Day Laborers Offer Help After Hurricane Sandy About 50 or so people gathered outside a storm-ruined taco restaurant on Saturday morning in Coney Island, on a backstreet behind the Boardwalk near the Wonder Wheel. They were day laborers, Hispanic men and women who have been spending weekends as a volunteer brigade, helping other people chip away at the mountains of debris and accepting nothing in return except work gloves, face masks and safety information cards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They came from all over the region, including a day labor hiring center in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, that Hurricane Sandy had washed away. They filled trash bags, pulled up flooring and hosed away mud and dust in homes near Surf Avenue; a dental clinic; and the taco place, Doña Zita, where flood stains went halfway up the door. On Sunday, the workers went to Midland Beach, on Staten Island, where the devastation in some parts recalled what was left by Hurricane Katrina. It's not unusual to find day laborers looking for work after a disaster. What was striking was the warmth and gratitude they found. They even had an official welcome, from the local state assemblyman, Alec Brook-Krasny, and two City Council members - Domenic Recchia Jr. of Coney Island and Vincent Gentile of Bensonhurst. They thanked everyone for coming and pledged to get the Bensonhurst work center open again. A man from the laborers" union gave a safety lecture. An OSHA official didn't let her lack of Spanish stop her from urging everyone to use gloves and face masks - "mucho importanto," she said. "We are all New Yorkers," said Mr. Recchia, who had brought a box of masks. An observer used to the anti-Latino screeds of politicians on Long Island, a few miles east, marveled at the sense of community - the feeling that after a disaster, immigration status didn't matter, only a willingness to help. A few more people gave little speeches and then it was time to get to work.