While Sandy chugged toward New Jersey this afternoon, local residents braved the wind and hard-spattering rain to have a look at the East River before dark. From Corlear’s Hook Park at Jackson and Cherry Streets to the Williamsburg Bridge, dozens of onlookers soaked up the scene with cameras, video recorders and phones. A pair of teenage boys skateboarded southward, laughing as they rode on the gusts. Along the park service road next to the FDR, NYPD officers in patrol cars used a bullhorn to tell cyclists and pedestrians the park was closed, but over on the river, no one paid attention.
