PHOTO: Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week signed the “Breezy Bill,” Sandy recovery legislation drafted by Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (l.), who was also joined at the Point Breeze Club House by Lisa Bova-Hiatt, interim executive director of the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, Artie Lighthall, general manager of the Breezy Point Cooperative, and state Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. Photo Courtesy of Assemblyman Goldfeder’s Office
Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week visited Breezy Point, a community that, nearly three years later, is still on the mend, to sign the so-called Breezy Bill—legislation that provides a two-year extension to a 2013 waiver of requirements relating to rebuilding and repairing homes devastated by Superstorm Sandy.
Under the extension, the city Department of Buildings will be allowed to continue to sign off on certain Sandy rebuild work without the property owner needing to first obtain approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals, a process that can take up to a year to complete.
The waiver’s extension will also help expedite the pace of rebuilds under the city Build it Back program.
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach), who drafted the bill and the original BSA waiver in 2013, joined Cuomo at the Point Breeze Club House and remarked that many families in his district are still struggling to rebuild.
“In Breezy Point, time-consuming red tape threatened to add months or years to an already costly and painful rebuilding process,” Goldfeder said. “Signing the ‘Breezy Bill’ into law will save our families time and heartache as they work to rebuild their homes and community. I want to thank Gov. Cuomo for signing this two-year extension to the Breezy Bill and ensure that we as a community and state will not rest until every family is back in their home.”
Last Friday, Goldfeder gave credit to Breezy Point Co-Op General Manager Artie Lighthall and Assistant General Manager Denise Neibel for first bringing the issue to his office’s attention. He also thanked state Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) for his work in getting the bill approved in the Senate.
More than 130 Breezy Point homes were destroyed by fire, and hundreds more devastated by flooding, during Sandy.
By Michael V. Cusenza
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
