The devastated business owners who saw their South Street Seaport stores destroyed by Hurricane Sandy are under attack again — by thick green mold that has infested their once-bustling shops.
Workers in hazmat suits and surgical masks yesterday pulled large clods of the dangerous green growth from buildings in the low-lying area, which residents said suffered 10-foot storm surges.
“Fungus is everywhere. There was bad mold — it was green, an inch thick . . . I lost everything,” said a shaken Shawn Makani, owner of Cafe on the Pier, who plans to reopen.
“We have to wear masks to protect ourselves. It’s dangerous,” said a worker who hauled moldy debris from the Abercrombie & Fitch on Water Street.
Mold growth isn’t covered by city health rules, but the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has published guidelines for its removal.
The DOH suggests yanking out mold-infested sheetrock and wooden flooring and using blow-dryers to stop its growth in concrete and other materials.
Businesses in the neighborhood appeared to be following the city guidelines.
“I think the small businesses have done everything that needs to be done,” said Robert LaValva, who runs a food market at the old Fulton Fish Market building. “Everything that got soaked is being removed.”
The neighborhood’s oldest buildings — some of which date to the early 1800s — weathered the storm better than the Financial District office buildings nearby on Water Street, some of which will be closed for months.
The Seaport Museum’s ships, a big tourist draw, rode through the storm unscathed.
Marco Pasanalla had hot water, heat and electricity again yesterday in his wine shop, Pasanalla & Son, at 115 South St.
He expects to reopen soon but says the shutdown of nearby office towers has cut the foot traffic vital to business.
“There is this longer-term prospect of having nobody around, which is really scary,” Pasanalla said.