Pretty wonderful

One of the blogs in my reader is Humans of New York, HONY.  Why?  Well, I ♥ NYC, and the photographer is great.  Right after Hurricane Sandy, he started posting images related to the storm.  I'm going to display some of them in one post.  People are pretty amazing.

These two women came from the Netherlands to run in the marathon today. Instead of moping about the event being cancelled, they spent their time volunteering on Staten Island. Saw so many people in running gear today, helping New Yorkers remove debris from their houses. Makes sense— because nobody who signed up for a marathon is afraid of hard work.

Firefighters from FDNY Engine 228. When I was taking the photo, a bystander leaned in and whispered: “They aren’t even on the job. It’s their day off.”

“We ordered a bunch of pizzas for the firefighters. And when we came to pick them up, they refused to let us pay for them.”

In times of crisis, we realize the mass amount of manpower and infrastructure underlying those resources we take for granted. This truck was driven into Staten Island by FuelReliefFund.org, a charity that specializes in delivering fuel to disaster areas. A little less romantic than handing out food and blankets, but such important work. Their motto: “The next best thing to food, water, and shelter.”

“What’s your favorite thing about each other?”
 “He brings me tea in bed.”
 “The conversations we have at night.”

I discovered these four on a devastated street in New Dorp. They were cleaning debris out of a flooded house. The couple on the left is from Harlem. The couple on the right is from Ireland. They met this morning on the Staten Island Ferry, and decided to spend the day volunteering together. To complete the circle, they were all HONY fans. :)

In this week’s matchup, the Staten Island Hurricanes take on Hurricane Sandy. Staten Island favored by three touchdowns.

"Count Your Blessings" — Greenwich Village, Christmas 2011

Hurricane Sandy Relief — Staten Island, 2012

I was at a volunteer station in Staten Island this weekend when I recognized a man. I remembered taking his photo on Christmas Day last year, in Greenwich Village. The holiday-themed caption was: “Count Your Blessings.” How fitting that I’d discover him one year later, on the other side of the city, helping with hurricane relief.

This week HONY is doing a fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, the link is here, if you're interested.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my life with me,