Posts tagged with coney island
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At the Coney Island Aquarium, Sea Life Goes On
It was just a few short weeks ago that the New York media was gushing over the arrival of Mitik — the adorable baby walrus — to the New York Aquarium, where he seemed to be loving city life. But when Hurricane Sandy hit last week, sending more than 12,000 water animals into darkness, the aquarium, just off the boardwalk in Coney Island, faced the biggest challenge of its life. The aquarium’s basement flooded with 15 feet of water, damaging generators and cutting electricity. Tanks full of freshwater fish were doused with murky storm overflow, while the ground floors — home to the major exhibits — filled with up to three feet. For four days straight, aquarium staff worked around the clock to make sure the animals were safe — many of them neglecting their own damaged homes. Eighteen stayed through the storm. “It was an intense couple of days,” says aquarium director Jon Dohlin.
The aquarium is now closed indefinitely, and struggling to recover — with generators powering the exhibits’ environmental controls. We went behind-the-scenes to see firsthand.
This story was produced in partnership with WNYC. The aquarium is taking donations here.
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Life’s a Beach: Scenes of Destruction & Recovery
Over the next week, photographer Ben Lowy will be documenting the destruction — and recovery efforts — in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in and around New York City, using nothing but an iPhone camera. Lowy spent yesterday at Midland Beach on Staten Island — New York City’s “forgotten” borough— where hundreds of residents remain homeless. Today he’s headed to New Jersey.
Stay tuned for more from Lowy from Tumblr Storyboard, or follow our instagram feed, where he’ll be guest posting throughout the week.
(Photos, clockwise from top: a home on the South Beach boardwalk; Ronnie, a delivery man for the New York Daily News, helps clean out his sister’s home; Newlywed Ayisha Fahad cleans the apartment she shared with we husband; Luis, a father of five, whose Coney Island business was also destroyed by the storm surge.)
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