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| President Barack Obama comforts a woman at the FEMA recovery center on the grounds of New Dorp High School, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, on Staten Island, in New York. |
NEW YORK (AP) -- President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to stick with New Yorkers still struggling 17 days after Superstorm Sandy "until the rebuilding is complete" after getting an up-close look at devastated neighborhoods rendered unlivable.
Obama brought the
spotlight to people still without heat or electricity and hugged many of
those trying to rebuild their lives. He also delivered a postelection
message of unity, nine days after a closely divided America gave him a
second term.
"During difficult times like
this, we're reminded that we're bound together and we have to look out
for each other," Obama said from a Staten Island street that was
demolished by the storm. "And a lot of the things that seem important,
the petty differences, melt away."
Obama
announced that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, a
former chief of New York's Housing Authority, will be his point person
to oversee long-term redevelopment in the region.
On
a three-hour tour, the president encountered many still suffering in
Sandy's aftermath and waiting in lines for food, supplies and other
help.
He also met privately with parents whose
two young boys, Brandon and Connor Moore, were swept away by the
powerful storm. Damien and Glenda Moore's children were among more than
100 people who deaths were blamed on Sandy.
"I
expressed to them, as a father, as a parent, my heartbreak over what
they went through," Obama said. He said the Moores were "still obviously
a little shell-shocked" but wanted to thank the New York City police
lieutenant who stayed with them until the bodies were found.
"That
spirit and sense of togetherness and looking out for one another,
that's what's going to carry us through this tragedy," Obama said.
Before
arriving on Staten Island, his helicopter flew over Rockaway Peninsula
in Queens, including the waterfront community of Breezy Point, where
roughly 100 homes burned to the ground in a massive wind-swept fire.
On
Staten Island, Obama met with residents waiting in line at an emergency
response center at New Dorp High School, where the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, Small Business Administration, IRS, Red Cross and
city agencies have set up tents to help survivors. The White House said
about 1,500 people had received services at the center, one of several
in affected areas, as of Monday.
People sought
refuge from the cold on "warming buses" and the New York Fire
Department provided hot showers. Insurance companies including Travelers
and Allstate also had buses where people went to file claims.
The
president hugged one woman at the business tent, asking where she was
staying and if her loved ones were safe. He also visited a tent where
food and toiletries were being distributed and thanked the workers and
volunteers who came in from around the country. Several hundred people
gathered nearby to see the president and shouted: "We love you!"
One
girl collecting supplies who said her house is unlivable said: "We need
help. He should have been here a long time ago." That sentiment was
shared by others, including Anthony Gatti, who said his home near the
ocean was wrecked by Sandy.
"I think he
should've been here a few days ago to see how much devastation we've had
here," said Gatti, who was hoping to get a FEMA trailer to live in with
his parents while they find a new home. They lost everything they owned
in the storm, he said.
Gatti said he has been standing in line all day, every day, waiting to speak with FEMA officials.
"If
he could do something to make this process with the government a little
faster and easier on us, that would be a great thing," he said of
Obama.
Obama was joined on the tour by New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten
Gillibrand, both New York Democrats, flew up with the president.
Cuomo said this week that he would request $30 billion in federal aid to rebuild.
White
House press secretary Jay Carney said he couldn't comment on the
request because the administration hadn't seen the details. He said the
government will continue to do everything possible to cut red tape and
help affected communities.
Blocks away from
the president's tour, Lily Wu, a 37-year-old mother of three, was
cleaning dishes salvaged from the flooded, first floor of the home she
bought three years ago. Wu, who is living in a friend's basement with
her family, said she hopes Obama might give storm victims a tax break to
help them out. She said she doesn't know if she'll get any money from
FEMA or her insurance company.
"If they could
bail out the banks, they should bail us out, right?" Wu said. "I mean,
all of us paid more than half a million dollars for these homes. They're
going to be worthless after this."
Obama
traveled to New Jersey on Oct. 31 to meet with Gov. Chris Christie and
view recovery efforts in battered coastal communities. He saw flattened
houses, flooded neighborhoods, sand-strewn streets and a fire burning
along the coastline.
The White House said the president didn't visit New York at the time so as not to interfere with recovery efforts.
Vice President Joe Biden's office said he will travel to New Jersey on Sunday to view storm damage.
