10 Years Post Sandy: From Raging LI Floodwaters, Popular Eateries Rise

GREENPORT, NY — When Sandy hit 10 years ago, scores of Long Island homes and businesses were devastated by the storm's wrath, some never to recover. But for one Greenport business, tragedy turned to triumph when the former Butta Cakes, a cupcake shop, was transformed after renovation from damages into today's popular Lucharitos, which specialize in tacos, nachos, margaritas, and more.

Today, that business has burgeoned and flourished: Along with the original Lucharitos in Greenport, there is the Lucharitos Burrito Bar in Mattituck, along with the Lucharitos concession stand at the movie theater next door, Little Lucharitos in Aquebogue, Luchacubano in Riverhead, Lucharitos in Center Moriches, a Lucharitos location in Melville, one coming soon in Mineola, and another, in the planning stages, with an as-yet undisclosed location.

Marking the 10 -year anniversary of Sandy this weekend, owner Marc LaMaina said, in those first hours after Sandy when Butta Cakes was swamped, the future seemed unthinkable:.

"The hurricane destroyed our floors and most of our electrical equipment," LaMaina said. "When I walked into the shop after the storm," he said, he was devastated by the extent of the damage. "A quarter inch of sea dirt was left after the water went back in to the bay, 26 inches of water to be exact. We had to gut the entire front of the house and the entire floor."

LaMaina added: "It was like someone literally cut the passion out of me. After dealing with a couple of Bridezillas over the summer and then this, I was done with baking. I was done with cupcakes. My concept was to change to simple, fresh and easily executed food and start serving some affordable great drinks. To see something you sunk your 401k and your personal savings into for the past five years just gone, it was heartbreaking."

But his mother, LaMaina said, reminded him of a poem by Rudyard Kipling: "If you can dream, and not make dreams your master; If you can think, and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken, Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools."

The poem inspired. "So that's what we did," LaMaina said. "My closest friends and family all helped tremendously. And two and a half months later we opened as Lucharitos. The 'little fighter'. That's what we are and we are doing amazing after the change. I could not be happier with the feedback and the locals' newfound love for this concept," he said, in an interview 10 years ago. "We are looking forward to an exciting future."

And what a future it's been. Now, 10 years after Sandy, LaMaina looks back: "I just saw this picture and it brought back so many memories of the past 10 years. You don’t grasp the hardships and setbacks while you're going through them. We all just do what needs to get done. Or what we think needs to get done to move forward. But taking a minute to look back and see where you started makes everything now much more special."

He added: "I remember wading in the thigh high water taking that picture. Wondering what was next. I had a lot of things happening all at once — and it’s hard to believe that we are where we are, at this moment."

When Sandy's wrath blindsided LaMaina's dreams, he was still learning about the challenges of small business ownership: "I was 32 with really no idea what I was doing. I know I liked to work hard and take risks but the storm broke me for a few weeks," he said. "However, I used that time to reset and refocus. If this didn’t work, I didn’t know what I was going to do."

Today, 10 years later, LaMaina said, he is working on restaurant numbers seven and eight, "with an amazing team around me. And, somehow, the business we created off the back of Sandy has limitless potential."

The message rings strong and true, he said. "I always say we are just riding the wave to wherever it takes us. We were lucky. We have been lucky, and we worked hard. Thankfully, the harder you work the more lucky you get, sometimes."

Sandy, he said, "was a blessing in disguise for me personally. We took the lemons and made duck nachos."