WEEHAWKEN — At the behest of Mayor Richard Turner, contractors, Department of Public Works employees, citizen-volunteers and others are working overtime to clean up The Shades, the small, tight-knit Weehawken neighborhood nestled in the shadows of the Palisade hills, near the Hoboken border and the Lincoln Tunnel.
The neighborhood was devastated by Hurricane Sandy last week. The neighborhood, which has an elevation level equal to Hoboken, was inundated with about 7 feet of water during the storm, as evident by the high water mark left on the walls of St. Lawrence’s Church, the town’s primary Catholic parish.
Most of the basements, garages and ground floor apartments in the area incurred severe damage, wrecking everything from hot water heaters to washers, dryers and even cars. Mayor Turner and other city employees advocated, then insisted, that residents evacuate last Sunday and Monday, and most returned days later to a cruel reality.
Since the storm, the city has established a shelter in the St. Lawrence community room, where hot meals are being served three times a day, and residents are provided with warmth, wi-fi, and whatever else they might need.
For more on this community and its history, see the upcoming weekend’s print edition.
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