In the Rockaways in Queens, Occupy Sandy members are teaching storm victims about conducting sit-ins, in anticipation of any government efforts to use eminent domain to remove residents’ homes from vulnerable parts of the seashore. But it is clear that few of the people who bedded down on Zuccotti’s concrete remain among the ranks of Occupy Sandy. Many simply returned to school or found jobs, but others have retreated for ideological reasons.

Last winter, in heated e-mail exchanges between separate Occupy Sandy groups serving Red Hook, Brooklyn, some members railed against the groups’ cozy relationship with the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, and the local police precinct. The clash led to walkouts and stopped much of their work in the community, said Rebecca Manski, 35.

“There are various things that have come out of Occupy Wall Street and taken on a life of their own, and we want them to succeed,” said Ms. Manski, a self-described anarchist who left the Sandy group to home in again on protesting the financial system. “But there is a core of us who believe that the focus should be on Wall Street.”

Those original Occupiers who do remain often say they can do so only by compromising. A volunteer in Sheepshead Bay, who declined to give his name because he likes to plant fruits and vegetables on property that he does not own, said he struggled with the idea of taking donations from corporations like Home Depot. Working with officers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency feels like cooperating with the same big government that he moved to New York from Oakland, Calif., to fight against, he said.

Nevertheless, the disaster-relief trailer from which he doles out storm help — which now, with most cleanup complete, includes growing heirloom corn and rutabaga seedlings for local residents to start their own backyard organic farms — was provided by the city. Inside, the words “In Case of Emergency” are posted on one wall, with an arrow pointing at the crisscrossed “A” symbol of anarchism.