Media Coverage
The New York Times
“Cuomo Seeking Home Buyouts in Flood Zone” February 2, 2013
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.”
NPR
“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.
The New Yorker
“Retreat from the Water’s Edge” October 16, 2014
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.
Epoch Times
“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.
Epoch Times
“Coastal Recovery Plan Emphasizes ‘Living Shorelines” January 12, 2014
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.
NBC
“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.
AP News
“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.
NPR
“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.
New York Daily News
“Hurricane Sandy final blow: Staten Island neighborhood abandons all hope as residents seek buyout” February 17, 2013
New York Post
“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.
CBS Local
“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.
Huff Post
“Staten Island's Hurricane Sandy Damage Sheds Light On Complicated Political Battle” December 6, 2012
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.
NRDC
“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.
Silive
“Staten Island lawmakers back Cuomo proposal to buy and demolish homes destroyed by Sandy” March 4, 2019
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.
Silive
“Gov. Andrew Cuomo expands Staten Island Sandy buyout zone in Oakwood Beach” March 3, 2019
The Cuomo administration has enhanced the home buyout zone in a portion of Oakwood Beach ravaged by superstorm Sandy.
Silive
“State tears down second house in Staten Island's Oakwood Beach under buyout program (with photos/video)” January 3, 2019
"It's coming down like it's a little doll house," said Joe Tirone.
Metropolitics
"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.
DNA Info
“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.
Aljazeera
"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 predisaster value (with additional incentives to make moving on easier) and the state will demolish it and not allow the land to be redeveloped.
KRCW
“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.'
Huffpost
“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."
New York Daily News
"Gov. Cuomo to Sandy victims on the coasts: Sell your house”
January 24, 2013
Washington Examiner
“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.
Wall Street Journal
"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.
ABC News
"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.
The City
“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.
Silive
“Buyouts for Staten Island's Sandy victims inching toward reality” March 4, 2019
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.
Silive
“Sandy buy-out offers in Staten Island's Oakwood Beach are 'on the money' (photos)” January 3, 2019
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."
Aljazeera
“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.
Ensia
"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
MarketPlace
"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.
Gotham Gazette
"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.