Occupy Sandy Protest Near Mayor Mike Bloomberg's Mansion

Several hundred citizens affected by Hurricane Sandy, healthcare professionals, activists, and members of Occupy Sandy relief effort participated in a rally and march near Fifth Avenue and East 79th Street to protest what organisers said was a lack of care and concern by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Hospitals that were evacuated due to hurricane damage have not reopened, and hurricane survivors are dealing with mold, no heat, no hot water, and no electricity in the winter. Healthcare professionals describe conditions that could lead to a public healthcare crisis. Yet, rally participants kept asking, "Where is Mayor Bloomberg?"

It wasn't confirmed, but many people speculated that Mayor Bloomberg could be spending this weekend in his palatial compound in the tropical island of Bermuda.

This independent video was made in solidarity with rally organizers to educate the public about Mayor Michael Bloomberg's lack of care and concern for survivors of Hurricane Sandy, and this video includes information about Bill Rudin : another billionaire, who also bears responsibility for some of the issues raised by some rally participants.

Read also : Nurses Will Picket Mayor Bloomberg's Mansion

For more information about hurricane relief efforts, please visit : http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/

Bellevue Morgue Under Water

In a post about the final two patients still remaining at Bellevue Hospital, The New York Times obtained details about some of the severe conditions inside the hospital's morgue :

The sources also said that after Hurricane Sandy hit, the Bellevue morgue was under water, so the bodies of patients who died of their illnesses after the storm had to be kept elsewhere. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, confirmed that the Bellevue morgue had been flooded, but that with the assistance of the medical examiner, the bodies had been put on higher racks to keep them out of the water.

She did not know how many bodies there were. Ms. Borakove said the medical examiner’s morgue, which is separate, remained dry.

What is missing from these incremental reports about the deteriorating conditions at many hospitals in the wake of Hurricane Sandy is the failure of the mayor's emergency management plan that did not anticipate for infrastructure failures.

Not only that, but the New York State Department of Health has responsibility, for the irresponsible distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan. After nine New York City hospitals have closed, how do Gov. Andrew Cuomo ; Dr. Nirav Shah, the Secretary of the State Department of Health ; Stephen Berger, who continues to advocate for still yet more hospital closings ; and other statue health officials now view the issue of reducing the number of hospitals, when a mass civilian trauma event or natural disaster can destroy the infrastructure of the fewer remaining hospitals we have now ?

Here's an Associated Press video of the beginning of the evacuation of Bellevue Hospital :

Bill Rudin, Marathon Organisers Hoarding 41 Generators Whilst NYC Still In Dark

Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL

Mayor Concedes To Critics : Cancels Marathon : What Took So Long ?

Race organisers, including the Rudin Family, the New York Road Runners Club, and ING, used Mayor Michael Bloomberg to be the fall guy for criticism about the city using valuable resources to hold the New York City Marathon. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg was forced to cancel the marathon after The New York Post reported that at least 41 generators were being hoarded by race officials. Meanwhile, large numbers of New York City residents were rendered homeless with little to no resources for food, shelter, heat, health, or safety in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Many storm victims were outraged at all the resources, not just power generators, that were being hoarded by marathon organisers for the sole benefit of runners.

"Runners were set to dine on a lavish Saturday-evening pre-race meal that included lemon-thyme chicken with shallot jus, and autumn vegetable bow-tie pasta primavera with extra virgin oil and fresh herbs — which most storm victims would have killed for," reported The New York Post.

"More than 2,000 cops are typically assigned to work the marathon. About five years ago, the city started privatizing medical coverage at the event, although scores of city paramedics and EMTs are still assigned to the race," reported The New York Daily News.

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

The New York City Fire Department is helping Bellevue Hospital evacuate some of it patients, the Associated Press has reported.

Bellevue Hospital lost power during the blackout created by the storm surge, flooding, and damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Even with backup power operating, the Associated Press reported that the power outage had left many sections of Bellevue Hospital in the dark and rendered major medical equipment unusable without access to electricity.

After St. Vincent's Hospital was closed, activists had demanded that politicians explain how mass trauma events would be handled with the irresponsible geographical distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan created by the Rudin Luxury Condo Conversion plan approved by New York City Council Christine Quinn.

After St. Vincent's Hospital closed, a Gross Imbalance in the Distribution of Hospital Beds in Manhattan

Verizon Headquarters Flooded Hurricane Sandy

Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL

Superstorm Sandy may have done damage to all the major phone services, more or less. But for Verizon, there was another price to pay: damage to its New York corporate headquarters.

The picture above, tweeted by the company itself, shows the Verizon lobby at 140 West Street in Manhattan, filled with three feet of water at about 9:30 PM ET last night. It isn’t just an administrative building — it also serves hundreds of thousands of voice and data circuits in New York.

Says Verizon director of media relations Bill Kula: “We’ll continue to work safely and quickly to pump out the storm water, re-route traffic from non working central office to others, get backup generator power operating, and hope that the local power company can restore commercial power as quickly as possible.”

Read more : Hurricane Sandy floods Verizon's corporate headquarters in New York City

Salt Water Corrosive Damage NYC Hurricane Sandy

Salt water damage is expected to damage the fragile, ancient electrical and switching systems of the New York City subway system. The Wall Street Journal published examples of some ways that salt water can damage the subway system :

Salt can eat at motors, metal fasteners and the electronic parts, some many decades old, that keep the system running. Salt water, and the deposits it leaves behind, degrades the relays that run the signal system, preventing train collisions.

Salt water also conducts electricity, which can exacerbate damage to signals if the system isn't powered down before a flood.

But the engineering risks don't just exist for the New York City subway system, but also to the construction materials of buildings, which were exposed to storm surge flooding.

Construction materials made of iron or steel that are exposed to water will rust and alter its shape and size. Building interiors, especially basements, when exposed to water, must be dried, otherwise constructions materials, such as metal fasteners or iron or steel beams, may continue to corrode long after the storm surge flooding subsides. If long-term moisture continues untreated, or if the ground becomes over-saturated by salt water, creating , the oxidation and rusting may cause construction materials made of iron and steel to fail.

Just like consumer affairs agencies advise drivers to avoid buying flood-damaged cars, what is the New York City Department of Buildings doing to secure the integrity of buildings and construction sites, which were exposed to the corrosive salt water storm surge flooding from Hurricane Sandy ?

JetBlue La Guardia Hurricane Sandy Update

Photographs showing the state of flooding on the runways and taxi areas at La Guardia Airport were posted by JetBlue on its blog today. One alarming photograph shows that the taxi areas around La Guardia Airport are underwater.

Glad I made it out of NYC Sunday at 11 pm on last AA flight out! Picture from LGA today by JetBlue #sandy twitter.com/vincentlaforet…

— Vincent Laforet (@vincentlaforet) October 30, 2012

NYC MTA Subway Flooding Disaster Update : Worst Disaster in Subway History

Joseph J. Lhota, Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, issued a statement, describing the flooding from Hurricane Sandy as the worst "disaster" in the New York City subway system's history, The New York Times reported.

Mr. Lhota's statement included details of some of the worst damage to the mass transit system :

• As of last night, seven subway tunnels under the East River flooded. Metro-North Railroad lost power from 59th Street to Croton-Harmon on the Hudson Line and to New Haven on the New Haven Line.
• The Long Island Rail Road evacuated its West Side Yards and suffered flooding in one East River tunnel.
• The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel is flooded from end to end and the Queens Midtown Tunnel also took on water and was closed. Six bus garages were disabled by high water.

NYC East River Subway Tunnels Flooded

Updated ! NYC MTA Subway Flooding Disaster Update : Worst Disaster in Subway History

We can confirm that there has been water infiltration into the New York City Subway tunnels under the East River. We cannot confirm a depth.

— MTA (@MTAInsider) October 30, 2012

Hoboken PATH Subway Station Flooded

Flood waters rush in to the Hoboken PATH station through an elevator shaft. #Sandy twitter.com/PANYNJ/status/…

— Port Authority NY&NJ (@PANYNJ) October 30, 2012

Murray Hill Flooded Near Bellevue Hospital Hurricane Sandy

Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

Bellevue Hospital Without Power ; Backup Generators Failing Due to Floods ; No Level I Trauma Center Below Midtown Since St. Vincent's Hospital Was Converted Into Luxury Condos By Rudin Family.

Bellevue hospital can't get the generators running, 2 ft water in the basement -- FDNY scanner

— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) October 30, 2012

The area near Bellevue Hospital in Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan is flooded. According to this Twitter posting, 34th Street and First Avenue is under water.

Unbelievable. Be safe friends. RT @shamir_kNot just lower Manhattan - this is 34th and 1st i104.photobucket.com/albums/m166/ow… (Murray Hill...)

— Emily Kuhn (@EmKuhn) October 30, 2012

East Village Explosion Hurricane Sandy

A transformer possibly exploded in the East Village of Manhattan during the landfall of Hurricane Sandy.

Huge explosion just rocked the East Village, everything went dark and I mean dark.#Sandy I'm now legit scared. twitter.com/buckyturco/sta…

— Bucky Turco(@buckyturco) October 30, 2012

Battery Park Now Under Water Hurricane Sandy

Updated ! George Takei posted a photograph on Facebook at about 11:38 a.m. of Battery Park under water, which WNYC reposted on Facebook. Officials warn the public that the next high tide will be worse.

At 8:32 a.m., WABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News reports that the storm surge associated with Hurricane Sandy have now pushed sea levels along Battery Park in New York City above the concrete sea wall.

Meanwhile, Suzannah B. Troy posted a new video about the weather conditions.

Read also : Lower Manhattan Flooded in 1960 After Hurricane Donna

Lower Manhattan Flooded in 1960 After Hurricane Donna

Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL

Related : New Hurricane Sandy Danger : Flood-Risk Nursing Homes Told Not To Evacuate

In 1960, Lower Manhattan was flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Donna. Will the same thing happen to New York City after Hurricane Sandy makes landfall ? The risk of flooding is being compounded by the high tides and the Full Moon on Monday, October 29, 2012.

From The New York Times :

The hurricane center said through the day on Sunday that Hurricane Sandy was “expected to bring life-threatening storm surge flooding to the mid-Atlantic Coast, including Long Island Sound and New York Harbor.”

Read also : Battery Park Now Under Water Hurricane Sandy