Sandy rips through NYC

Sandy rips through NYC, leaving path of destruction

Tropical storm Sandy swamped Lower Manhattan with a massive surge of seawater Monday and claimed her first life in New York City as she terrorized some 15 million people up and down the East Coast.

NY Daily News,

29 October, 2012

Downgraded from a hurricane, the she-witch storm was still packing plenty of punch with 85mph winds that blew out windows, crumbled building facades, turned city streets into raging rivers, and forced LaGuardia Airport to close due to flooding.

The Vietnam War memorial on the tip of Manhattan was completely underwater and flooding was reported in other low-lying areas in the boroughs and across the river in Brooklyn and Queens.

Con Edison shut down power across large swaths of Lower Manhattan to prevent damage from encroaching seawater, leaving thousands of customers in the dark.

Meanwhile, police in Flushing Queens reported that a 30-year-old man was killed when he was pinned by a fallen tree on 166th Street.

Mayor Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to sit tight as Sandy passed through.

“We’re already seeing significant impact from the storm,” Bloomberg said, “If you’re in your home or somewhere safe where you can remain, stay there. The time for evacuation and relocation is over.”

Governor Cuomo ordered the closure of Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Cross-Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Triborough Bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, and Queensboro Bridge were also closed to traffic.

So was the Tappan Zee Bridge.

While Sandy raged, city inspectors and construction workers were trying to secure a crane that collapsed on top of a luxury skyscraper under construction on W. 57th Street near Seventh Ave. in Manhattan.

It was dangling dangerously from 70 stories over the street while the winds howled and residents of nearby buildings evacuated under a police escort.

In Chelsea, Sandy undermined the facade of a building on 14th Street, and sent the bricks tumbling down. In a flash, dozens of apartments were exposed and firefighters launched a lightning quick evacuation. Nobody was hurt.

The historic Fraunce’s Tavern in Lower Manhattan was also flooded by seawater.

Sandy was a hurricane until 7p.m. when she was downgraded to a massive storm. An hour later, the eye passed over Central New Jersey and was moving westward at 28mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Dubbed the “frankenstorm,” it made landfall at high tide under a full moon -- and instantly turned miles and miles of real estate into oceanfront property.

“Unfortunately, this sort of storm is the worst case scenario for our region,” said Sean Potter, a national weather service spokesman.

Before Sandy arrived in New York City, Bloomberg ordered public transportation shut down and shuttered city schools.

They remained closed on Tuesday.

The flood-prone Holland and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels were also shut down and the FDR Drive from the Battery to 155th Street was closed to traffic after water crashed over the seawall.

Traffic was also barred from the Bronx River Parkway and city officials said that they could shut down the East River bridges if winds got too high.

For now, the Lincoln and Queens-Midtown Tunnels remained open, but Bloomberg cautioned that could change.

Evacuation orders remained in place for 375,000 people in low-lying areas as officials dealt with all the flooding.

President Obama, who called off campaigning and headed back to the White House to direct the storm coverage, urged Americans to heed their warnings. “DO not delay. Don’t pause. Don’t question the instructions that are being given, because this is a serious storm and could have potentially fatal consequences if people haven’t acted quickly,” he said.

Most New Yorkers appeared to be listening and were hunkering down until the storm passes.

Still, thousands were hunkering down in the dark. Some 150,000 Con Edison customers were without electricity.

In addition to Manhattan, the most affected boroughs were Staten Island and Queens.

Outages were reported in Westchester County and more than 100,000 electricity users in Long Island had power failures.

High winds warnings for the five boroughs remain in effect to 6p.m. Tuesday. A coastal flood warning is in place until 3p.m. Tuesday.

New Jersey took a direct hit from Sandy and thousands of homes were either flooded or without power.

Further south, Sandy badly damaged the historic pier in Ocean City, MD and sank a tall ship replica of the HMS Bounty off the North Carolina coast. Most of the crew escaped, but two sailors were still believed missing.

Hurricane Irene battered the city for 12 hours last year. Sandy was expected to pummel the area for 24 to 36 hours, forecaster said.

Mass transit was not expected to resume before Wednesday. Nearly 10,000 fights have been canceled for Monday and Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange, closed for floor trading Monday, and will also be shuttered Tuesday.

With Erica Pearson, Clare Trapasso, Jennifer H. Cunningham, Vera Chinese, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Oren Yaniv, Victoria Cavaliere, Irving DeJohn, Reuven Blau, Rocco Parascandola and Tracy Connor

csiemaszko@nydailynews.com