WNBC’s Michael Gargiulo Reports From Fire-Ravaged Breezy Point: ‘I just could not brace myself for what I encountered here’

By Merrill Knox 

Michael Gargiulo stepped away from the WNBC anchor desk on Wednesday to visit Breezy Point, a beachfront area of Queens that was devastated during Hurricane Sandy. Gargiulo, whose parents own a home there, provided emotional coverage from the fire-ravaged town.

“You try to brace yourself for what you’re going to see, but I just could not brace myself for what I encountered here,” Gargiulo told Tom Llamas and Shiba Russell. “I’ve been coming here my entire life. I have to tell you, I just didn’t recognize where I was here in Breezy Point.”

“I have covered tornadoes, I have covered hurricanes and earthquakes. And not that these disasters are in competition with each other, but it’s shocking to see the impact on the people in the community. You see it here, and it is really sobering to see this devastation,” Garguilo continued, his voice thick with emotion. “And still in Breezy Point, two American flags still flying in the distance. And that’s Breezy Point for you.”

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