As the Northeast braced for Hurricane Sandy’s landfall on the southern Jersey Shore, New York City was bracing for the possibility of flooding in its so-called Zone A, areas of the city along the waterline where a hurricane of any size poses a flood risk. These areas include the waterline along the tip of Manhattan, around most of Staten Island, much of Long Island City in Queens, much of northwestern Booklyn and Brooklyn’s Upper Bay waterfront, as well as all of Coney Island, and much of the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. Dozens of evacuation centers have been established, mostly in schools, but there were few signs that residents were taking the mandatory evacuation of these areas seriously. Even as gusts easily topped 50 miles per hour, people inside these evacuation zones were seen taking photos and marveling at the coming storm. 

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