Hurricane Sandy has come and gone, leaving behind flooded streets, more than 8 million people without power, and a dearth of public transport in this country's most populous city. The reach of the superstorm (some 50 million people have been affected) practically guarantees a flurry online activity. And where do most members of the undistinguished herd go in times of crisis? Craigslist, of course. In fact, Craigslist is the outlet for manipulating any kind of news angle for financial benefit. Indeed, a quick scan of the listings this morning dredged up quite a few Hurricane-related real estate opportunities. Some Craigslisters offer spare rooms (at a special hurricane price, of course) to shelter those who lost their homes while others are just using the urgency of the storm to post some supposedly awesome deals, often incorporating an indecent amount of terrible weather-related puns: "Prices are dropping with the temperature" in Washington, D.C., while "a whirlwind of special prices" are arriving just down the street.
Jersey Shore
The day before the Frankenstorm pulverizes the New Jersey coast seems like kind of a bad time to advertise a beach apartment, but this Craigslister owns it: "$600 close to beach (and sandy)." Think he got any interested parties? Think maybe he's just clueless and wanted to say that the beach was, in fact, sandy? It shall remain a mystery. Norfolk, N.C.
A Hurricane Sandy "investment alert" tries really hard to be clever and impose a tone of urgency, but mostly just fails to make any kind of sense: "Dont' let this deal blow right pass your." Delaware
This guy with a "Possibly Weatherproof?!?" piece of land assumes a lot in his Craigslist ad, most notably that people have any semblance of an idea of what he's trying to say. His listing reads, "Hurricane Sandy stopped by and was jealous of what this land had to offer (meaning clear!)" Hold on. Meaning so not clear. Let's get this straight: Hurricane Sandy was jealous of the tiny plot of land (huh?), so instead of taking the opportunity to defeat a rival (?), Sandy left it all alone. Is that how jealousy works in Delaware? New York City
There are more "Sandy special!!!"s in NYC than one can shake a rainstick at, but this cowboy ("Yeeee haaaawww!!!") insists that people come buy his furniture today. His argument: "it's on the brink of catastrophe that you find the best deals." Well, that's actually kind of true. Remember all of the crazy listings that emerged the day before the end of the world last year? Boston
And then, of course, there are the listings that are all about mentioning "Hurricane SANDY!!!" in the headline, but fail to provide any punny follow-through in the body text. This Boston fellow says he's "willing to let a single straight male live with me rent free in exchange for walking around the place in his basketball shorts daily ... No money/rent from you, just show it off." Sure, it's a deal (I guess?), but there's not even one mention of the Frankenstorm in the listing itself. Would it have been so hard to say it was a "storm of savings" or something? · Photos of Hurricane Sandy's Damage In New York City [Curbed NY]
· Sandy Invades Craigslist Too [Curbed DC]
· Otherworldly Real Estate Opportunities Created by the Rapture [Curbed National]
· OUR PRICES ARE DROPPING WITH THE TEMPERATURE! [Craigslist Washington, D.C.]
· $600 close to beach (and sandy) [Craigslist Jersey Shore]
· Hurricane Sandy Investor Alert [Craigslist Norfolk]
· Hurricane Sandy-Proof - Possibly Weatherproof?!? [Craigslist Delaware]
· Hurricane SANDY!!! Free room and board for a single straight male [Craigslist Boston]
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