone was familiar with seasonal flooding and more than once had to repair his Oakwood Beach bungalow rental property. After Hurricane Sandy, he said no more.
"State expands Buyout Program to Staten Island's Graham Beach”
April 7, 2014
The state has expanded its buyout program for homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy to to the Graham Beach neighborhood, New York State's Office of Storm Recovery announced over the weekend.
"Fighting for Retreat after Sandy: The Ocean Breeze Buyout Tent on Staten Island”
April 23, 2014
On October 29, 2012, Staten Island, a borough of New York City, was on the front line when Hurricane Sandy ravaged the coast. Today, residents of the East Shore, directly exposed to the ocean, show how inhabitants can mobilize to transform vulnerable parts of coastal cities into a natural protection for the rest.
"IN A GLOBAL WARMING WORLD: PROTECT AND REBUILD OR RETREAT?”
January 28, 2014
“Everybody had just finished their renovation from Irene … and then, a month or two later, this storm comes and that was the knockout punch.” — Joe Tirone
"After Sandy, Staten Island Community Chooses State Buyout”
January 16, 2014
As demolitions begin, Staten Islanders still grappling with reality of returning land to nature.
"Sandy-Shaken Staten Island Applauds Cuomo's Proposal To Buy Out Destroyed Homes”
February 4, 2013
Three weeks after Hurricane Sandy destroyed his home, Joe Monte stood up at a meeting of Staten Island storm survivors and implored them to give up on any hopes of rebuilding. "I personally don't want no bleach, no sheetrock, that's not what we're here for," he said. "That area was meant for doing what it did a hundred years ago: to take water."
"Fox Beach Fades To Green”
October 22, 2014
Located in the borough of Staten Island in New York, Fox Beach was the sort of neighborhood where teachers, firefighters, cops and sanitation workers could have their own version of the good life, digging for clams on Midland Beach, fishing for stripers off the pier.
"After Sandy, resilience for some means rebuilding somewhere else”
October 29, 2013
Fox Beach was the first Sandy-stricken area to be offered the option: Sell your destroyed home to the state at pre-disaster value (with additional incentives to make moving on easier) and the state will demolish it and not allow the land to be redeveloped.
"After The Waves, Staten Island Homeowner Takes Sandy Buyout”
October 29, 2014
Two years after Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast, hundreds of Staten Islanders are deciding whether to sell their shorefront homes to New York state, which wants to knock them down and let the empty land act as a buffer to the ocean.
"Sandy Spurs Call to Buy Up Homes”
January 11, 2013
Homeowners in a four-block portion there are pushing for a federal buyout of their homes. Out of 165 homes in the area, which dates to the 1920s, owners of 106 have signed a petition in favor of a buyout.
"Should worst-flooded areas be left after Sandy?”
January 21, 2013
Superstorm Sandy, one of the nation's costliest natural disasters, is giving new urgency to an age-old debate about whether areas repeatedly damaged by storms should be rebuilt, or whether it might be cheaper in the long run to buy out vulnerable properties and let nature reclaim them.
"Leaving the Sea: Staten Islanders Experiment with Managed Retreat”
February 11, 2015
In Oakwood Beach, Staten Island, an often-overlooked cranny of the city’s “forgotten borough,” the unthinkable is happening — seaside homes of longtime New Yorkers, sold to the State, are being razed to return the neighborhood to wetlands.
"Recovery Failure: Why we struggle to rebuild for the next storm”
June 8, 2025
Joe Tirone, a local realtor who organized one of the nation's first large-scale home buyouts in the Oakwood Beach neighborhood, wasn't sure, at first, if his neighbors were going to want to take part.
"The Disaster to Come: New York's Next Superstorm”
November 25, 2025
It drives Joe Tirone, a real estate broker in Staten Island, crazy. “There is no fear whatsovever,” he said during a tour of Midland Beach, a neighborhood known for its historic bungalows.
"Unprepared: There is No Plan”
June 8, 2025
SULLIVAN: It was hard to find people who thought the recovery had turned out well, even people who decided not to rebuild at all, like Joe Tyrone. He's a local realtor, known for organizing one of the nation's first large-scale home buyout programs in Staten Island's Oakwood Beach neighborhood.
"Homes previously considered as less at risk of flooding face new danger due to climate change”
September 2, 2021
Joe Tirone was one of hundreds in Staten Island who lost their home in Superstorm Sandy in 2012. It's hard to imagine that where a marsh stands now, there were once several streets full of homes.
“Stories From Those On The Frontlines Of Sea Level Rise"
October 29, 2021
They had a meeting. And at the very end, they said is this guy, Joe Tirone, he’s an investor, he wants to tell us about a program he learned about the government. So I got to explain the program. And then I said, How many people here would be interested? There’s about 200 people in the auditorium.
"City Eyes New Push to Buy Out Flood-Prone Houses as Climate Change Hits Home”
October 26, 2021
When Patricia Snyder’s oceanside bungalow was demolished, relief washed over her like a wave.
"This NYC Realtor’s Most Memorable Deal? Selling His Flood-Ravaged Neighborhood to the Government”
February 22, 2018
After Hurricane Sandy, Joseph Tirone Jr. helped one Staten Island community navigate New York State’s pilot buyout program. Now he’s on a mission to show others how he did it.
"It's coming down like it's a little doll house," said Joe Tirone.
"State tears down second house in Staten Island's Oakwood Beach under buyout program (with photos/video)”
November 27, 2013
Staten Island lawmakers on Monday said they backed Gov. Andrew Cuomo's ambitious proposal to buy and demolish homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy and permanently preserve the land as undeveloped coastline
"Staten Island lawmakers back Cuomo proposal to buy and demolish homes destroyed by Sandy”
February 5, 2013
"One year later, Oakwood Beach is lost to Sandy”
October 28, 2013
He says the buyout will save FEMA money in the long run – not having to repeatedly pay out to save or rebuild homes here.
"The Slow, Uneven Rebuilding After Superstorm Sandy”
October 28, 2013
After Hurricane Sandy, the south shore of Staten Island looked like it had been hit by a tsunami. The storm surge devastated whole neighborhoods suddenly, in a matter of hours. In the year since the storm, some families have been rebuilding their homes and their lives. Others are ready to sell their flood-damaged properties and move on..
"Sandy buy-out offers in Staten Island's Oakwood Beach are 'on the money' (photos)”
September 13, 2013
As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaches, battered homeowners in Oakwood Beach have begun receiving buyout letters from the state -- and they say the offers are "right on the money."
"Gov. Andrew Cuomo expands Staten Island Sandy buyout zone in Oakwood Beach”
August 19, 2013
The Cuomo administration has enhanced the home buyout zone in a portion of Oakwood Beach ravaged by superstorm Sandy.
"Hurricane Sandy Buyouts Cause Storm Of Confusion, Worry From Politicians”
May 1, 2013
After the lives of three of its residents were lost during Hurricane Sandy and flooding destroyed a number of the small bungalows that make up the community, more than a few people who live in Fox Beach were ready to abandon the previously idyllic area.
"Buyouts for Staten Island's Sandy victims inching toward reality”
Februrary 21, 2013
A plan for storm-weary Staten Islanders, whose homes have been ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, to sell their residences to the government is definitely a go, according to local and community representatives.
"Staten Islanders call on Cuomo to buy out Sandy-wrecked homes”
February 5, 2013
Residents in the Oakwood Beach and Fox Beach sections of Staten Island overwhelmingly want a buyout Gov. Cuomo is proposing for victims of superstorm Sandy, the island’s state senators said yesterday.
"Should We Cease to Build in Harm's Way”
February 15, 2013
New York's Governor Cuomo says the lesson of Superstorm Sandy is the vulnerability of coastal development to climate change. Instead of rebuilding damaged properties, he wants to buy them up and restore their natural condition.