6 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 31, 2013 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com sandy recovery s DRINK UP! Sandy Relief Ale benefi ts storm victims BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] There has never been a better excuse to drink. Surge Protector IPA, a specially created India Pale Ale, recently went on sale to raise proceeds for Sandy victims. Dubbed Sandy Relief Ale, the alcoholic beverage was a collaborative project between eight Long Island breweries, with each one contributing an ingredient. One of those participants, Barrier Brewing Company in Oceanside, was destroyed in the storm, and some of the money made from Surge Protector IPA will VISIT queenscourier.com go towards helping the business recover. Half of the proceeds will also go to Long Island Cares. The ale is currently available at bars and beverage retailers throughout the city, including Alewife in Long Island City. Just a week after starting to sell the beer, Alewife’s supply is half gone, said owner Patrick Donagher. “It’s been getting a huge welcome from locals and others traveling to Alewife for the beer,” he said. Alewife, which has been buying from Barrier since it opened in 2010, started raising money for the brewery before the Sandy Relief Ale, and is donating every penny it’s making from Surge Protector IPA. But it’s not only the ale’s altruism that is pleasing bar patrons. “We’ve had a lot of beer connoisseurs in here that have liked it,” said Donagher. If you want to try the ale, you better hurry because Alewife is expected to run out of the limited release Sandy Relief Brew within a few days. Visit sandyreliefbeer.tumblr.com/locations for updates on availability. Proceeds from Surge Protector IPA will go towards helping Sandy victims. Sandy Success Senate, president OK $50.7B in storm aid BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] Three months after Sandy tore through the tri-state area, President Barack Obama signed a $50.5 billion storm aid bill. On Monday, January 28, the Senate passed the legislation in a 62 to 36 vote, passed by the House two weeks earlier. It was the fi nal portion of an approximately $60 billion Sandy relief package. “Despite the diffi cult path in getting to this moment, the Senate membership clearly recognized early on the urgency and necessity of approving the full aid package and its importance in rebuilding our battered infrastructure and getting our millions of affected residents back on their feet as quickly as possible,” said Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York, Chris Christie of New Jersey, and Dannel Malloy of Connecticut in a joint statement. “It was 13 weeks ago today that the storm hit, and New Yorkers are still working to rebuild,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “This aid will allow us to better help our residents and businesses, and I want to thank all of those who voted in support of this critical appropriation.” Earlier in the month, the president signed a $9.7 billion aid bill that temporarily increases the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program. Though the aid’s approval is good news, it took several months, delayed votes and political criticism from both sides of the aisle. Representatives from Sandyimpacted regions and the legislation’s other supporters were livid that the money hadn’t been approved sooner. It took only 10 days from the time Hurricane Katrina hit for emergency relief legislation to pass. Other politicians opposed what they believed was non-storm related spending. The questions now, say politicians, are: Is it enough money and will it be utilized where it’s needed? For the governors of New York and New Jersey, the answer to the fi rst question is no. Those states initially asked Washington for $80 billion, but the Obama administration cut that amount to $60.4 billion. Do you think $50.7B is enough? Weigh in at queenscourier.com Photo courtesy of Niko Krommydas/sandyreliefbeer.tumblr.com Breezy homeowners to sue LIPA Claim Sandy inferno could have been avoided BY MAGGIE HAYES [email protected] With post-Sandy complaints piling up, Breezy Point homeowners are now slapping the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) with a lawsuit. Seventeen families who lost their homes in the Breezy Point fire are seeking at least $1 million apiece in damages, claiming negligence by LIPA, according to legal papers filed with the law firm Sullivan, Papain, Block, McGrath and Cannavo. The six-alarm blaze that incinerated roughly 130 homes could have been avoided, according to the claim, if LIPA had shut off the area’s electricity before floodwaters came through. FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said that the fires “were sparked by sea water impacting electrical systems and components in and around these structures.” The inferno began the night of the storm at 8:30 p.m., and was not put out until 6:30 a.m. the following day. The day before Sandy hit, the storm was predicted to have “destruction potential.” In such a case, de-energizing, or suspending electricity to an area, is recommended in order to protect the public from fire and electrical hazards posed by floodwaters. According to the legal claim, LIPA had knowledge that Breezy Point was a flood-prone zone before Sandy hit, but disregarded this notion. “De-energizing Breezy Point and the Rockaway Peninsula during Sandy would have afforded these families and their neighbors protection from fire,” said the claim. LIPA, however, did take precautionary measures and de-energized Fire Island before the storm struck, and also did so one year prior, before Hurricane Irene. According to the claim, one official described these acts as “a measure to avoid fires and other risks that would require a personnel response not possible during the storm,” measures that Breezy Point was not afforded. A LIPA spokesperson said that the organization had reviewed the notices of the claim, and has no comment at this time. Would you try it? Let us know
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