Gramercy’s Hurricane Katrina and Sandy relief

A practical response to crisis

In 2005, residents and Calvary–St. George’s Church gathered clothing and emergency supplies for communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. The effort also supported rebuilding homes and schools, and contributed to an evacuation program for children receiving cancer treatment.

September 2005

A collection network takes shape

The September 15 appeal invited residents of Gramercy and surrounding neighborhoods to bring clothing, household supplies and children’s essentials to Calvary’s parish house. It asked families to pack useful goods carefully, list the contents and include encouraging notes or drawings.

A September 22 report described donations arriving from Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village as well as Gramercy. Arlene Harrison and Tom Pike adjusted requests as they learned what people in Louisiana and Mississippi needed—from air mattresses to work gloves, batteries and cleaning supplies.

Deliveries, and a network kept ready

By September 29, Town & Village reported hundreds of boxes collected and shipments reaching churches in Baton Rouge and Ocean Springs. It credited Mego and Moda Express with transport and described the United Way’s local distribution network. More boxes remained ready for shipment at Calvary and St. George’s.

A separate proposal would have used an Edwin Gould Foundation property in Rockland County to house displaced families. The reports describe a search for an organization to manage that arrangement, not a completed resettlement project. The subsequent furnishings campaign is documented as a later phase of relief.

Twenty-two vans after Sandy

After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Block Association worked with Manhattan South detectives to move supplies directly to devastated areas of Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens. The record describes deliveries to community centers, daycare and Montessori schools, and supportive housing residences including Kenmore Hall and the Cecil Hotel.

Neighbors helping neighbors

Winter clothes, heaters, bedding, books, educational supplies, toys and food were collected, sorted and delivered. The archive also records Thanksgiving meals for local first responders and help for people whose homes were damaged while they were out assisting others.

Following the separate relief efforts

The archive now follows these efforts in greater detail: furnishing replacement homes after Katrina, the changing delivery network after Sandy, and support for Escuela Hispana’s school community. Each account brings together the dated reports of that particular work.

2015

An appeal for families in Nepal

After the earthquake in Nepal, the Gramercy Park Block Association shared an appeal through Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Its May 26, 2015 letter explained that Gramercy neighbor Phil Suarez and his restaurant partner Jean-Georges Vongerichten had asked for support for their relief effort, and directed readers to Mercy Corps.

The letter was an appeal through Mercy Corps; it did not report a GPBA shipment or donation total.