Rockville Centre's Flaxman Furniture works to return to normal after Sandy

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Though Rockville Centre’s Flaxman Furniture was undamaged by the intense winds and high waters of Hurricane Sandy, the business’s storage and work facility in Island Park was not as fortunate.

At Flaxman’s Island Park facility, at 4140 Austin Blvd., 42 inches of water broke through the metal garage door, said owner Angelo Aldorasi.

According to Aldorasi, the damages are still being evaluated, though he believes the store lost nearly $6,000 in ruined products. The machinery in the building still has to be rinsed with fresh water and dried before it can be checked, Aldorasi explained, so they are not sure of the complete damage. He added that they only got power restored to the building on Nov. 14, so they hadn’t been able to check the entire store yet.

“We’re assessing right now,” Aldorasi said. “Not everything is lost. Luckily, here at the store [in Rockville Centre], there was no problem. There was no water, the power was on, the phones worked and we had internet access.”

Aldorasi said that he didn’t have flood insurance on the building because when he moved in it wasn’t available, and he never ended up purchasing it later on. He said that though his building in Island Park did suffer damages, it was little in comparison to other things he had seen.

“As bad as I got hit, I’m still here,” Aldorasi said. “I’ve learned to be grateful for what we have. We always want things to be better, but they could certainly be a lot worse. We’ll manage to get through.”

Aldorasi said that he had delivered a bookcase to a customer in Long Beach who had lost nearly everything in her house. She wanted the bookcase, which she had ordered before the storm, so that she would have something to put her remaining clothes and other items on, he said.

“The bookcase is now one of her only possessions,” Aldorasi said. “She gave me a hug and I left there crying.”

Aldorasi said that he plans on discounting his products either 10 or 20 percent because he knows that many residents lost much of their furniture. Two bookcase manufacturers approached him about providing a 20 percent discount on their product that could be passed on to the customers.

“I want to grow my business because the economy is doing well, not because of this,” Aldorasi said. “This almost feels like blood money.”