Volunteers help answer Union Beach plea for Sandy demolitions

Source: Asbury Park Press, N.迷利倉J.Oct. 01--The contractors and their workers rolled out of bed early, rolling into Union Beach with excavators in tow -- big machines that crush and pick apart houses.And they were doing it to be kind.These contractors are volunteering their time and equipment to tear down Sandy-damaged houses for people who can't afford the thousands of dollars it would cost to tear them down."You see all these people in need and something's got to be done," said Ken Gabel of Landmark Cos. of Vernon.Gabel said Landmark responded to a call for help from the Jewish Federation, which spread the word for Union Beach along with other groups.Gabel and other demolition workers arrived after the federal government declined to demolish homes ruined by Sandy in Union Beach. People in the borough said FEMA reneged on a promise to help knock down homes. Whether FEMA promised that is a matter of dispute, but when it was clear FEMA would not assist, borough officials sent out word that homeowners here needed help.Nicole Gallopo, one of the beneficiaries of that free help, watched her house get turned into splintered wood last Friday in about an hour."It's surreal," she said, as an excavator ripped through her home like a Tyrannosaurus gnawing at prey.The modest Cape Cod-style house had withstood every storm since 1939. But not Sandy.The 27-year-old lifelong borough resident and her boyfriend, Nicolas Rusignuolo, 31, who also grew up in Union Beach, bought the home on Shore Road two months before Sandy sent more than four feet of ocean water into the first floor living space."We weren't in the home long enough to make memories like other people," she said. "It's really sad for them."The homeowners who are being helped must pay for tipping fees, anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000. But they're being spared the greater cost of about $8,000 to have a home t自存倉ppled and carted off.Donated timeOmiello Grasso, 55, an excavator operator from Hammonton who was knocking down Gallopo's home, said he has put in 12 hours day, seven days a week for the past two weeks knocking down homes in Union Beach. He gets paid by the owner of R&B Debris of Hainesport, Todd Sage, for eight hours a day and Grasso donates the rest, he said.Sage's company knocked down 14 Union Beach homes two weeks ago for free.Petruzzelli General Contractors demolished the same number, spending about 85 man hours over three weekends in August and September, said Chris Petruzzelli, owner of the Little Silver company.Gesumaria Contracting of Rahway, Alex Mccarthney Contracting of Saylorsburg, Pa., Adelino Construction of Monroe, Scott Tamaro Excavating of Belle Meade and Hard Stone Construction of Newark are some of the other outfits that have volunteered in this recent spate of activity.After the storm, volunteers swarmed into Union Beach from around the country. Four members of a group called Burners without Borders -- drawn from the ranks of the radical Burning Man festival that brings more than 50,000 people to the northern Nevada desert each August -- knocked down 135 homes for free using donated and rented equipment. FEMA picked up the carting costs for about 170 homes and has agreed to demolish another eight that showed signs they were about to collapse -- a requirement that must be met for the agency to get involved.Some 110 remaining homes needed to be demolished. About 46 of them have come down with the recent voluntary efforts, leaving about 64. When all the homes are razed, they will total 281, according to the borough.___Ken Serrano: 732-643-4029; kserrano@njpressmedia.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.) Visit the Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.) at .app.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage