NEW YORK – Two New York City seaside communities were disproportionately affected by the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy.
The tight-knit neighborhoods of Rockaway and Breezy Point in Queens lost about 80 residents during the attacks 12 years ago that killed more than 2,700 people in New York.
As the neighborhoods rebuild from Sandy, affected families are taking stock of the irreplaceable mementos from one tragedy destroyed by the other.
From handwritten letters and photos to coffin liners and actual memorials, scores of families lost cherished reminders.
Joe Quinn lost photos and letters from his older brother Jimmy when the boxes they were stored in burned with his mother's Breezy Point home. Quinn says despite the pain of both events, the focus has been on rebuilding.
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