This is certainly not the column I had in mind for this issue just a few weeks ago, but that was before Sandy blew into town and uplifted our surrounding waters. That was before the coastal bliss turned into the home-wrecked nightmare and before the lights went out in so many parts of New York.
Many communities inside our larger New York community are devastated; so many families have lost their homes and their memories; some things just cannot be replaced. Still, in spite of the horror and the punch of this storm and it’s aftermath, we have learned that our neighbors will not be abandoned; we have learned that thousands of our citizens will rise to the occasion to lend a hand, a heart, and their energy.
From lower Manhattan to Red Hook, from Sheepshead Bay to Howard Beach, from City Island to the Rockaways, our shoreline and shores have taken a hard hit, and the people who inhabit them, the residences, and the businesses will not instantly be reestablished. There will be continued suffering and loss. The beaches of Staten Island and the Boardwalk of Coney Island have become rubble and the families who lived there will not live there anymore for now until we sort this out, rebuild perhaps, and reexamine what we need to do down the road to avoid such catastrophe.
As a larger community we will need to relocate, house, nurture, and be gentle with adults and children who have lost a great deal and who have survived through tremendous upheaval and stress. We are capable of this and we have shown in the past that we can and will do this. We have taken hits before, all kinds of hits and we always find a way to move forward through the trauma, through the darkness and into the light of a new day.
We must remember at this holiday time, this ending of the year that we are all vulnerable and that our neighbors need us and will be needing us for months to come. We must also be thankful for the plenty we have and for the ability we have as a community to bounce back and to survive the difficult times, together and with union.
These magazines have the honor and pleasure of printing throughout our city. We happily have a parent guide in every borough, going to every neighborhood, in every community. We will continue to support our neighbors in every way we can and New York Parenting Media will be there to bring continued information about our families and our children. We will continue to love each other.
I thank our wonderful staff, for their hard work and creativity, and I wish all of them and all of you a Happy New Year!
Thanks again for reading!
