Island Park Starbucks reopens after Sandy

Anne Grissler retreats from the rain on Saturday, sipping her usual cup of Christmas Blend coffee at the Starbucks in Island Park.

The coffee shop reopened last week after being closed since superstorm Sandy devastated the area, flooding homes and closing businesses.

"You knew how bad it was when the Starbucks in Long Beach and Island Park were both closed," said Grissler, 53, of Long Beach. "It's important to connect with the world here and relax with a cup of coffee."

Grissler had just moved to a co-op on East Broadway in Long Beach two weeks ago and missed her daily dose of Starbucks coffee.

"That hurricane was bad. Forget the roofs on people's homes, we lost our Starbucks," she said, before getting back to reading a book on her Kindle Fire.

The Starbucks held its grand reopening on Friday, donating the proceeds from its beverages sales that day to the Island Park Residential and Business Hurricane Relief Fund, according to Island Park Chamber of Commerce president Glenn Ingoglia.

Rich Pearl walked into the coffee shop on Austin Boulevard with his friend Scott Tallman to grab a cup of coffee on their way to Ace Hardware to pick up cleaning supplies.

Pearl's basement in his home on Mann Place in Oceanside was submerged in 3 feet of water, flooding his bedroom and bathroom.

Pearl had been sleeping on an air mattress on the second floor since the storm flooded his living area. He appreciated having the Island Park Starbucks back up and running.

"I need my coffee," said Pearl, 60. "It's the routine of coming to a Starbucks and this one has better service and serves as a social setting where people meet and use the Wi-Fi. This is the world we live in now. We need Starbucks."