New Yorkers and the Storm

Staten Island  http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/blog

New York was focused on the upcoming election pitting Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and then we were suddenly, physically, torn away from that fascination by the super-storm, blithely named Sandy.  It has occurred to me that the sincerity of individuals affected by the storm had been tested to the limits of endurance.

It's been said that there are no atheists in foxholes, and I would argue that there are no conservatives in need of governmental assistance - especially when everything they have accumulated over a lifetime has been washed out to sea.

Breezy Point  http://www.bnqt.com

I want to be clear that I am not viewing this from a distance, safe and secure in the knowledge that it could not happen to me and my family, but rather from a mere block away from where food and water was delivered by the National Guard  to the part of my community, the housing projects, that was flooded out. Okay, so those people were likely not conservatives before, and clearly they are not now. But they are no different, in the way of current need, from other people a few miles away in a comparatively wealthy community, who, up until a scant few days ago, were financially secure and dedicated to the idea that what they had was a result of nothing but their own hard work - as opposed to by birthright and  entitlement. I would also argue that this last group is generally (though certainly not all) representative of the conservative mindset in our society.

New Yorkers Helping New Yorkers  http://www.dnainfo.com

When faced with total loss, with nowhere and no one to turn to,  public generosity and governmental intervention are more than welcome. I wonder if some event were to happen in the life of any very wealthy person, taking from them everything, so that no trace of their wealth remained - how long would conservatism endure?

We are all part of a community of people who understand what it means to stand united and outside of political posturing.

Evaluation: The sincerity of individual New York neighbors supporting all of their neighbors, rich and poor in the face of unimaginable loss: Extraordinarily sincere! 

Welling Court - neighborhood

So you might well be asking yourself, "what the hell? Isn't that the street you live on?" The answer is, yes it is. Yes! We're giving ourselves a well deserved pat on the back.

This is indeed the street we live on, and I can say without reservation that it is quite possibly the most sincere neighborhood in NYC if not the entire USA. How do I arrive as such a bold statement? How about this: a few weeks ago we held a block party in celebration of the 40+ internationally recognized artists who came to paint the walls of the neighborhood. The artists came because they were invited by our wonderful  corroborators in this effort Ad Hoc Art Gallery, and permission had been obtained from all the owners of all the wall spaces. The community came because this is were we live together, people of all ethnicity and all backgrounds celebrating our neighborhood. But it was more than that: when the artists began to arrive, individual neighbors from all up and down this small street began to bring them juice and food and ice. They offered paint and donated whatever they could to support the transformation. They stood and watched the progress of individual works. they were inspired. This was a community of people with a uniting common interest: a better more beautiful place to live, and that interest was coming alive right before their eyes.

The artists were moved. The people were moved. The residents of this formerly somewhat forgotten and obscure little neighborhood helped each other to grow that day. The artists came together in that growth as well. Ask any of them.

Everyone here stands just a little taller now, and when we speak of home - that home is not located on a grungy little street tagged with gang-graffiti anymore. It is located on the best street in Astoria, New York. Welling Court.

Evaluation: Extraordinarily sincere! (What else?)
 


Check it out - search the net, "Welling Court Mural Project."