Mayor de Blasio has announced new resiliency and infrastructure investments that will support businesses and jobs in neighborhoods impacted by Superstorm Sandy.
Mayor Bill de Blasio last Friday announced new targeted resiliency and infrastructure investments that will support businesses and jobs in neighborhoods impacted by Superstorm Sandy, including the Business Preparedness and Resiliency Program, a new initiative to help small businesses better prepare for emergencies and enhance the resiliency of their operations, assets, and physical space; and a host of major new investments in neighborhoods that include the Rockaways, Staten Island, Coney Island and Hunts Point.
The new programs and investments are part of the city’s proposed Action Plan Amendment to the $4.21 billion in federal disaster aid it has been allocated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program. The Action Plan Amendment was released last week ahead of a community engagement process that will take place over the coming weeks throughout Sandy-impacted communities.
The Action Plan Amendment, the administration said, also locks in funding to ensure all Build it Back applicants will be served, while creating a Temporary Relocation Program to provide financial assistance to homeowners displaced during construction and expanding BIB’s local workforce development initiatives. Following de Blasio’s BIB overhaul in April, the program has made progress—with 949 construction starts and 2,019 reimbursement checks to date, compared to none earlier this year.
“As we continue to build back a stronger and more resilient city after Sandy, it’s critical that we make every impacted family and small business whole again—and ensure they’re better protected next time they need to be,” de Blasio said. “We’ve focused on reshaping ineffective programs to deliver real results for communities who need them, and that’s exactly what we’re continuing to do through [the] Action Plan Amendment. From support for local small businesses and major infrastructure upgrades across the five boroughs, to continued progress on Build it Back and financial relief for homeowners, we are speeding up recovery while building a safer New York City.”
The proposed Action Plan Amendment 8 released on Friday updates funding amounts and other information to reflect the third allocation of CDBG-DR funds to the city, and makes the following changes, which complement the city’s extensive recovery and resiliency work to date.
The Action Plan Amendment reallocates funds from the inactive Neighborhood Game Changer program and the Business Resiliency Investment Program to more effective business-related programs and targeted key resiliency investments that will protect small businesses and commercial corridors and benefit entire neighborhoods, as well as to the BIB program to ensure all homeowners will be served.
Additionally, the Action Plan Amendment accounts for $639 million in new housing recovery funds from the third tranche of HUD assistance allocated earlier this year, as well as $200 million in funds reallocated to Build it Back, enabling the city to serve all BIB applicants regardless of priority levels. This Action Plan Amendment allocates new funding for temporary relocation during construction and workforce development, and formalizes changes de Blasio made earlier this year as part of his Build it Back overhaul.
By Forum Staff
