NEW YORK—There are billions of dollars on the way for victims of Superstorm Sandy in New York.
There will be $1.34 billion in new federal money for New York City, and an additional $2 billion for New York state, according to an announcement Monday by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan. The money is primarily for homeowners and small-business owners hit by Sandy a year ago.
This represents about one-third of a larger $6.3 billion federal aid package announced for New York state; the other two-thirds is for transportation recovery and an assortment of other projects.
“We passed a generous bill that should do the entire job,” said Schumer at a press conference in Manhattan.
The money is allocated through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. It is what officials call the second “tranche,” or batch, of money. The first tranche came in early 2013, with $1.77 billion allocated for New York City homeowners and small-business owners.
Schumer said New Yorkers who have applied for relief money, and haven’t received any, that their patience will pay off shortly.
“The spigot is now open,” promised Schumer. “The money is going to really start flowing.”
The money is designed to fill the gaps between what homeowners and small-business owners have received from their insurance companies plus FEMA, and their actual—usually much higher—costs of repairs.
Although the money is from HUD, the local government is in charge of allocating it.
Donovan said there may be a third, and probably much smaller, tranche of disaster relief money coming in the next several months, but it depends partly on whether any new disasters hit the region before the end of 2013.
Matt Gnaizda is a reporter for NTD Television.
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