FrankRep
11-03-2012, 01:23 PM
Queens residents arm themselves in the post-storm blackout from looters (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/queens-residents-arm-looters-article-1.1196031)
Residents feel isolated and some use guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend themselves.
NY Daily News
November 2, 2012
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1196098.1351949739!/img/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/bow.JPG
When night falls in the Rockaways, the hoods come out.
Ever since Sandy strafed the Queens peninsula and tore up the boardwalk, it’s become an often lawless place where cops are even scarcer than electrical power and food. Locals say they are arming themselves with guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend against looters.
Thugs have been masquerading as Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) workers, knocking on doors in the dead of night. But locals say the real workers have been nowhere in sight, causing at least one elected official — who fears a descent into anarchy if help doesn’t arrive soon — to call for the city to investigate the utility.
Further exacerbating desperate conditions, it could take at least a month to repair the the bridge that connects the Rockaways to the city subway system, officials said.
“We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed,” said Danielle Harris, 34, rummaging through donated supplies as children rode scooters along half-block chunk of the boardwalk that had marooned into the middle of Beach 91st St.
“We heard gunshots for three nights in a row,” said Harris, who believed they came from the nearby housing projects.
Carly Ruggieri, 27, who lives in water-damaged house on the block, said she barricades her door with a bed frame. “There have been people in power department uniforms knocking on doors and asking if they’re okay, but at midnight.”
And another local surfer said he has knives, a machete and a bow and arrow on the ready. Gunshots and slow-rolling cars have become a common fixture of the night since Hurricane Sandy.
“I would take a looter with a boa. If I felt threatened I would definitely use it,” said Keone Singlehurst, 42. “Its like the Wild West. A borderline lawless situation.”
City Councilman James Sanders (D-Far Rockaway) said he fears the situation will devolve into anarchy.
“We have an explosive mix here,” said Sanders. “People will take matters into their own hands.”
...
Full Story:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/queens-residents-arm-looters-article-1.1196031
Residents feel isolated and some use guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend themselves.
NY Daily News
November 2, 2012
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1196098.1351949739!/img/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/bow.JPG
When night falls in the Rockaways, the hoods come out.
Ever since Sandy strafed the Queens peninsula and tore up the boardwalk, it’s become an often lawless place where cops are even scarcer than electrical power and food. Locals say they are arming themselves with guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend against looters.
Thugs have been masquerading as Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) workers, knocking on doors in the dead of night. But locals say the real workers have been nowhere in sight, causing at least one elected official — who fears a descent into anarchy if help doesn’t arrive soon — to call for the city to investigate the utility.
Further exacerbating desperate conditions, it could take at least a month to repair the the bridge that connects the Rockaways to the city subway system, officials said.
“We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed,” said Danielle Harris, 34, rummaging through donated supplies as children rode scooters along half-block chunk of the boardwalk that had marooned into the middle of Beach 91st St.
“We heard gunshots for three nights in a row,” said Harris, who believed they came from the nearby housing projects.
Carly Ruggieri, 27, who lives in water-damaged house on the block, said she barricades her door with a bed frame. “There have been people in power department uniforms knocking on doors and asking if they’re okay, but at midnight.”
And another local surfer said he has knives, a machete and a bow and arrow on the ready. Gunshots and slow-rolling cars have become a common fixture of the night since Hurricane Sandy.
“I would take a looter with a boa. If I felt threatened I would definitely use it,” said Keone Singlehurst, 42. “Its like the Wild West. A borderline lawless situation.”
City Councilman James Sanders (D-Far Rockaway) said he fears the situation will devolve into anarchy.
“We have an explosive mix here,” said Sanders. “People will take matters into their own hands.”
...
Full Story:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/queens-residents-arm-looters-article-1.1196031