the candid city

seaview towers. rockaways. on Flickr.
The first woman we met on the stairwell also invited us into her apartment. This is the view from her window, overlooking the mirror image building that the other team was in across the way. Seaview Towers was once home to summer bungalows, which totally reminded me of the movie “Radio Days,” which takes place in the area in the ’50s. As we went through the building, we encountered so many people from all walks of life. Many were not home, but those who answered were thankful that someone came to check up on them. Some needed more food, water, diapers, milk, and other necessities. On one floor, we encountered a Spanish-speaking woman whose young daughter, translated for us. The woman was telling us that one of the neighbors on her floor was going around the floor at night with a knife. That woman wouldn’t open the door for us and we were concerned about her mental health (we also made sure to alert the super as well as the people back at the clinic). The young girl helped us as we surveyed the rest of the floor & I asked her if she liked helping out. She told me that she really wants to help people when she grows up. Other doors we knocked on also got responses. One woman we checked on was running very low on her prescription for high blood pressure & we took her information down. Another woman had a 24 day old baby and needed her medications refilled. They were running low on formula (since she was on meds, she was not breastfeeding) and other necessities. Her 18 year-old son was able bodied and we told him of places he could go to get supplies for his family. We didn’t get to all the floors because we didn’t have enough time, but we helped as many people as we could. It was pretty amazing, and it was great knowing that people were extremely appreciative.

The first woman we met on the stairwell also invited us into her apartment. This is the view from her window, overlooking the mirror image building that the other team was in across the way. Seaview Towers was once home to summer bungalows, which totally reminded me of the movie “Radio Days,” which takes place in the area in the ’50s.

As we went through the building, we encountered so many people from all walks of life. Many were not home, but those who answered were thankful that someone came to check up on them. Some needed more food, water, diapers, milk, and other necessities. On one floor, we encountered a Spanish-speaking woman whose young daughter, translated for us. The woman was telling us that one of the neighbors on her floor was going around the floor at night with a knife. That woman wouldn’t open the door for us and we were concerned about her mental health (we also made sure to alert the super as well as the people back at the clinic). The young girl helped us as we surveyed the rest of the floor & I asked her if she liked helping out. She told me that she really wants to help people when she grows up.

Other doors we knocked on also got responses. One woman we checked on was running very low on her prescription for high blood pressure & we took her information down. Another woman had a 24 day old baby and needed her medications refilled. They were running low on formula (since she was on meds, she was not breastfeeding) and other necessities. Her 18 year-old son was able bodied and we told him of places he could go to get supplies for his family.

We didn’t get to all the floors because we didn’t have enough time, but we helped as many people as we could. It was pretty amazing, and it was great knowing that people were extremely appreciative.