January 29, 2013
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building 
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

My name is Joseph —— and I am a homeowner in Oakwood Beach, Staten Island. On behalf of myself, my wife Lori, and our two daughters, Samantha and Nicolette, we want to be on the list of homeowners to be bought out due to the devastation brought on by Hurricane Sandy. Our family (including two large dogs) have had enough and made the decision to never return the day after “Sandy” struck. We not longer want to live our lives worrying about the next flood and having the add-on stress of packing our bags (and dogs) and seeing where and with whom we are all going to stay, not to mention having to deal with the task of cleaning up the mess afterwards. We expanded to a beautiful, five-bedroom, Nantucket-looking house from a two-bedroom bungalow. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into the creation of that house for all of us to enjoy, which we really did. But the final straw was “Sandy’s” devastation and the death of nearby neighbors that made the decision for us to leave our house behind and wait to be bought out very easy. 

Sincerely, 

Joe ———
— Fox Beach Avenue (BLOCK 4802, LOT)
Staten Island, NY 10306

To whom it may concern, 

We are writing this to you to join the petition requesting a government buyout for our property located at — Fox Beach Avenue, SI NY 10306. On October 29th 2012 we were trapped by flood waters that rose so high so quickly that we barely managed to escape up into a small crawl space in the attic of our home. We struggled to stay calm for the almost 12 hours that we were there, watching the water levels rise to over 8 feet in our home, ending just below the ceilings, and the space we were hiding in. We will never be able to express the sheer terror of watching the rushing waters come flooding into our home, thru the doors and up thru the floors in a matter of seconds. We were waist high in sea water in the time it took to run from one room into the other. We were preparing to evacuate our home late in the afternoon of the 29th, when the power failed and the waters came. We never thought or expected that the entire Atlantic Ocean would flow right through our house, but that is still what happened. 

We will never be able to feel safe or secure in that house again. One thing that is important to understand is that this house was my husband's childhood home, a home he loved so much that even though the house was paid off by his late parents we re-purchases the house from his siblings, because he could not bear the thought of leaving his home, his community, our neighbors. And for a few years we lived and loved in that house in more ways than I can express. But now that it is gone, pushed aside by the tide waters and residual ocean debris. We hope this has given you a small idea of just how much our home and neighborhood meant to us, and what it means what we say we are frightened to ever live here again. Our hearts are broken, but we are still standing, please don’t let finances be the reason more lives are lost when the next storm hits Staten Island. 

BUY US OUT, PLEASE!

Sincerely,
Formerly of — Foxbeach Avenue

Angela —
Fox beach Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10306

My story is different then the other stories you will hear. I can attest to the flooding in the neighborhood after a few days of rain, to the brush fires that happen nearly every year, to the fear we all now have since we have no protection from the ocean. I cannot tell you these stories as a homeowner, but I can tell you as someone who has lived there for their entire life. My father, Leonard ——— passed away due to Hurricane Sandy in our house. He had lived here since he was 6 years old and had seen storm after storm come through the neighborhood- never could he have imagined the destruction that this storm caused. No one could. Going back to the neighborhood post-Sandy is something that I will never forget. To see the damage that was caused is something that will stick with me forever. To lose a parent and our house in one fell swoop is something that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Our neighborhood is the perfect candidate for a buyout because there were not only property losses that are beyond one’s wildest imaginations, but we suffered 3 losses of life on just one block. In addition to that, our protection from the ocean is no longer there- this damage we experienced was with the berm in place- to ask us to continue to live there without any protection at all is putting everyone’s lives in jeopardy.

Thank you Gov. Cuomo for considering our neighborhood for a buyout.

January 27, 2013

I have lived on Fox Beach Avenue since 1993. I first rented the house at —— Fox Beach and then loved the area so much that when a house on the block went on the market I could not think of a better place to purchase and move into. I loved living near the beach. I would go down to the beach every day after work and fish or walk to the beach line. The neighbors and the community were fantastic. Everyone watched out for each other. We were a family community, so it was no surprise that when my parents passed away in Connecticut some of my Oakwood Beach family came up to pay their respects for my family. Throughout the years we have relied on each other for anything and everything. From taking in one's mail to walking a friend's dog. The week before the storm everyone met on the block to decide what to do. Many of us decided that since hurricane Irene really didn’t turn out to be as bad as predicted then maybe we would take our chances and not leave this time either. I decided that I was going to bring as much of my stuff in the basement up to the first floor. I figured at least if water got into the basement the first floor would be safe. I was wrong. My family finally convinced me that nothing was going to be safe and that the weather people were predicting that the storm surge was going to be very high, and that high tide and a full moon was going to make this storm worse than the 1992 storm. My family finally convinced me to leave. I went to stay at a friend's house only to return the next day to a war zone. This storm had not only damaged property but I lost three friends on the block. The fear of living in this neighborhood with the brush fires and previous floods had escalated to a new level. I no longer feel that it is safe to live in this neighborhood. Between the yearly brush fires from the weeds on Fox lane to the storms that seem to be happening more and more, I no longer feel safe. When I am at my house, or what is left of it, I feel sick knowing that three of my friends passed away on the block. This neighborhood is not safe and will never be safe. I do not want to rebuild.

Fox beach Avenue Block number 4791, Lot numbers —

My husband and I, purchased our home in 1988. We raised our 2 children there. We saved our money for 20 years, before deciding to add an extension to our home. We waited for the Army Corps of Engineers emergency storm protection project to be complete before doing so. It took us years of red tape and fortitude to undertake such a project, but we were so happy to stay in such an idyllic and serene community. We endured the ‘92 NorEaster, when our then 3 year old son was taken to safety by our neighbors, and rescued by FDNY rowboats while we tried to salvage personal belongings from our home, we had 5 ft of water in the house then, and rebuilt, under the assumption better protection from the ocean would help us in the future. Here we are 20 years later, and no wiser, just older, and no longer as optimistic about living near the shoreline. Although the integrity of the house is intact, the newer portion of the house that was built to recommended elevations, I believe 11ft… we were still underwater in both the original portion, and the addition.

As much as I love where we live, it is no longer a place to call home, there are many factors that contribute to the flooding conditions in Oakwood Beach. The berm, sea wall, bulkhead, floodgate, and creek have all been failing in recent years, and have created flood contributions during high tide and full moon events, without storms in the area.

The stress that my family endures in the days leading up to an impending storm is most likely going to cause a heart attack. We have to routinely carry things up from the basement and garage and 1st floors to escape water damages. 

We have returned to our home to live since this Hurricane Sandy paid us a visit, but we have returned to remove almost everything that we own that escaped the damage, and we have moved into a house that we are now renting, while still paying for a mortgage. We don’t know how we are going to afford food, or regular expenses, but we will not live at — Fox beach Avenue. We are approximately 300 ft from the Ocean, and can now see it crashing where there was once a berm, giving the entire neighborhood ZERO protection from the ocean. 

The only way for this community, the families that we call friends and neighbors to survive, is to allow us to participate in a buyout from the government, so that we can move on to the next chapter of our lives.

Dear Government Officials, 

I am writing this letter to you to express the necessity of a buyout for Oakwood Beach. On a usual rainfall our neighborhood floods. Before our basements flood we stay up all night manning the pumps and hoses to make sure they are running and the position of hoses are correctly placed through the night and with that being said it leads me to the cruel night of hurricane Sandy when it took 3 lives in our neighborhoods with tides of 15 feet of sea water rolling down Fox Beach Avenue, along with water from creeks nearby and waste from sewer plant systems. Our homes were destroyed and left the people in our neighborhoods without a place to live. It took our whole life to build our homes to status quo and just take them down in a flash. We did not have the right protection to begin with; our Burm, creeks and flood gate were in disrepair. There have been many letters of complaints to address this but it was not addressed in time. The people now feel unsafe, to say the least. We are told that there is a Blue Belt project which will bring more water to our area. We are surrounded by wetlands and the sewage plant. This is a great way to help the Blue Belt Project and the buyout will help us to live safely somewhere else. This is a good way to give the area back to nature. With this being said please buy us out at 100% Pre-Sandy value. 

Block 4792 Lot —— Fox Beach Ave - Staten Island, New York 10306