City Sends Out Medical Teams To Coney Island As Community Vows To Rebuild
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As many people go without basic necessities, New York City is sending out ambulances to help people who need medical care.
Eleven days after Sandy struck, residents in Coney Island are still in need of all forms of help, CBS 2's Ann Mercogliano reported.
Donations, including food, clothing and blankets, have been distributed to residents, but medical teams are now going door-to-door looking for people in need medication or hospital care who haven't been able to leave their homes since the storm.
Teams of National Guard members and paramedics are being deployed from a staging area by MCU Park.
The house calls will be carried out in Coney Island, as well as the Rockaways, until 8 p.m. Friday and will extend through the weekend into Monday.
Sandy ripped through the Brooklyn seaside neighborhood last week, leaving thousands in the dark and a trail of destruction.
The damage along Coney Island's iconic boardwalk measures well into the millions, 1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reported, and business owners are determined to restore, rebuild and reconstruct by next season.
"Whatever we do, at all costs, we have to get that wheel turning," Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park owner Dennis Vourderis said. "There's too much magic in the sand of Coney Island to walk away from it at this point."
1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reports
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Gargiulo's Italian Restaurant has been serving Coney Island for nearly a century but closed its doors after sustaining significant damage from Sandy.
"What we lost, we'll replace, what we can't replace, we'll do without," said owner Nino Russo who hopes to have the restaurant open in a few months.
The Alliance for Coney Island has set up the website ConeyRecovers.org to organize a volunteer and donations effort.
