Things are gradually getting back to normal at the Surfside Gardens Community Center one month after it reopened from damage it sustained during Superstorm Sandy.
The Coney Island center hoped to be back open shortly after the storm struck seven years ago, but weeks turned to months, and months turned into years.
It finally reopened last month, and programs are slowly being re-implemented.
In the time that the center was closed, programs run by Heartshare St. Vincent services bounced around intermittently, leaving a void in the community.
Now the programs are back, but with a ways to go. Services for teens, adults and seniors are still in the works. The facility also still has some holes, a result of dilapidated conditions in the building.
"We're so thrilled the center is open, but the fear is that we're going to continue to have these facility issues until the larger infrastructure is dealt with," says Brooke Rosenthal, vice president of youth development & community programming.