Chris Kui helped bring emergency funds and hope to downtown after Hurricane Sandy struck

By Emily Johnson

On the third day after Hurricane Sandy, the staff of Asian Americans for Equality managed to gather themselves and return to their Division Street office—but like the rest of the Lower East Side, it was dark. Without electricity, they couldn’t even open the gate.

For executive director Chris Kui, it was a moment of truth. People in the neighborhood badly needed the sort of emergency relief his community development nonprofit was equipped to provide.

“We knew we had to pull together because we had to launch this loan fund,” he said last week at the office, which was once again bustling and brightly lit. “Could we find a reporter? We couldn’t even open our door. But we had one generator that we had for special events like street festivals, so we were able to use that generator to open up the gate, have a press conference, plug in a computer.”
Emergency loan funds became a standard first response for AAFE after last year’s Hurricane Irene. Kui oversaw two separate funds: one for homeowners and one for small businesses. It was a priority, he said, because for many business owners, waiting weeks or months for assessments and federal disaster assistance could mean they never reopen.

“They are tremendously affected by loss of sales. Restaurants, for example, they lost their inventory. Fish, poultry, they had to get rid of all of it,” he said. “It’s just tragic. Wholesale businesses and warehouses on the waterfront flooded. That $30,000 makes a big difference for desperate people.”

In the following days and weeks, AAFE disbursed 100 loans and organized a grassroots relief effort to deliver food and basic necessities to many of downtown Manhattan’s most vulnerable people—particularly recent immigrants with nowhere to go and seniors stuck in top-floor apartments in the Knickerbocker Village housing complex, where residents remained without power long after it was restored to the rest of downtown.

The organization also coordinated with city government to provide translation services for the large population of non-English speakers in Chinatown, Two Bridges and the Lower East Side. On-the-ground communication was crucial in assessing and prioritizing needs in the aftermath of the storm, and it helped many people navigate a complex system in which they might otherwise have been reluctant to place their trust.

“The community was so disoriented,” Kui said. “They needed timely and accurate info for how to register with FEMA. We tried to simplify the process.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who nominated both Kui and David Garza of Henry Street Settlement for the OTTY awards, praised the men for stepping up day and night to provide what he called “life-saving help.”

“Those were very chaotic days and weeks after the storm,” Silver said. “Communication was difficult throughout the relief effort, and Chris was like a lifeline thousands of people relied on for information.”

The speaker also praised Kui’s “tireless” grassroots efforts to mobilize people to go door-to-door and make sure residents had blankets, food and water.

Kui, who lives in Flushing, did not suffer any flood damage but was himself without power for 10 days.

“Compared to other people, my personal suffering was nothing,” he said. “I feel attached to helping these folks. And I give credit to our staff. They really worked 24/7. Especially during the first three weeks, people were coming in on weekends to process loans.”

Looking ahead, Kui said, AAFE is already transitioning to more long-term recovery efforts.
“We’re looking at covering overhead costs for sanitation and cleanup, because those things cost money, and once people are stabilized they can go back to their jobs,” he said. “We’re here together to bring the community back.”

David Garza worked with Henry Street Settlement team to keep food and assistance flowing in the wake of the storm

by Emily Johnson

In the first days after Hurricane Sandy, thousands in downtown Manhattan were stranded in cold, dark apartments. FEMA, flush with disaster relief funds, had the resources to send a truck with 22,000 much-needed meals to the Lower East Side.

But when it came to actually getting that food into the mouths of hungry New Yorkers, the agency looked to a local organization that has spent more than a century getting to know the neighborhood from the ground up.

“We realized the value of our Meals on Wheels distribution routes,” said David Garza, the executive director of Henry Street Settlement, a nonprofit social service agency that has served the Lower East Side since the late 1800s. “We are a coordinating entity that distributes 1,200 meals a day to seniors, so quite literally we could do that work in the dark.”

And they did. Working by candlelight and flashlight and relying on smartphones and social media to coordinate volunteers in the absence of power and Wi-Fi, Garza and his Henry Street team oversaw an exhaustive door-to-door relief effort. They printed out maps and mobilized a brigade of volunteers on bicycles to canvas each building and follow up with food deliveries.

“Obviously the most severe challenge was the power outage,” Garza said. “The LES is a vertical area. People being trapped in buildings was the obvious and immediate concern. So we focused on identifying where and who needed supplies—for example, we’d get a tweet saying, ‘I have an old relative stuck in this apartment, can you help?’”

In many ways, the relief effort was not much of a departure from business as usual for Henry Street Settlement, which runs residential facilities, assists with job placement and offers senior services and youth programs to the largely low-income community. But Garza had never before encountered this level of need.

“People here always live on the precipice of poverty,” Garza said. “But what the storm has done is intensify that so they have to choose between food and rent. I was overwhelmed a couple of times. At one point literally right in front of Henry Street where we were distributing food … people were civil, but the need was palpable as lines formed. That really hit home. How incessant the need was.

It really struck me, ‘Thank God we’re here, what would they be doing?’”

During the blackout, Garza drove into the city daily at 5:30 a.m. to beat the HOV lane restrictions and stayed well into the evening. He was in regular phone communication with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to articulate what steps needed to be taken.

The speaker, who nominated Garza for the OTTY Award along with Chris Kui of Asian Americans for Equality, called the men “passionate, hard-working, organized members of the community” and credited them with saving lives.

“As soon as the storm hit, David was in immediate contact with my office,” Silver said. “He mobilized volunteers. He mobilized trucks to pick up FEMA supplies, he also had volunteers knock on doors and the National Guard deliver food supplies, meals and water.”

When the power finally came back on, Garza said, it brought a memorable end to what for many had become paralyzing uncertainty.

“You would think your local team won the Super Bowl,” he said, smiling. “You could hear it out in the street. It was emotional, because it had been palpable that we were in crisis. That nor’easter was bearing down. It was getting dangerous.”

With the immediate crisis behind them, Henry Street Settlement is gearing its efforts to more long-term recovery efforts like counseling and cash assistance.

“The silver lining for me and for Henry Street is really the performance of our staff and the way we came together as community,” Garza said. “People forget the value of collaboration. It’s literally our founding principle. It’s comforting to know that 121 years later, that’s what it’s still all about.”

Photo by Gary Velasquez. Photo courtesy of Henry Street Settlement.

Children and community members protest budget cuts to after-school programs

It’s not often children have as much to lose in a political fight as their parents. But for the children of Chinatown and the Lower East Side, this rally was an important one.

On Wednesday, May 10, at 4 p.m., more than 350 students in the Henry Street Settlement’s after-school programs staged a walkout and gathered at Sol Lain Park in the Lower East Side. The children, clad in personally designed T-shirts and carrying handmade signs, shouted, “If we’re not in our seats, we’re in the streets!”

The walkout was one of a number of protests over the past few weeks, including a walkout by the children of P.S. 137 and P.S. 124. These demonstrations were in response to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts to after-school and early childhood programs, according to Susan LaRosa, the director of marketing and communications for the Henry Street Settlement.

(By Courtney Holbrook for Our Town Downtown.)

“The cuts to after-school programs in Chinatown and the Lower East Side are extremely alarming,” said City Council Member Margaret Chin in a prepared statement. “For thousands of parents, these programs are the only way they can make a living and ensure that their children are safe in the afternoon hours. Parents in Chinatown and the Lower East Side cannot afford to lose these programs, and the community cannot afford to send our children out into the streets.”

According to Kelly Magee, director of communications in Chin’s office, the cuts proposed by Bloomberg would eliminate 70 percent of after-school programs in District 1. Magee noted these cuts are “the worst we’ve seen in a while. We’ve already lost 61 percent of our day care and early learners’ programs since 2009. Cutting back more is just debilitating to the community.”

For residents of the Lower East Side and Chinatown, these cuts take away numerous programs on which parents have come to rely. Should Bloomberg’s budget cuts pass successfully, seven schools in District 1 will lose all programs for all 2012. These programs include P.S. 2 Meyer London, P.S. 20 Anna Silver, P.S. 124 Yung Wing, P.S. 142 Amalia Castro, P.S. 137 John Bernstein, P.S./I.S. 140 The Nathan Straus Prep and the Collaborative Academy of Science, Technology & Language-Arts Education (M345).

Cuts on such a scale can leave working parents with few options for child care after school. According to Magee, the community has reacted with “an outpouring of anger…we’re seeing parents mobilizing, because these cuts have a direct impact on their lives.”

The cuts were initiated in response to budget cuts at the state level, according to Magee. Thanks to the recession, New York State government is cutting back on its public services. Magee noted, however, the problem is deeper than what can be blamed on the recession—it lies in the way in which government allocates funds and selects specific districts for cuts.

“The process for awarding programs funding is community-based,” Magee said. “Youth and community organizations submit proposals for program contracts. The city is required to go with the lowest bidder, so our programs were coming in underfunded to begin with.”

Furthermore, the city determines which districts receive funds by determining the median income of individual ZIP code blocks. In an area like the Lower East Side, certain wealthy neighborhoods change the priority level of the district as a whole. District 1 was deemed a non-priority level district.

Magee said the city government must change its methodology. Those who allocate funds must “look at the median income of individual families, not the overall demographic…otherwise, everyone else who may not live in the wealthier area of town gets left behind.”

In the coming weeks, children and parents of the Lower East Side and Chinatown will continue to participate in rallies and protests around the city. The community hopes that, through negotiation, the City Council will be able to return a certain amount of money to after-school programs. However, Magee fears this will not be enough.

“If City Council restores the programs, that’s great, but we will be operating on the barest minimum of funds,” Magee said. “There is a pattern in our mayor’s administration of abandoning city services, but this city needs available day care and high-quality after-school programs.”

Inspired by similar architectural tours in his hometown, Londoner Scott Lauer started openhousenewyork (OHNY) in 2002 with roughly 80 sites sprinkled throughout the city. The weekend-long event, this year taking place Saturday, Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16, has exploded to include almost 200 spaces in all five boroughs, 150 additional programs and almost 200,000 visitors.

“People now ask, ‘When is OHNY happening?’ rather than, ‘What is OHNY?’” reported board president Margaret Sullivan. Some of her Downtown favorites include the Eldridge Street Synagogue and 123 Baxter, which includes an automated garage—an elevator for your vehicle.

While almost all of the events and tours are free, a point in which the organization takes great pride, sites and programs that require a reservation will now charge a $5 fee. If you are unable to attend this weekend’s festivities, check the recently launched OHNY website for their year-round events, happening monthly.

Of the ninth annual open house weekend, Sullivan said, “Enjoy, have fun and discover the hidden gems in the city that you may walk past every day. You appreciate your city the more you know it.” Top picks for the weekend are listed below.

Lower East Side
Henry Street Settlement (ca. 1832)

265 Henry St., Saturday, Oct. 15, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Three federal row houses have been occupied by the Henry Street Settlement organization since it was founded in 1893. The buildings feature a restored dining room, the site of one of New York City’s first playgrounds and rooms where the first visiting nurses in the area lived.

Eldridge Street Synagogue (ca. 1887)

12 Eldridge St., Sunday, Oct. 16, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Founded by Eastern European immigrants, this National Historic Landmark has been restored to its original grandeur. The building is an exuberant combination of Moorish, Gothic and Romanesque styles, featuring hand-painted decorations and Victorian-era lighting. Stunning stained glass includes a new window by artist Kiki Smith and architect Deborah Gans.

Nolita
Nolitan Hotel (ca. 2011)

30 Kenmare St., Sat., Oct. 15 & Sun., Oct. 16, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

A 55-room boutique hotel features a ground-floor glass lobby. Guest rooms have either private balconies or floor-to-ceiling windows with unobstructed views of the skyline.

East Village
New York Marble Cemetery

4 ½ 2nd Ave., Sat., Oct 15 & Sun., Oct. 16, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Not to be confused with the nearby New York City Marble Cemetery, this resting place is hidden down a private alley in the interior of the block and is one of the city’s oldest nonsectarian burial grounds. The half-acre garden contains 156 family-owned underground vaults. There are no markers on the grass, only plaques on the walls indicating the family name and vault location.

NYC DOT Bike Tour

Astor Place near The Cube, Sun., Oct. 16, 9:30 a.m. RSVP required.

Join Department of Transportation Urban Art Program staff for a bike ride to various public art sites around the city. The ride will begin in Manhattan and end in Brooklyn. Bring a bike and a helmet.

Financial District
99 John Deco Lofts (ca. 1933)

99 John St., Sat., Oct 15 & Sun., Oct. 16, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

This Depression-era building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, the architects behind the Empire State Building. The resemblance is clear, from the classic limestone and granite façade to the tiered setbacks on higher floors. Today, John Deco Lofts is home to 442 condos.

For a full list of the apartments, buildings and programs featured during the OHNY weekend or to make a reservation on a particular tour, visit ohny.com.

The Nolitan is a 55-room newly opened hotel in Nolita — on Kenmare Street to be exact — that includes floor-to-ceiling windows and a rooftop garden. Photo courtesy of OHNY