BUYERS’ REMORSE IN THE ROCKAWAYS
KEY West and Rae Hallett saw the flooding firsthand. Sandysurged waters had invaded their car and chased them out of Rosedale, next to JFK airport, where they shared a house with family. They eventually bought a home in Far Rockaway, Queens, about two years ago; they had friends in the neighborhood and had heard it was in the midst of a renaissance. They already regret it. “We are seeing little things that maybe [weren’t] disclosed before,” Hallett says. “And I don’t know if that’s something [the previous owner] was trying to hide, I just know these things are being uncovered to us now.”
The couple, who are both in their 40s, work in education and love the beach, says their real estate agent also did not talk to them about Sandy, or about the potential of flooding in the future.
The attached-unit home with three bedrooms and two baths they bought for $310,000 is about two blocks from the ocean on one side and a block from the bay on the other, a narrow strip of the peninsula that was pinched by floodwaters during the storm. Its previous owner revealed the floor and cabinets had been replaced after it was flooded during Sandy. But, seven years later, lingering issues are popping up, including mold that is causing siding to fall off and a damaged roof that needed to be replaced for $13,000.
West and Hallett were also too late to take advantage of the Build It Back program: Their home is flush against another house, and that neighbor opted against raising the building on stilts after the storm. So the window for city aid passed and the home still sits at ground level. They are disappointed their enclave of Far Rockaway has not seen the spark of revitalization that has remade the neighborhoods farther west in Rockaway Beach, which has seen a boon in businesses that cater to beachgoers and year-round surfers.
“To be honest, we are looking to move at some point sooner than later,” West says. “We haven’t acquired the peace that we are seeking out.”
Hallett agrees. “I think if another Sandy was to happen we probably would not rebuild,” she says. “There’s nothing here for our futures anyway.”