Brandon d’Leo, a sculptor and surfer, rented a second-floor apartment across the street from the beach on New York City’s Rockaway Peninsula. At about 3:30 in the afternoon, he went outside. Waves were crashing against the nine-kilometer long boardwalk. A short time later, d’Leo and a neighbor watched the sea through the glass door of his living room. As it was getting dark hid neighbor saw something alarming. I think the boardwalk just moved, she said. Within minutes, another surge of water lifted the boardwalk again. It began to break apart.