Franca Costa, whose bungalow was badly flooded by Hurricane Sandy, walks four dogs outside her home on Kissam Avenue on Staten Island.
The residents of Kissam Avenue have not moved back home since the storm, but they are taking their victories, however small, and holding them tight.
Costa has been a model of determination on the street. In the first few weeks after the storm, her one-story house was constantly filled with volunteers, who helped gut the place and prepare it for renovation. She then hired electrical and plumbing crews to get the bungalow’s systems working again.
It has not all been smooth sailing: Her first electrician did inadequate work that needed to be redone by her second electrician, and her first plumber disappeared.
But building inspectors posted a green tag on Costa’s door last week — permission to reoccupy the house, one of the first to appear on the block — and she hopes to move back in within a couple of weeks.
— New York Times News Service
