MICKEY MERRELL
Watching home razed yesterday.
LIFETIME TORN DOWN: Demolition workers rip apart a bungalow on the Sandy-slammed Ocean Breeze property of Veronica Weiler yesterday. (
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In the time it takes to run the dishwasher or dry a load of clothes, Mickey Merrell’s childhood home was reduced to rubble.
The Staten Island house that Merrell had called home for 55 years was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, and a city wrecking crew yesterday finished the job in a mere 30 minutes.
“Down the road, I’d imagine we’d rebuild, but I don’t know definitely,” Merrell, 61, said as a bulldozer pushed through the Ocean Breeze home where she learned to walk and tie her shoes.
“It’s just sad. The neighborhood is changing now. It’s sad just watching everyone go through it.”
Merrell’s mom, Veronica Weiler, 85, was living in the one-story bungalow when Sandy struck, flooding the neighborhood with up to 10 feet of water.
The Weiler home was among the first red-tagged residences that were razed — the city took down three yesterday along Quincy and Liberty avenues.
In all, 350 city houses have been condemned due to Sandy.
Merrell’s parents bought the house in 1958 and added six children and a bunch of personal touches over the years.
“I’m devastated,” said Merrell’s brother, Ray Weiler. “There’s a lot of memories in there. I think of my childhood, I think of my mom.
“There were heartaches in there like every other home. But that’s what made it a home. I remember working on the place with my dad. He died in ’90, and then it became my job.
“My mom raised six kids there but dozens of kids grew up at that house. This was like party central for years. You’d wake up in the morning and be stepping over kids.”
About 100 Staten Island homes will be demolished by the end of February, said Dave Rosoff, the on-scene coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Officials said a single contractor can bring down about three or four homes a day. The Army Corps of Engineers is hauling away the debris.
Across the street, weary residents watched as another house was turned into a vacant lot.
Neighbors traded hugs and wiped away tears as excavation equipment tore into a row of memories and dreams.
An eerie silence hung over the neighborhood, pierced only by the sad sounds of wood cracking, glass breaking — and neighbors weeping.