NOAA to East: Beware of coming 'Frankenstorm

[Tonitrus]

Why didn't you break the Mob in America?

Fixed for applicability to Jersey.

[garbon]

http://gothamist.com/2012/11/05/rabbi_blames_sandy_on_gay_marriage.php

Rabbi Blames Sandy On Gay Marriage, Cuomo Says STFU

Somehow what with the massive, destructive hurricane we missed this, but last week a right-wing upstate Rabbi named Noson Leiter decided to go on Voice of Christian Youth America program Crosstalk to spew some hate and blame Sandy on gay marriage coming to New York. Seriously. After all, "the Great Flood in the time of Noah was triggered by the recognition of same-gender marriages!" Another sign was the rainbow visible over the city after the storm. This weekend ex-Governor Pataki slammed the "offensive" comments and today current Governor Cuomo came out and ripped Leiter a new one.

And here's what Cuomo, who helped bring marriage equality to the Empire State, had to say about that:
"The comments made by Rabbi Noson Leiter that sought to link the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy to our state's embrace of marriage equality are as offensive as they are ignorant. This catastrophic storm claimed the lives of more than forty New Yorkers. This kind of hateful rhetoric has no place in our public discourse, and is particularly distasteful in times of tragedy. Our state is proud to offer equal rights to all our citizens, and we will never tolerate the use of a tragedy like Hurricane Sandy to promote a divisive and bigoted agenda. I call on Rabbi Leiter to apologize immediately for his hurtful comments."

Oh Andy, we really do appreciate how much you've stuck to your guns on this one. Though really you could have just let this one slide. Haters gonna hate.

Rabbi represents the group "Torah Jews for Decency".

[merithyn]

Rabbi represents the group "Torah Jews for Decency".

His definition of "decency" is very different from mine.

[The Minsky Moment]

So what was the deal with the non-union electrical workers from Alabama being turned away by union thugs in Joisey?   Was there some sort of strike going on?

Not a problem here (New York).  Some guys from Tuscaloosa got our power up and running again.  They were in a good mood on Sunday after the LSU game.

[CountDeMoney]

"But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."  "But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."  "But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."  "But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."  "But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."  "But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."  "But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."  "But What About Reliant? She's On Her Way."

Nor'easter may bring 50 mph winds, rain to Sandy-hit areas

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Updated at 6:26 p.m. ET: NEW YORK -- A week after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the New Jersey and New York coast lines, another challenge loomed Monday for the region: a slow-moving nor'easter, capable of delivering punishing amounts of wind, rain and snow.

"Though this storm will not have near the magnitude of the impact Sandy had, the combination of rain, wind and snow will add insult to injury for the recovery process along the East Coast," The Weather Channel's Chris Dolce reported.

Starting in Florida Tuesday morning, the storm will move up the East Coast and into the Carolinas late in the day, TODAY Show Chief Meteorologist Al Roker said. By Wednesday morning, the storm will move into New Jersey with strong onshore wind gusts of more than 50 miles per hour and waves measuring 10 to 20 feet high. The storm could bring 2 to 4 inches of rainfall in the area as it makes its way into New England Thursday.

"Normally we wouldn't worry about it, but this is a potentially dangerous storm only because when we're talking about tides of 4 to 5 feet when you have almost no beaches and no dunes, that could be big problems all along the areas already affected by Sandy, and it may bring some more power lines down," Roker said.

Behind the rain will be more cold air, Roker said, which means there is the potential for heavy amounts of snow in the White and Green Mountains in New England all the way back down to areas in West Virginia.

While more than a million people remained without power Monday, life was expected to return slowly to normal for many in the region ahead of the nor'easter. Still, a shortage of gas and overwhelmed transit systems remain problems.

[CountDeMoney]

So what was the deal with the non-union electrical workers from Alabama being turned away by union thugs in Joisey?   Was there some sort of strike going on?

Not a problem here (New York).  Some guys from Tuscaloosa got our power up and running again.  They were in a good mood on Sunday after the LSU game.

Yeah, that story was debunked.  Reciprocity rules between utilities have nothing to do with union/non-union rules.  Everybody's paid cash for triple-time.

[CountDeMoney]

Updated at 1 a.m. ET: Snow fell on damaged homes and debris piles in parts of the New York City area as a nor'easter moved in Wednesday, causing new power outages and calls for evacuations.

By Wednesday night, the winds had caused more than 100,000 new power outages in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the U.S. Energy Department stated. That brought the total number to 715,000, most of those remaining from Superstorm Sandy, which made landfall in New Jersey on Oct. 29.

Throughout the Tri-state area, people wore coats indoors as they endured yet another night without heat. Some of those who had weathered Sandy told NBC New York on Wednesday they were petrified.
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"It's like a sequel to a horror movie," said James Alexander, a resident of the hard-hit Rockaway Peninsula. "Here we are, nine days later — freezing, no electricity, no nothing, waiting for another storm."

Alexander's home was spared when Sandy hit, but homes around him burned to the ground, and the boardwalk near his home was washed out to sea.

"They said it would be a rough winter," he noted to NBC New York.

[CountDeMoney]

Way to go, Guv.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has fired his $153,000-a-year emergency management director for diverting a crew to remove a tree from his Long Island home's driveway after Superstorm Sandy hit, a state official said Wednesday.

Director of Emergency Management Steven Kuhr was fired after the governor was told that Kuhr called a Suffolk County crew to remove a fallen tree from his driveway, according to the official. Kuhr was working in Albany at the time last week, shortly after Sandy hit.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the personnel decision wasn't announced. A spokesman for Cuomo declined to comment. The New York Times first reported the action.

Cuomo appointed Kuhr in October 2011 as executive deputy commissioner of the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

There was no answer at Kuhr's office Wednesday night and a phone number listed in his name was not working.

The action comes as Cuomo has bitterly criticized utilities for what he said has been slow progress restoring power to customers from the Hudson Valley through Long Island. Most of the power has been restored to more than 2 million customers who lost electricity because of Sandy, though lights started flickering off again Wednesday night as a new storm raked the region.

Kuhr previously was president of Strategic Emergency Group, a consulting firm that had contracts with New York City, the state and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, according to the news release announcing his appointment. Kuhr had also worked for New York City for 20 years including with the fire department.

[garbon]

http://gothamist.com/2012/11/12/west_village_man_looking_to_start_s.php

West Village Man Looking To Start Post-Blackout Support Group

SoPo, never forget. Though some 55,000 New Yorkers are still living without power others are still coming to grips with the time the lights went out in Manhattan. And since groups like the Red Cross aren't setting up support groups for them, they're taking things into their own hands. Like Barry Drogin, who has been suffering from self-diagnosed acute traumatic stress (now post-traumatic stress) since the lights went out.

"I understand people [are] losing their homes," he explained recently when calling into NY1, but that didn't make the stress he was feeling less real. "After 9/11 people created support groups and things. And sometimes just by grouping people together you don't even need a professional there."

Having had trouble finding any good city-based mental health services since the storm, Droginrry has gone and offered to start his own. He just needs a few more people to sign up. In the meantime, he's written up his experiences with the blackout, along with some tips on coping with the power loss. In addition he offers these tips for dealing with someone traumatized by the blackout (tips we've not been 100 percent great at following ourselves in this post):

Do not tell them that others have it worse, or are still without power. That is cruel.

Do not laugh at them or run away from them. Listen and be patient.

Do not conjecture or refer them to resources that you have not personally confirmed are currently available. Offer to research for them.

We've reached out to Drogin to find out how the group is coming along but haven't heard back yet.

[mongers]

Yeah, someone need to sort out prioritising restoration of the electricity supply asap; saw a report about small numbers of volunteers handing out clothing in one of the projects and the area seemed to have been abandoned by the authorities.
The residents of the tower blocks just left to fend for themselves without electricity, despite the lack of apparent storm damage.

[Ed Anger]

Bloomberg sucks.