Chelsea Piers reopened Saturday after a month of round-the-clock cleanup efforts to repair the damage caused by Sandy.
"Seven days a week, 46 different contractors, hundreds of employees." said Chelsea Piers spokeswoman Erica Schietinger of the work to restore the five-block-long athletic facility. "It was a team effort."
Flooding from the Hudson River left much of Chelsea Piers' first floor under water, forcing the complex to replace equipment, carpeting and sheet rock, a price tag estimated in the millions.
"After the hurricane I walked in and I was in tears. It was really heartbreaking," said Desiree Sanchez, an instructor at Chelsea Piers. "Last night, standing here 30 days later I had tears again, but they came from a much happier place."
While most of the facility now shows little signs of Sandy, some sections, like the bowling alley, still need work.
"It was all so shocking," Schietinger said.
