Red Cross Helps Extend Hotel Stays For Sandy Victims

By: Arlene Borenstein

Hundreds of New Yorkers who lost their homes in Hurricane Sandy thought they were going to weather the expiration date of their temporary housing this week, but a last-minute donation is keeping them sheltered, at least for now. NY1's Arlene Borenstein filed the following report.

Ikesher Graham and her 7-year-old son, Tarik Robinson, have been living in a hotel in the Jamaica section of Queens since the beginning of the year. Hurricane Sandy pushed them out of their home in the Rockaways, and life has not been the same.

"I don't sit next to my friends," Tarik said. "I'm so sad."

Tarik has been to three different schools since the storm hit. He and his mother have stayed at the Garden Inn and Suites since January. Other displaced residents are there, too, but they, along with roughly 300 other Hurricane Sandy victims across the city, were at risk of losing their temporary housing after the Federal Emergency Management Agency stopped funding it.

"This feels like the storm all over again," said Carl Myrie, who was displaced by the storm.

Read more at http://www.ny1.com/content/news/189914/red-cross-helps-extend-hotel-stays-for-sandy-victims