Viewing Damage, Biden Vows to Help Storm-Battered Areas

Marcus Yam for The New York Times

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., second from right, touring Seaside Heights, N.J.

Recalling his roots as a Northeasterner "literally raised on the shore," Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. pledged unswerving federal support on Sunday for the areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.

"This is a national responsibility," Mr. Biden said, standing before a heap of discarded wood on the Boardwalk in Seaside Heights, N.J.

He promised, referring to himself, that the state had a "homeboy" in the White House.

The visit came less than three weeks after President Obama's well-publicized tour of New Jersey with Chris Christie, the state's Republican governor, just days before the presidential election.

Mr. Christie did not accompany the vice president on this visit, though Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Senators Robert Menendez and Frank R. Lautenberg joined him for some or all of the trip. Mr. Biden did say that he had a "long conversation" with Mr. Christie before his arrival.

New Jersey, New York and Connecticut are expected to need tens of billions of dollars in storm relief; Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has already asked for at least $30 billion in federal aid for New York.

The region has shown some signs of recovery: power has largely been restored to affected communities, and gas rationing has ended for all but New York City, where Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Sunday extended it through Friday.

But there are also still very vivid signs that more work needs to be done. After the disclosure that about 200 storm-ravaged homes would have to be demolished by the New York City Buildings Department, officials on Sunday indicated that the city would not immediately charge homeowners for the cost of demolition, and that "as much assistance as possible" would be offered.

In New Jersey, Mr. Biden saw firsthand one of the shorefront communities hardest hit by the storm. After landing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Sunday morning, Mr. Biden was flown to the Seaside Heights area by helicopter, traveling above a harrowing stretch of shoreline towns.

Businesses swept away, marinas filled with pileups of boats, homes with ground floors all but hollowed out — all were on display along the vice president's route, as residents looked up from their doorsteps to investigate the ruckus overhead.

Some roads were frosted with sand, weeks after the beach line first encroached inland. Homes tilted to the side like drooping wedding cakes. The residents themselves were only allowed back to their town last Monday.

Mr. Biden's motorcade rolled past rows of ghostly shore-side homes, boarded up and crumbling. "For rent," read a sign affixed to one of them. "Summer and winter."

For those in the Northeast, Mr. Biden said, the ocean and its beaches are "our Grand Canyon" — integral not only to local economies but also to the culture of the region.

In neighboring Seaside Park, N.J., Mr. Biden, clad in boots, a baseball cap and a leather jacket, had walked a portion of the beach with Mayor Robert Matthies.

"Come on, show me," he said, as the mayor led him to the shore. He asked Mr. Matthies, a former school superintendent, what position he had held previously.

"You can handle school superintendent," Mr. Biden said, "you can handle anything."

At the Seaside Heights Volunteer Fire Station, Mr. Biden visited with first responders ("how ya doing?"), a young boy ("how old are ya?") and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

After touring Seaside Heights, where the storm left a roller coaster standing flimsily in the water, he flew to Hoboken, which has been left without its critical PATH train service since the storm.

Mr. Biden, who did not take questions from reporters during his trip, trumpeted his transportation credentials, calling himself Amtrak's "most ardent passenger." After surveying the PATH train station with Mayor Dawn Zimmer and other officials, he said that restoring the system was critical.

"There's probably no other city in America where as high a percentage of the population takes public transportation every day," he said.

Before leaving the city, Mr. Biden made stops at Benny Tudino's, a pizzeria, and Hudson Tavern, a restaurant that had closed for nearly two weeks because of flooding after the storm.

Ruben Pino, a manager at Hudson Tavern, said he had heard about the vice president's visit "maybe an hour" before the group arrived. While he believed this to be Mr. Biden's first visit to the bar, he said the establishment was no stranger to celebrities because "Eli Manning comes here all the time."

As the vice president and his entourage filled the restaurant, a worker stood guard at the door. "Sorry," he said softly, "you guys got to order something."

Mr. Lautenberg, the state's 88-year-old senior senator, would soon oblige.

"I'm your senator," he shouted moments later, as the bar went quiet. "All I want is a Diet Coke."

He was served the beverage, to cheers.

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