The City Council passed two resolutions – one sponsored by Councilman Eric Ulrich, center, and the other by Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. – that they hope will help homeowners impacted by Hurricane Sandy, as well as individuals in future disasters. Photo Courtesy William Alatriste/NYC Council
In the face of looming insurance rates poised to increase dramatically and, some residents say, create ghost towns along the Queens waterfront after individuals are unable to empty their pockets any more to cover their houses, the City Council passed two resolutions aimed at helping homeowners still struggling nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy.
One of the resolutions passed, sponsored by Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), calls upon the United States Congress to amend federal legislation – known as the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012 – in an attempt to mitigate the ramifications of the legislation that phases out subsidized insurance rates and allows for rate increase of 20 to 25 percent a year until properties reach actuarial status. While supporters of the legislation have said it was meant to make a debt-ridden National Flood Insurance Program more fiscally stable, homeowners in Queens – and throughout the country – have said the new rates would force many from their houses because they would no longer be able to afford to live there.
“The City Council is sending a message to members of Congress urging them to get their act together and provide relief for Sandy homeowners and their families,” Ulrich said in a prepared statement. “Nearly one year after the storm, many people living on New York’s waterfront are still concerned about the possibility of skyrocketing insurance premiums. We need to do everything we can to alleviate the financial burden that will be imposed by these federal mandates before it’s too late.”
Among the recommendations spelled out in Ulrich’s resolution include reducing the amount by which insurance premium rates increase annually, allow properties that have been newly mapped into the floodplain to participate in the phase-in of actuarial rates, permit current subsidized rates to continue upon the sale of a property, allow for higher deductibles in order to reduce premiums, and dock the amount of premiums for the actual risk-mitigating alterations owners make to their buildings.
The Council also passed a resolution from Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), which was co-sponsored by Ulrich, that calls upon Congress to pass, and President Obama to sign, a bill to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The legislation would offer assistance for owners of condominiums and housing cooperatives damaged by a major disaster. Among the thousands of structures affected by Sandy were cooperatives and condos, with these structures suffering extensive damage to individual units and commont areas. Under current federal policy, coops and condos are considered business entities and therefore largely ineligible for federal aid to make much-needed repairs following disasters like last year’s hurricane.
By Anna Gustafson
