An Irish 'Point' of view - Irish Day of Action at Breezy Point, Queens

Volunteers out in force to help clean up Breezy Point after Hurricane Sandy

The Irish enclave of Breezy Point bore the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, and volunteers were out in force on Saturday to help the stricken community. Debbie McGoldrick reports.

The narrow laneways that contain many of the charming beachside cottages in Breezy Point were fairly quiet on Saturday morning, save for the hum of some generators and the sounds of sheetrock being ripped from the homes that were beaten up by Hurricane Sandy.

There are so many inviting nooks and crannies in Breezy just off Oceanside Avenue that lead to paradise – a pristine beach with forever views of the Atlantic Ocean.

I asked one elderly homeowner who was surveying the outside of his home if he had seen a group of Irish people in green and white t-shirts offering their services.   He seriously looked at me like I had two heads.

“You’re asking if I’ve seen Irish people in Breezy Point?” he smiled.

“EVERYONE in Breezy Point is Irish.” 

The gentleman who suffered minimal damage to his home on Oceanside – a first floor semi-destroyed and landscaping erased by the sand is what qualifies as minimal these days – was right.  Just about everyone in Breezy Point, which sits on the westernmost end of the Rockaway Peninsula, is Irish.

Many of the homes – a mix of cute, cabana-like residences to larger, two story moderns -- contain nameplates posted by the proud owners.  The Mahoneys, the Ryans, the McMahons, the Morans, the Kennedys, the Cavanaghs . . . and, of course, the Murphys. 

All seemed to live side by side in peace and harmony until Sandy’s aftermath required that each house has to have a colored inspection sticker from the City of New York.  Given that reality, there aren’t many residents enjoying the late autumn weather at their Breezy beach homes these days.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory,” the homeowner I met explained. “Green means the home is safe, yellow means caution and red is an unsafe area.”

Sadly, there are an awful lot of red and yellow stickers plastered on residences in Breezy Point – that is, if the homes exist at all.

More than 100 homes – actually, it seems like so many more – were burned to the ground as Sandy-induced fires raged.  Vast areas, only a stone’s throw from the Atlantic, simply don’t exist anymore.

All that remains are foundations filled with burned out wood frames, downed wires all over the place, and charred family mementos that will never be recovered.

The mind boggles. The heart breaks. 

Mickey McCreesh, a native of Co. Armagh who now lives in Sunnyside, Queens with his wife and two children, has made several visits to Breezy Point in the days since Sandy with his business partner, Nick Murphy of Co. Offaly.  McCreesh and Murphy own Bar 43 in Sunnyside, which has served as a drop-off location for those donating food, clothing and other supplies for storm victims.

“I was watching people earlier today over there,” says McCreesh, pointing to a home that no longer exists. “They were just digging around, looking for any family items they could find.  They found some Christmas ornaments and were so happy.”

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Nster.com