People on the Rockaway peninsula, in southeastern Queens, are preparing for winter storm Nemo after getting hit hard by Hurricane Sandy in October.
Fred Weinzweig, 70, said it’s just raining there right now [Friday 3 p.m.].
“I’m not too worried about getting around, I’m just worried about getting electricity, and the bus service,” he said. With subway service between the peninsula and mainland Queens, bus service is essential to residents.
If the buses stop running, “You’re literally trapped here on the peninsula,” he said.
James Naus, who lives in Roxbury, said he sent his employees home for the day after the freezing rain became too much.
Naus has a unique perspective on the storm.
“The television gets people scared these days,” he said. “I was just telling my father, when I was younger and this type of storm was coming, people used to be happy, go get your sleighs and stuff like that.”
The neighborhood has been slowly recovering in the extended aftermath of Sandy and more and more cars are in the parking lot, said Naus. “It’s a good feeling” to see, he said.
Robert Hilldebrand, meanwhile, said a lot of businesses haven’t opened today in his neighborhood of Rockaway Park.
He, too, is not very worried, after living for a spell in New Orleans.
“When you’ve survived Katrina, you’ll survive anything,” he said, chuckling.
