© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY · WNPR
WPKT · WRLI-FM · WEDW-FM · Public Files Contact
ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Housing issues affect everyone in Connecticut, from those who are searching for a safe place to live, to those who may find it increasingly difficult to afford a place they already call home.WNPR is covering Connecticut's housing and homelessness issues in a series that examines how residents are handling the challenges they face. We look at the trends that matter most right now, and tell stories that help bring the issues to light.

After The Waves, Staten Island Homeowner Takes Sandy Buyout

Stephen Drimalas stands outside his former home in Staten Island's Ocean Breeze neighborhood. He rebuilt his home after Superstorm Sandy but recently decided to sell it to the state of New York.
Jennifer Hsu
/
WNYC
Stephen Drimalas stands outside his former home in Staten Island's Ocean Breeze neighborhood. He rebuilt his home after Superstorm Sandy but recently decided to sell it to the state of New York.

Two years after Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast, hundreds of Staten Islanders are deciding whether to sell their shorefront homes to New York state, which wants to knock them down and let the empty land act as a buffer to the ocean.

Stephen Drimalas was one Staten Islander faced with this tough decision. He lived in a bungalow not far from the beach in the working-class neighborhood of Ocean Breeze. He barely escaped Sandy's floodwaters with his life.

"I had to speed outta here," Drimalas said. "Another minute or two and I wasn't getting out. That's how fast it came in."

He was folding laundry before he fled. And when he came back the next day, the clothes were there on the top of his bed, but the bed was floating in water. He slept in his car on cold nights — before the FEMA check showed up — because he couldn't afford a motel room.

He fought with his insurance company, and when that money finally came through, he rebuilt his severely damaged home. A year after Sandy, it sounded like he'd be staying.

I had to speed outta here. Another minute or two and I wasn't getting out. That's how fast it came in.

"This was a freaky thing that happened," he said. "It was a superstorm; it was a perfect storm. So I don't think we'll ever get another one again in my lifetime."

But about a third of his neighbors never came back. And when the city tore down several condemned homes, his block started looking gap-toothed and forlorn.

He wondered, "What if I wanted to move? Who'd pay money for a house in a flood zone?"

And Drimalas was still spooked from the night the storm rushed in.

"You know what happened, a couple of weeks ago, we had bad weather, and you hear the wind howling and everything like that," he said. "Then you start thinking, 'Uh oh, is the water coming again?' You know? It goes through your mind now 'cause, you know, it's in your head."

Then New York state offered to buy his home as part of program to get people out of dangerous areas likely to flood again. And after thinking it over, Drimalas took the deal. In the past two years, he's cycled through all the emotions of the victim of disaster: grief, fear, anger, defiance. But now there's a new one: contentment.

"Everything's working out well," Drimalas said. "The state's giving me a nice price. I'm happy with it."

He wouldn't say exactly how much he's been offered, but it's enough to cover the mortgage on this 900-square-foot home and the mortgage on a condo he owns in Florida. About 500 of his Staten Island neighbors have joined Drimalas in the buyout pipeline.

"And little by little, they're moving out," Drimalas said. "You'll start seeing more and more U-Haul trucks here. People just want to go."

The state will spend about $200 million to purchase land in Ocean Breeze and two other Staten Island neighborhoods. That's about 550 acres of waterfront property in New York City that now faces an extremely unusual fate: permanent abandonment.

"We are going to demolish the homes," said Barbara Brancaccio, a spokeswoman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Office of Storm Recovery.

"Essentially, they go back to nature," she said. "We didn't bring this possibility to the community. The community came to us and said, 'We want to go.' "

But a handful of people are planning to stay. Brancaccio says that a year from now, those holdouts can expect their neighbors to be rabbits, raccoons and wild turkeys. Drimalas says it's happening already.

"You know what [I saw] in my yard the other day? A muskrat," he said.

Drimalas is preparing to relocate to his Florida condo. It's 2 miles inland and 30 feet above sea level. Right now he's selling or giving away his stuff, including a really big barbecue grill.

"My family's going to come take whatever they want first, whatever they need, and then I'll just sell the rest," he said.

For all he's been through, Drimalas is one of the lucky ones. Two of his neighbors, both in their 80s, drowned in Sandy's floodwaters. Drimalas may be saying goodbye to his home, but he gets to start again.

Copyright 2014 WNYC Radio

Jim O'Grady
Jim O'Grady is a contributor to NPR's Planet Money podcast.

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.

Related Content