http://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-national-guard-2012-11
http://politicker.com/2012/11/inside-cory-bookers-house-afte-hurricane-sandy/
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Coast Guard rescues 14 during Hurricane Sandy
National Guard: 'We Were Dead In The Water Until Victoria's Secret Showed Up'
Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images
Noah Shachtman at Wired has a fantastic story about what happened to the New York Army National Guard's 69th Infantry Regiment during Hurricane Sandy on Monday night.
They were left without power, hot water and most means of communication when the storm hit.
And then they were saved — by Victoria's Secret.
“We were dead in the water until Victoria’s Secret showed up,” Capt. Brendan Gendron, the Regiment’s operations officer, tells Wired.
You see, they asked for help from the producers of the Victoria's Secret fashion show, which is held annually at the Regiment's armory on 25th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan.
Fortunately, Victoria's Secret had brought in eight huge generators for the show. By 7 PM Tuesday night, the armory was fully powered.
It's not just the power Victoria's Secret helped out with. The crew had previously set up an internet line on a microwave dish on the roof, and put routers in the Regiment's command center to help with communications. Plus they offered up a forklift — which the Regiment didn't have — to help out with the food distribution effort.
http://politicker.com/2012/11/inside-cory-bookers-house-afte-hurricane-sandy/
Inside Cory Booker’s Hurricane Sandy Slumber Party
Cory Booker hanging out with his hurricane houseguests. (Photo: Alice Bell/Twitter)
Newark Mayor Cory Booker opened his home yesterday to over a dozen of his neighbors who were left without power by Hurricane Sandy. Alice Bell, who took refuge after the storm at the mayor’s house, talked to Politicker this morning and described the slumber party-like scene inside Mr. Booker’s home and what it meant to the people who stayed there.
“It meant–I can’t even explain,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “I mean, we were–I’m still overwhelmed that he would reach out to us like that, you know, that we meant that much that he actually invited the whole block.”
Ms. Bell said some residents of the neighborhood, Upper Clinton Hill, are without power, heat and water while others, like Mr. Booker, who live on different parts of the power grid are not. She has spoken to the utility company and they said they expect services to be restored tomorrow.
“His house is directly in back of mine,” Ms. Bell explained. “That street, Hawthorne Avenue, that whole street has lights. We don’t.”
Because of the situation, Mr. Booker invited residents of one of the affected blocks, Homestead Park, into his home. He reached out to them on Twitter.
“His house is like three stories, so he opened up the whole floor to us,” Ms. Bell said. “We had a kitchen, bathroom. We had the whole first floor.”
Ms. Bell and others also went around the neighborhood making sure people knew they were welcome at the mayor’s home.
“I went around knocking doors and said the mayor offered … Everybody, they were shocked, like, ‘Really, he said I could come?’ So, we felt kind of special.”
Because of the mayor’s invite, Ms. Bell said people have been coming in and out of his house “constantly.”
“I haven’t been over there this morning, but yesterday, it was a steady flow of people there in and out, people just stopping by to charge phones and, you know, get something to eat, warm up a little bit,” said Ms. Bell. “They’ve been back and forth constantly.”
Mr. Booker has also stopped by to bring supplies.
“He brought us DVDs, he’s bringing in food … he came by brought us popcorn and then brought us trick-or-treat candy. He’s been back and forth checking on us and calling … You know, ‘There’s beds, get in the beds, bring your covers.’ Everybody wanted to camp out that’s what we were doing and, you know, we slept over last night,” Ms. Bell said.
Along with popcorn, the menu at Mr. Booker’s house consisted of chicken, fish, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, corn bread and candied yams from King’s Family Restaurant. According to Ms. Bell, “we ate good.” The DVD selection focused on movies for the mayor’s younger house guests.
“There were kids, so everything was age appropriate. We watched Spiderman, we watchedKung Fu Panda, Happy Feet,” Ms. Bell said. “And he brought–the kids had Play-Doh, and coloring books and stuff–supplies. We kept each other entertained, trying to keep each other’s spirits up.”
Though Ms. Bell said Mr. Booker allowed his guests to sleep at his house, she’s not sure the mayor got any rest himself.
“He’s still out running about, doing his thing, picking up prescriptions for medication for people, delivering Pampers, and he’s in and out constantly,” she said. “He came in for maybe–I don’t know if he slept or not. He was in and out.”
We reached out to Mr. Booker to ask why he decided to open his home and if he managed to get any rest. As of this writing, we haven’t received a response.
For her part, Ms. Bell said she wasn’t surprised by the mayor’s generosity. Since being elected in 2006, Mr. Booker has earned a reputation as a “supermayor” for taking to Twitter to personally help Newark residents with their problems and an incident last April where herushed into a burning building to save a woman from a fire.
“I’m not too surprised, you know, he’s–I wouldn’t expect anything less from him, you know, that’s just him,” Ms. Bell said. “I wasn’t surprised. The same way when people ask me about how surprised I was that he ran into the building behind that lady. I wasn’t surprised.”
Ms. Bell left Mr. Booker’s house this morning to check on her pets, but she said she and others plan on returning again today.
“In fact, I’m getting ready to go back over there to take a shower right now,” said Ms. Bell.
http://hypervocal.com/news/2012/acts-of-kindness-after-sandy/
25 Amazing Acts of Kindness After Superstorm Sandy
Posted November 1, 2012 4:27pm by Cooper Fleishman & Greg Seals
Your faith in humanity restored in 60 seconds, guaranteed.
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An East Village doctor with a New York Times profile is offering free medical care:
Airbnb features $10 rooms for stranded folks:
Bleecker Street Pizza is still serving slices — by flashlight, in a gas oven:
And this place, 11B Express, is handing out free pizza:
Duracell has a truck in Battery Park where New Yorkers can charge their phones for free:
And in Hoboken:
CNN provided a power station to Lower Manhattanites:
Some strangers are doing the same:
And this hero brought a power strip:
Bronies are offering other Bronies a place to stay:
Alec Baldwin’s wife bought groceries for her neighbors:
And Alec Baldwin himself visited NYU:
NYC language school Fluent City is offering free workspaces:
It’s also donating $20 for every class signed up for. Email rentspace@fluentcity.com.
U-Haul’s deal: 30 days of free storage and moving to residents in the Northeast U.S.
In addition to the 30-days-free self-storage assistance being offered, people who need boxes can take advantage of the U-Haul Take a Box, Leave a Box Program. The program enables customers to return their reusable boxes and allows others to take them as needed — FREE. U-Haul encourages anyone who has any type of reusable box to drop it off at the nearest U-Haul location and allow another family to reuse the box, free of charge, instead of throwing the reusable box into the recycling bin. U-Haul also has propane available and urges customers to stop in to ensure that their propane tanks are topped off, since propane is a good thing to have on hand when these storms come through.Families needing more information about the 30-days-free self-storage assistance program should contact one the following U-Haul regional offices.
Also in the East Village, the Northern Spy Food Co. gave out free lunch:
In Hoboken, a good Samaritan set out snacks:
In Pelham, NY, a food market offers frozen-goods storage:
Free Colombian soup from Cafecito Bogotá in Greenpoint:
NY Sports Clubs are letting New Yorkers shower, charge phones and even exercise for free:
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The Wall Street Journal is suspending its paywall:
Clean drinks from NYC Water:
Free bike rentals:
Free waffles near the Brooklyn Bridge from Waffletruck:
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers hockey team is selling weekend tickets for $0.00:
Last but not least: Ben Stiller serving pancakes in Brooklyn.
Posted by Christopher Lagan, Monday, October 29, 2012
File photo of HMS Bounty taken from http://www.tallshipbounty.org.
In the first major U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue operation associated withHurricane Sandy, the Coast Guard has rescued 14 people from life rafts in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C. The search continues for two people who remain missing from the crew of HMS Bounty.
The owner of the 180-foot, three-mast tall ship HMS Bounty, a replica of the original British transport vessel built for the 1962 film“Mutiny on the Bounty” starring Marlon Brando, contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina after losing communication with the crew late Sunday evening. The 5th Coast Guard District command center in Portsmouth, Va., subsequently received a signal from the emergency distress position indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, registered to the Bounty confirming the distress and position.
A Coast Guard rescue swimmer approaches on of two lifeboats where the crew of HMS Bounty sought shelter after abandoning ship. Screenshot from U.S. Coast Guard video.
A Coast Guard search airplane was launched from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City Sunday evening which established communication with the Bounty’s crew upon arriving on scene. The vessel was reportedly sinking in 18-foot seas accompanied by 40-mph winds.
By the time two Coast Guard rescue helicopters from Elizabeth City arrived on scene at approximately 6:30 a.m., the 16 crew members had reportedly divided among two 25-man lifeboats and were wearing cold weather survival suits and life jackets. Air crews located and rescued 14 of the 16 crew members.
The HMS Bounty is reportedly sunk but the mast is still visible.
Soldiers Guard the Tomb of
Unknowns During Hurricane Sandy
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A photo of soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from September that went viral on the Internet today, as Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. (Karin Markert/OldGuard/Facebook)
An inspirational picture making the rounds on the Internet today is reminding people of the service of the elite soldiers who guard Arlington Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns in any kind of weather, even during Hurricane Sandy. That the picture was actually taken in September is another matter, because even as Hurricane Sandy makes its way along the Eastern seaboard, soldiers are there, guarding the tomb in the fierce wind and rain.
Tomb Sentinels from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment’s “The Old Guard” have guarded the Tomb for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year regardless of the weather, since 1948.
A photo of three Tomb Sentinels standing at attention before the Tomb of the Unknowns in a driving rain in what is supposed to be Hurricane Sandy took the Internet by storm today, but it turns out the photo was actually taken on Sept. 18. It is one in a series taken that day by photographer Karin Markert and posted on a photo sharing site.
Quickly becoming an Internet sensation on social media sites, the photo garnered universal positive comments of pride for the duty and commitment to service of those serving in the U.S. military.
The picture might not be from today, but it does represent the faithful duty of the Tomb Sentinels from the Old Guard who have remained at their posts during Hurricane Sandy.
See more photos of soldiers at the Tomb of the Unknown SoldierHERE.
“The Old Guard has guarded the tomb minute of every day since April 6, 1948. Today will be no exception,” says an official posting on the unit’s Facebook site.
The site also includes pictures of the Sentinels protecting the Tomb today during Hurricane Sandy’s heavy rains and winds.
Spc. Brett Hyde, Tomb Sentinel, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), keeping guard over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Hurricane Sandy, at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. (Sgt. Jose A. Torres Jr.,/U.S. Army Photo/AP Photo)
A caption for one of the photos says Spc. Brett Hyde lives by the Sentinel’s Creed which in part says “Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements, I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.”
Arlington Cemetery was closed to the general public today, but the Old Guard continued with its normal duty of honoring the fallen at funeral services.
The Sentinels execute precise steps before the Tomb that is the final resting place for unknown soldiers from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb is a popular stop for Washington tourists.
They remain at their posts rain, snow or shine and extreme weather is not a concern. They remained at their posts during Hurricanes Isabel and Irene as well as the 2010 blizzard, nicknamed “Snowmaggedon“, that shut down the capital for days.
Typically when it rains, Tomb Sentinels have the option of standing their watch under a green tent located to the side of the Tomb where they usually remain during wreath-laying ceremonies at the tomb.
According to the Society of The Old Guard’s website, Tomb Sentinels “are completely dedicated to their duty of guarding the Tomb. Because of that dedication, the weather does not bother them. In fact, they consider it an honor to stand their watch (we call it “walking the mat”), regardless of the weather. It gets cold, it gets hot – but the Sentinels never budge. And they never allow any feeling of cold or heat to be seen by anyone.”
The Society is an alumni association for the more than 400 soldiers who have earned the Sentinel badge since 1958.
The website for The Society says that despite their commitment, the welfare of the soldier is never put at risk: “The Tomb Guards have contingencies that are ready to be executed IF the weather conditions EVER place the Soldiers at risk of injury or death — such as lightning, high winds, etc. This ensures that Sentinels can maintain the Tomb Guard responsibilities while ensuring soldier safety. It is the responsibility of the Chain of Command from the Sergeant of the Guard to the Regimental Commander to ensure mission accomplishment and soldier welfare at all times.”
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