YES, IT'S BECOME THIS BAD......

It's secret that much of New Jersey and Manhattan is still without power thanks to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Due to the lack of power, many stores find themselves throwing a lot of their foods into the dumpsters. Well, like they say, "One man's garbage is another man's treasure!" That's how bad it's getting in downtown Manhattan where they still have no power. Dozens of city residents who were frustrated with day two of the black-out surrounded a garbage bin just North of Little Italy that was filled with $40,000 worth of pricy fresh food. 

It turns out; Met Food supermarket workers at the corner of Prince and Mulberry were forced to toss garbage bags full of stuff like Pom pomegranate juice, soy chai latte, organic eggs, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, to clear the shelves in the wake of Sandy's aftermath. Store owner Paul Fernandez said that his store, like most stores south of 40th Street, has been without power since Sandy hit on Monday forcing him to trash the entire deli section along with all his meats and dairy products. 

He says, "I had to throw out all of my perishables. I can't sell it to anybody. It's like $40,000 worth of food. We carry a lot of specialty items and organic items." Fernandez also said that he was shocked to see the hordes of people packing shopping carts and backpacks with his groceries. He claims, "They are taking advantage." Are they really now, Paul? People have been stuck in their homes for almost 3 days and most without power. People taking food from a dumpster and out of necessity is hardly taking advantage, especially, if they have no food in their homes or a working ATM to get cash. 

 One NYU student said that she'd been wandering the streets all day looking for a functional ATM or an open store to order or buy food. Her apartment on 23rd Street is without power and rotting food in the fridge. Then she saw a bunch of people in the Dumpster and a heap of food, which she says was a Godsend! One family showed up with a shopping cart and spent over an hour tearing open trash bags and tossing groceries to his family and people too embarrassed to ask for the food. Down the block, Paradise Deli and Grocery was open using dozens of candles to light the dark store. Owner Aziz Benani watched as he lost his customers to the free piles of food.

For those of you asking or wondering how bad it is on the East Coast, here's your answer! It's so bad that now we have people jumping into dumpsters for food! Lines at the gas stations are miles long, which I haven't seen, since the gas crisis in the early 80s. Okay, now I'm aging myself. The answer to your question, though, is "Yes, it's that bad!"