Hurricane Sandy knocks out power but Community comes together to help at Hamilton Madison House

Hamilton Madison House and Two Bridges Neighborhood Council Board member Victor Papa (left)

Linnit Lawton, Chung Seto, Exec. Dir. HMH Mark Handelman

Hurricane Sandy dealt a devastating blow to New York City, especially in the Rockaways, Staten Island and Coney Island. An area very close to home, Knickerbocker Village on Monroe Street, a 600 unit housing project built in 1930 was also flooded plunging the entire complex (two city blocks square) into darkness on the night of the "superstorm". Shockingly, power and heat only returned to some residents last evening. Management from Knickerbocker, while touring the complex with Comptroller John Liu explained " water came rushing in and forced open a steel door (in one of the basements) , which pushed over filing cabinets, and the oil tank". It took many days to pump out tens of thousands of gallons of water from the basement rooms. The spilled oil created an environmental problem that also hampered repair efforts.

Repairing the boilers and power systems that keep Knickerbocker up and running smoothly proved to be a gargantuan task given the buildings antiquated infrastructure. Some of the parts needed are unique to the era and hard to locate, while a fire in an electrical room crippled repair efforts even further. 

In the meantime home bound senior citizens sat in the dark and cold waiting for help. They numbered at least  80+  people within the complex's labyrinth of hallways spread over two square blocks. Members of CAAAV, Coalition Against Anti-Asian Violence sprung into action almost immediately after the hurricane to run food donations up to home bound residents. 

Photo: Katja Heinemann 

Volunteers from Tzu Chi Buddhist organization launched an enormous campaign 

to aid as many residents effected by the storm as possible: 

"On November 11, 400 Tzu Chi volunteers distributed cash cards, blankets and daily necessities to nearly 2,000 families in six districts in the greater New York area. The families are suffering from a shortage of power and water and freezing temperatures almost two weeks after the passage of Hurricane Sandy. The recipients were extremely moved by this generosity."

Photo: Katja Heinemann

Immediately after the power returned to Alfred E. Smith projects at 50 Madison Street, Hamilton Madison House converted its gym into a commissary and warming center, as well as an information hub for FEMA, the Red Cross and donation distributions to the home bound in Knickerbocker.

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On Sunday Nov. 11th about 35 volunteers from The Chinatown Community Young Lions spent the day at Hamilton Madison House translating, serving meals and going door to door with Red Cross nurses inside of Knickerbocker Village to assess health and nutritional needs of home bound seniors.

Photo: Jan Lee

Comptroller John Liu meeting with Knickerbocker Management

with Two Bridges Neighborhood Council and Hamilton Madison Board Member Victor Papa

Photo: Jan Lee

Some of the items that FEMA volunteers distributed from the central supply hub inside of Hamilton Madison House were: diapers, toilet paper, blankets, ready-to-eat meals, flashlights, pet food, bottled water, juice, canned foods, sanitary wipes and more. Lists, provided by Knickerbocker Village, were given to the volunteers from FEMA who methodically loaded up bags of items ready to deliver to individual home bound seniors within Knickerbocker. 

Comptroller John Liu serving meals to residents of Knickerbocker Village at Hamilton Madison House 50 Madison Street location. Donations of hot meals came from The Goya Corporation, The American Red Cross, Comptroller John Liu, Councilmember Margaret Chin, and Nydia Valazquez among many many others.

Hot meals arrive daily at Hamilton Madison with The Chinatown Community Young Lions and other volunteers at the ready to serve upwards of 800 meals a day.

Hamilton Madison House continues to coordinate hot meal donations even after most of the units in Knickerbocker Village have their power restored as of November 14th 2012, so residents can still get needed nutrition while they put their lives back together. Hamilton Madison House staff and administration complimented The Chinatown Community Young Lions on their efficiency, courtesy, and dedication in helping to serve those effected by the blackout.

Krissy Lew and Lucas Chang (son of Chinatown author Henry Chang)

For many of the C.C.Y.L. members it was their first time volunteering, no doubt this experience will have long lasting effects. CCYL Member Krissy Ann Lew said "Maybe I needed this experience just as much as they needed my help..... It was very eye opening and it made me realize the realities of life and appreciate things in my life much more than I use to and the feeling of helping people is amazing"

The Chinatown Community Young Lions are continuing their volunteer efforts at Hamilton Madison House daily, serving meals and assisting with Chinese translations for residents in the area wishing to get a hot meal while they recover from hurricane Sandy. "We are honored to be able to help our community in this way, some of our members live in Knickerbocker Village or have relatives or friends who are suffering right now, so our efforts are affecting people who are very close to us. We applaud all the groups who have come together to help" Director, CCYL Brandon Tom

Hamilton Madison House invites you to join the 33rd Annual Chinatown Banquet April 20th '12

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO about the great work Hamilton Madison House does and why it is such a vital part of New York City, especially for those in the two bridges community downtown.
Here's your invitation, you can print this by clicking the printer icon at the bottom of the image:

Donations and reservations here, you can print this by clicking the printer icon at the bottom of the image:

I’ve been on the board of Hamilton Madison House for over three years now and I am constantly amazed at the work that the “House” does every day. I learned about Hamilton Madison House through my mother June who has been a board member for over  three decades. June now enjoys  Emeritus status  on the Board and I can only hope to add as much to the House as she has over these many years.

June Lee was instrumental in founding the Chinatown Banquet Fund raiser for Hamilton Madison House thirty three years ago. The HMH Chinatown banquet is not only an evening full of culinary delights, it’s a celebration of the hard work that the House does every day in providing

·         300 men and women E.S.L. , and citizenship classes each week.

·         4,500 people with case management, wellness and counseling services at the Chinatown Resource Center

·         1000 children and adults with bilingual clinical services, including gambling addiction

·         6500 seniors with care at the City Hall Senior Center, Helen Harris Center, knickerbocker Village,Smith NORC,  and Southbridge Towers

·         Social Adult Day where HMH provides the only program of its kind in the City for Chinese speaking seniors with Alzheimer’s disease.

·         Caregivers that provide services and support to Chinese and Korean speaking families caring for an elderly family member.

·         300 Children and teens with after school, Summer Day Camp, Saturday WISE, Music school, Tween and Teen programs

·         and to help every child we care for develop their self-esteem while acquiring the skills to succeed in school and at home

and much much more.

I hope you will join me at the 33^rd Hamilton Madison House Annual Chinatown Banquet and help us raise necessary funds to keep our programs going at a time when our community needs us the most.

I believe very deeply in the “House” and from my experience I can see my dollars and my time benefitting a great number of people in need in the most immediate sense.

If you cannot join me, please take a moment to send in a donation to the House.

Hamilton Madison House - "Never turn away".

Thank you

Jan Lee, Board of Directors HMH

Fire in Chinatown - Community Finds refuge around the corner.

Although the buildings look relatively in good shape, only hours earlier flames were leaping out of the windows at the corner building at James St. (white building). NY Times photos shot from neighboring buildings show that the back of the building is in very bad shape.

A fire killed at least one person in Chinatown last night in an early morning blaze that ripped through a six story tenement building on James St. one block from Chatham Square.

Hamilton Madison House, one of NYC's oldest settlement houses located at 50 Madison Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, around the corner from the scene of the fire is acting as the disaster center for this tragedy. As of 4:pm displaced residents are still there waiting to hear the news about where they will end up tonight.

At about 7:15am Frank Modica, Executive Director of Hamilton Madison House was already at work when he was summoned to the entrance of the "house". First responders from the Office of Emergency Management told Frank that they needed to get about two hundred people off the street and into a warm safe place immediately. Frank instructed his two maintenance personnel, the only two other people in the building at the time, to start setting up tables and chairs in the auditorium inside Hamilton Madison House.

At about 7:45am the families from the scene of the fire started to come in escorted by O.E.M. and Red Cross personnel. Ricardo Elías Morales, Chairman of the NYC Housing Authority was also on hand to speak with Mr. Modica and insure that everything was going smoothly.

Within minutes a nearby classroom was commandeered to become an impromptu processing and command center.

As Hamilton Madison House staff and personnel started to roll in they immediately got to work translating in both Spanish and English. Frank greeted elected officials who came streaming in all morning.

At 12:pm around 150 or so people were waiting calmly and patiently as CCBA Chairman Justin Yu and his assistant Gary passed out blankets and food, and helped to keep order in an otherwise surreal environment. A faint smell of smoke could be detected in the room. Justin Yu's daughter Pauline was at Madison St. directing families to the Red Cross processing area. Reports say that at least 60 families are temporarily displaced.

Also on hand were Borough President Scott Stringer and his staff members, as well as staff from Senator Daniel Squadron, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Council member Alan Gerson who, like the Borough President was personally on hand to assist.

Jimmy Yan of the Borough President's office was sure to reach out to community leaders as events unfolded to ensure that their office was available to assist in any way. In fact every single elected official representing Chinatown including the Mayor himself was present to offer their help and suppport. Some were seen with the families for hours on end.

Hamilton Madison House staff was sure to respect the privacy of the families who had just been displaced by keeping photographers and press at bay, while allowing for anyone the opportunity to speak to the press, outside of the gym.

Hamilton House reports that approx. 25 young children ages 2 - 18 were waiting in the auditorium, as well as some 20 seniors. One four year old girl was still in stocking feet while she waited to learn the news of where she would be that evening. The Red Cross provided her with shoes and someone brought her a toy bunny.

Some students actually made it to school as the smoke was still rising from the burned out building. I.S. 131, knowing that Hamilton Madison House was the holding center for the displaced families, called there to check on other students. Parents knew that as long as their kids were in school they were safe. In some ways it was more familiar and less traumatizing for the children than being sequestered in the auditorium for hours. A steady stream of individuals and families were moved from the auditorium to the makeshift processing center by Red Cross volunteers.

As of 3:pm Hamilton Madison House says that several van loads of people have been taken to the Red Cross headquarters at 49th street for final processing to determine where they will be spending the next few days. The condition of the buildings next to the scene of the fire is still being assessed, however it looks as though at least some families will be able to return to their apartments tonight.

Hamilton Madison House will remain open for as long as it takes to process every single individual. The care that Hamilton Madison House provides will continue long after today, however, as their newly appointed Dr. Paul Wong will be on hand for counseling. Dr. Wong is a specialist in child psychology. Peter Yee, Hamilton-Madison House’s Assistant Executive Director for Behavioral health Services will also be on hand for counseling and support.

Hamiton Madison House made sure each family received a flyer so they could contact HMH's Chinatown Resource Center to help them process the paper work in the days and weeks to follow this disaster.

As the families, about 90% of whom are Chinese and 10% are Hispanic, wait patiently Hamilton Madison House is already planning for their needs and support for the coming days, weeks and even years. As Frank Modica puts it "this is what we're here for".

Hamilton Madison House will be accepting donations of clothing and blankets as well as towels for the families in the coming days, please contact them at Hamilton-Madison House: 50 Madison Street, New York, NY 10038
Phone: (212) 349-3724
Fax: (212) 791-7540
Website: www.hmh100.com

The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
Chinese Community Center, Inc
62 Mott Street, New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212)226-6280 Email: ccbany@yahoo.com Fax: (212)431-5883


In addition Wellington Chen, Executive Director of the Chinatown Partnership which is located across the street from the fire is also accepting donations of clothing and supplies, they can be reached at The Chinatown Partnership 60 St. James Place
New York, NY 10038
Tel/Fax: 212-346-9288