Manhattan Beach should be treated the same as Manhattan, Hurricane Sandy-ravaged residents said on Monday as they waylaid Mayor Bloomberg on his way to a neighborhood press conference, demanding the city restore power to houses of worship and protect homes from looters.
“The city abandoned this area and it looks exactly like it did last week,” said outraged Manhattan Beach resident Eugene Fershteyn, who said that Congregation Shaarey Torah on West End Avenue was still without power. “I was in Manhattan earlier today, and it looks like nothing ever happened.”
Angered residents stopped Mayor Bloomberg as he entered PS 195 on Irwin Street to hail the Department of Education’s repairs to the flooded-out school, which opened on Monday.
Bloomberg tried his best to convince the crowd that his administration was doing everything possible to get New York back on track — a hard sell to an audience that hasn’t seen power in more than a week.
“This is a storm like we’ve never had before,” Bloomberg said. “We have to find a way to work together. As long as your life is not threatened…”
“But it is threatened!” a Manhattan Beach resident fired back, cutting the mayor off.
Fershteyn agreed.
“My home was broken into last night,” he said, demanded the city better secure the area.
But Bloomberg said the NYPD was stretched to the limit.
“There’s police every place,” the mayor said during his three-minute exchange before entering the school, leaving residents to grumble outside.
Reach reporter Colin MIxson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.
