Months after Hurricane Sandy ravaged New York City, the neighborhood surrounding Lower Manhattan’s South Street Seaport is still struggling to get on its feet. Eighty-five percent of small businesses in the area remain closed and boarded up. Many have damaged electrical and internet wiring, and some owners are unsure whether they’ll ever be able to open again. Residential buildings haven’t fared any better–a luxury high rise at 2 Gold St. just began letting tenants move back in last week.
“People have no clue that this corner of Manhattan has been hit so badly,” said Adam Weprin, manager of the Bridge Cafe, a historic bar in the area. “Right now, it’s a ghost town and a construction site.”
“The neighborhood’s been beaten,” he added. “You walk around here and it’s like Chernobyl. At night, it’s vacated.”
(Photo: Bitch Cakes/Flickr)
