Occupy Sandy

Aug 26, 2021

About Occupy Sandy

Hurricane Sandy hit New York City on Oct. 29, 2012. In total, 53 people died, and damage costs reached $32 billion. Low lying areas, which in many cases are also the areas of the city with concentrations of households with low incomes, were hit especially hard.

Occupy Sandy is a disaster relief program that emerged to provide mutual aid to communities affected by Superstorm Sandy. Volunteers, community organizations, and activists from across the city and region came together to fill in the gaps left by government response and recovery efforts. The program had nearly 60,000 volunteers at its height, delivering legal services, prescriptions, food, and supplies to people who needed it.

Impact on frontline communities

Occupy Sandy united many frontline communities and neighbors across the city to support one another. Efforts focused on places like the Rockaways and Red Hook that had large populations of especially vulnerable residents who needed immediate support, like low-income senior public housing residents. Occupy Sandy also influenced the growth and development of exciting economic and worker empowerment programs, like the Rockaway Youth Task Force and the Worker-Owned Rockaway Cooperatives.