Misery for 2.5 million STILL without power after six days as lawlessness and fear take over New York's outer boroughs

• Residents claim they are the 'forgotten victims' of Sandy
• Also say that lack of power and law enforcement means more looting and violent crime
• Those in stricken areas stockpiling weapons like kitchen knives, machetes, and bats to protect themselves
  
• Coney Island residents say they are forced to 'scavenge for food like animals'
  
• Power unlikely to be returned to Brooklyn, Queen's and Staten Island until sometime next week
  

By Rachel Rickard Straus and Snejana Farberov

PUBLISHED: 09:38 EST, 3 November 2012 | UPDATED: 06:23 EST, 4 November 2012

Tthe state with the largest number of outages by far is still New Jersey with 32 percent of customers without power, it said it a report.

And as the lights begin to flicker on in Lower Manhattan, nine percent of customers across the state of New York still do not have power, followed by seven percent in Connecticut.

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Artist Konstantin Bokov gets water to boil for drinking from an old fire hrydrant at Rockaway Beach, New York on November 3, 2012. He has no power, and no running water

What remains: Julie Traina tries to recover some personal items from the destroyed home of her parents in Staten Island yesterday

Vigilante justice: A sign is seen outside a home in Long Beach in Long Island on November 2 gives a dire warning to would-be looters

Under protection: A warning message seen written on a door to keep away looters in a street in Freeport, Long Island as they try to return to normalcy following the hurricane

Wild west: People walk through the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood in Queens where a large section of the iconic boardwalk was washed away

The hunger games: Two women look into the window of a flooded deli while searching for food in Coney Island, four days after Sandy

Aid: A boy watches as members of the U.S. Army National Guard unload food and supplies in the Rockaways section of Queens

This comes as residents of the Rockaways in Queens continued to struggle without power, heat or food for a sixth day as their neighborhood slowly descended into chaos.

'It's chaos; it's pandemonium out here,' said Chris Damon, who had been waiting for 3.5 hours at the site and had circled the block five times. "It seems like nobody has any answers."

Added Damon: 'I feel like a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I never thought it could happen here in New York, but it's happened.'

With little police presence on the storm-ravaged streets, many residents of the peninsula have been forced to take their protection into their own hands, arming themselves with guns, baseball bats and even bows and arrows to ward off thugs seeking to loot their homes.

VIDEO: Anger and resentment over continued lack of power and gas... 

It has been reported that crooks have been disguising themselves as Long Island Power Authority workers and coming by homes on the peninsula in the middle of the night while real utility workers were nowhere to be found.

'We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed,' Danielle Harris, 34, told the New York Daily News.

The woman added that she has been hearing gunshots likely fired in the nearby housing project for three nights in a row.

Meanwhile, local surfer Keone Singlehurst said that he stockpiled knives, a machete and a bow and arrow.

‘I would take a looter with a boa if a felt threatened I would definitely use it,' he said. 'It's like the wild west. A borderline lawless situation.' 

City Councilman James Sanders said he fears that things are going to get even worse.

'We have an explosive mix here,' he said. 'People will take matters into their own hands.'

Sanders has directed much of his anger and frustration at LIPA, calling on the City Council to investigate the utility for ignoring the Rockaways for so long.

‘LIPA has failed the people of the Rockaways,’ he said. ‘It’s a question of class... serving the richer areas of Long Island and ignoring the Rockaways.’

Barbecue: Collins Wimbish cooks food over a fire in a barrel in the Rockaways neighborhood of Queens

Keeping in touch: People charge cell phones at a police generator in Rockaways

Destroyed: This Rockaways boardwalk that was pushed off of its pilings by storm surge

Making do: Large areas of New York outside Manhattan are still without power or functioning stores to buy food and water following Hurricane Sandy

Ruins: A silhouetted man walks past a strip of destroyed buildings in Rockaways

Reception: A man makes a phone call next to discarded storm garbage in Coney Island Friday

Walter Meyer, 37, told the Daily News that the Rockaways of today bears little resemblance to the peaceful place where he has surfed so many times in the past.

Shooting looters: A toy dog wearing a military helmet sits atop a car holding a sing warning off looters in a resident's driveway in the Rockaways

'After sunset everyone locks their doors,' he said. 'They're trying to find whatever weapons they can find. Some people are even using bows and arrows.' 

Along with mounting safety concerns, homeowners in the beachfront community hit hard by Hurricane Sandy that has left 109 dead continued to face hunger, complaining that federal officials have left them to fend for themselves.

 

More...

• The last words Neil Filipowicz heard from his nephew were 'I'm not leaving Daddy' . . . then hours later he was pulling their bodies out of the basement locked arm in arm after Sandy snatched them away
• Loyal dog found crushed under fallen tree that killed his owner as Sandy struck is pulled out alive
• New Jersey residents face 70s-style gas rationing as drivers are offered free fuel at mobile stations around New York
• Bloomberg jeered by New Yorkers as he tells TV interviewer 'I fought the battle' on holding the marathon but 'lost'
• Loyal dog found crushed under fallen tree that killed his owner as Sandy struck is pulled out alive
• Let there be light! Joy on streets as power is switched back on for Manhattan and the surge causes manhole covers to explode

'Rockaways always get left over,' said Meyer. 'It's treated like a marginalized land in the city.'

Most of the grocery stores in the area have not reopened since the storm, and the neighborhood has been left cut off from the rest of the city, with no trains or even shuttle buses servicing the residents.

Stranded neighbors largely have been relying on volunteers delivering food, water and other basic necessities while the Red Cross and FEMA were still nowhere in sight.

'We can't exist,' said Ann Manning. 'We can't buy milk. We can't buy cereal. We can't buy nothing.'

As they scrape round desperately for food and are forced to use their gas hobs to keep warm, many claim they are the forgotten victims of Sandy.

The Borough President of Staten Island called the reaction of Red Cross - or lack thereof - to the devastation caused by Sandy an 'absolute disgrace'.

Destruction: Marina Sverdlov talks to a real estate broker while standing in her flood ravaged home in Staten Island

No safe harbor: Boats pushed up by Hurricane Sandy lie against residences next to a marina on in Staten Island as a man walks his dog

Bitter: A sign about the marathon and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is displayed in a devastated section of Staten Island yesterday, before the marathon was canceled

Relief: People eat soup at a donation and distribution center in the Rockaways, though residents are complaining there is not enough assistance for them

Survival: Emilio Langilotti of Staten Island carries food from a FEMA and American Red Cross aid and disaster relief station in the borough

James Molinaro went as far as to tell people not to donate to the charity because when push came to shove, the group just didn't deliver when Staten Island needed them the most.

ANARCHY IN STATEN ISLAND

Sons of Anarchy star – and Staten Island native — Theo Rossi told InsideTV about the trials of his old community.

He’s remained there ever since the hurricane struck and gave his first-hand account of the devastation.  

'It’s so bad here, a lot worse than how its being portrayed by the media.,' he said.

'They are finding bodies left and right, elderly people who don’t even watch the news or who knew the storm was coming. I was just with one of my best friends from high school and college, and his house is completely gone.

'I know this island in and out. To see it completely destroyed is bizarre.

'I’ve been trying to hit every shelter on Staten Island to do what I can, just to make people smile. A lot of people know me and know I’m from here.'

'My advice to the people of Staten Island is do not donate to the American Red Cross,' said Mr Molinaro. 'Let them get their money elsewhere.'

'It's an absolute disgrace in a county that has always responded to disasters all over the world,' he said.

'Katrina - we sent them down four trailer loads of food, water and one trailer load of generators. No one's responding to us.'

Residents are pleading for help as they fear their devastated neighborhoods are being ignored.

In a Coney Island apartment block, where tenants huddle together in one room and human waste spills out of the toilet, tenant Jeffery Francis despairs that help is not getting to Brooklyn faster.

We are scavenging for food like animals,’ he told the New York Daily News. 'We are in a crisis and no one will help us. Look at us. We are misery. Everyone cares about Manhattan. No one is looking out for us. Nothing.’

At another apartment where power is still out, residents are out of food and praying for help. Albert Miller, 58, told the paper: ‘One person found a sandwich and we split it four ways.’

While power is likely to be returned to Manhattan’s East and West Villages, Financial District, Chelsea, Chinatown and the Lower East Side by the weekend, according to the power company Con Edison outages in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are not expected to be repaired for another week.

Across Staten Island residents are also increasingly frustrated they are being passed over while other parts of New York and New Jersey receive aid and attention.

Residents are furious the island is being prepared as the starting line for Sunday’s marathon, while hundreds are left hungry and witOne resident there told CBS station WCBS, ‘We're gonna die! We're gonna freeze! We've got 90-year-old people!’hout homes in the wake of the superstorm.

Natvel Pritchard, of Staten Island, told CBS News, ‘Though people don't talk about Staten Island much, people are here, a lot of people are hurting, so it's upsetting.’

Crossings: Alexandra Lopez, 7, looks out the window of the Staten Island Ferry on November 2

Two worlds: The half of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge attached to Brooklyn is lit while the half attached to Staten Island is dark last night

Homes across Brooklyn and Coney Island are some of the worst hit in the wake of the superstorm.

Many houses shattered into piles of bricks and splintered planks at Coney Island, while others stand waterlogged and abandoned.

What's left: Mounds of debris can be seen in the massively damaged Rockaway neighborhood

Damages: Jeff Kulikowski sits on a bench on the boardwalk that was pushed off of its pilings by storm surge in the Rockaways

One gated community at the tip of the island, Seagate, was particularly badly hit, with some houses entirely washed away or flattened.

For power companies, the scale of the destruction was unmatched - more widespread than any blizzard or ice storm and worse than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

'It's unprecedented: fallen trees, debris, the roads, water, snow. It's a little bit of everything,' said Brian Wolff, senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that lobbies for utilities.

Initially, about 60 million people were without power in 8.2 million homes and businesses.

By Wednesday night, that number had fallen to roughly 44 million people in 6 million households and businesses and today around 3.6 million are without power

Stacked: Boats piled up on top of one another near Beach Haven Inlet on the New Jersey coastline. Residents in New York's outer boroughs, and elsewhere outside the city, believe they are being passed over while aid is directed to Manhattan

Destruction: Homes in the Sea Gate part of Brooklyn have been ripped apart by the superstorm

Ruin: Whole walls and roofs of homes in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, were destroyed by the storm

Areas of New York and New Jersey are still without power days after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of America

The Borough President of Staten Island called the reaction of Red Cross - or lack thereof - to the devastation caused by Sandy an 'absolute disgrace'.

James Molinaro went as far as to tell people not to donate to the charity because when push came to shove, the group just didn't deliver when Staten Island needed them the most.

'My advice to the people of Staten Island is do not donate to the American Red Cross,' said Mr Molinaro. 'Let them get their money elsewhere.'

'It's an absolute disgrace in a county that has always responded to disasters all over the world,' he said.

'Katrina - we sent them down four trailer loads of food, water and one trailer load of generators. No one's responding to us.'

‘Of the 22 people across New York City that have perished, 15 of them died in Staten Island. The borough is still underwater.’

Devastating: Homes across Staten Island were flooded in the superstorm and many feel they are facing their ordeal without adequate support

Counting the loss: Residents in Ocean Breeze, Staten Island, salvage what they can from their flood-damaged home)

The Rockaway neighbourhood of Brookly, where the historic boardwalk was washed away, has faced terrible destruction, with buildings collapsing and cars damaged

Hope: As one Sea Gate resident's possessions are left strewn across the beach in the wake of the superstorm, they send a message about life's priorities in the face of misfortune

Devastation: Walls were ripped off and buildings collapsed as Sandy ravaged buildings in Sea Gate, Brooklyn

Merciless: A beachfront house in Coney Island's Sea Gate community is reduced to rubble in the wake of the superstorm

A helping hand: Residents start to piece things together again following the superstorm's trail of destruction

Residents are pleading for help as they fear their devastated neighbourhoods are being ignored.

In a Coney Island apartment block, where tenants huddle together in one room and human waste spills out of the toilet, tenant Jeffery Francis despairs that help is not getting to Brooklyn faster.

‘We are scavenging for food like animals,’ he told the New York Daily News. 'We are in a crisis and no one will help us. Look at us. We are misery. Everyone cares about Manhattan. No one is looking out for us. Nothing.’

At another apartment where power is still out, residents are out of food and praying for help. Albert Miller, 58, told the paper: ‘One person found a sandwich and we split it four ways.’

While power is likely to be returned to Manhattan’s East and West Villages, Financial District, Chelsea, Chinatown and the Lower East Side by the weekend, according to the power company Con Edison outages in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are not expected to be repaired for another week.

Across Staten Island residents are also increasingly frustrated they are being passed over while other parts of New York and New Jersey receive aid and attention.

Residents are furious the island is being prepared as the starting line for Sunday’s marathon, while hundreds are left hungry and without homes in the wake of the superstorm.

One resident there told CBS station WCBS, ‘We're gonna die! We're gonna freeze! We've got 90-year-old people!’

Natvel Pritchard, of Staten Island, told CBS News, ‘Though people don't talk about Staten Island much, people are here, a lot of people are hurting, so it's upsetting.’

Witnessing: Mayor Michael Bloomberg toured the storm damaged area of Tottenville in Staten Island with Councilman Vincent Ignizio on Wednesday... but two days later residents are feeling ignored

Disorder: A car that washed up on a bench during the superstorm in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn

The foundations of the historic Rockaways boardwalk are all that remain after it was washed away during the superstorm

Aftermath: Trees damaged several cars as Sandy made its way through Brooklyn leaving residents to pick up the pieces

Homes across Brooklyn and Coney Island are some of the worst hit in the wake of the superstorm.

Many houses shattered into piles of bricks and splintered planks at Coney Island, while others stand waterlogged and abandoned.

One gated community at the tip of the island, Seagate, was particularly badly hit, with some houses entirely washed away or flattened.

Across the bridge in Manhattan, many neighbourhoods are still in darkness and residents have resorted to digging through filthy dumpsters for food.

The Lower East Side and East Village neighbourhoods have both been in darkness for days.

Shocking images captured groups of residents sifting through garbage outside a Key Food supermarket in the East Village yesterday.

For power companies, the scale of the destruction was unmatched - more widespread than any blizzard or ice storm and worse than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

'It's unprecedented: fallen trees, debris, the roads, water, snow. It's a little bit of everything,' said Brian Wolff, senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that lobbies for utilities.

Initially, about 60 million people were without power in 8.2 million homes and businesses.

By Wednesday night, that number had fallen to roughly 44 million people in 6 million households and businesses and today around 3.8 million are without power.

People line up for fuel in the corner of Hylan Boulevard and Reid Avenue in Staten Island

Long recovery: The superstorm left great floods in its wake in Dumbo, Brooklyn and the recovery from this state on Tuesday will take some time

Chaos: Water reaches the street level of the flooded Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in the wake of Sandy

Power cut: From Brooklyn you could see Manhattan plunged into darkness during the superstorm - while one half of the city's iconic skyline is almost completely dark, lights are still visible on the left hand side of the picture