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Hurricane Ida has cost hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in The World’s Borough.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Congressmembers Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and Adriano Espaillat (D-Bronx, Manhattan) recently announced that they are leading an effort to secure even more federal relief to help New Yorkers recover from the devastation caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
The two lawmakers have spearheaded a bipartisan letter to the leaders of the House Appropriations Committee asking them to write a bill that would provide the highest amount of federal funds possible for New York. The committee, of which Meng and Espaillat are members, is the panel in Congress that is responsible for allocating emergency disaster funding.
“To help New York recover and rebuild, we believe several accounts should be included in an emergency supplemental spending bill,” Meng and Espaillat wrote. “We respectfully urge that you include the highest funding possible for the following accounts:
- HUD Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program. Maximum funds would support large-scale resiliency projects and grants to homeowners. After Hurricane Sandy, New York City and Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island received $16 billion. These funds were used to support individuals and families that helped them rebuild and recover from the storm. This fund will be essential for New York’s recovery.
- HUD Single Family and Multifamily grants and loans: As you know, 13 New Yorkers tragically lost their lives in basement units. Funding here would help finance basement conversions.
- FEMA Disaster Relief Fund. Funding would support general reimbursement, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants, and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
- FEMA Emergency Management Performance Grant. Funding would help with emergency planning for future extreme weather events.
- DOT Transit. The Metropolitan Transit Authority will need additional resources to recover and rebuild.
- DOT Federal Highway Administration. Funds would support street design and flooding remediation.
- USACE Construction Funding. Funds would support existing resiliency projects and additional ones that may be needed.
“As I have said, we need as much federal assistance as possible to help struggling New Yorkers rebound from the damage and devastation that they are experiencing,” Meng said. “New Yorkers need the federal government’s support during this critical time. Additional financial help is vital to our recovery, and we will fight for this needed relief.”
“This is now the second time in two months our communities have been flooded as a result of the climate crisis, and they’re in dire need for our support,” Espaillat added. “Countless families, businesses, and neighborhoods were completely uprooted, and we tragically lost 16 of our fellow New Yorkers – the time to act is now. While we continue to survey the economic toll this storm took on our community, we know that without emergency disaster funding, New York’s path to recovery from Ida, and the COVID-19 pandemic, will be impeded – and this is unacceptable. That’s why I’m proud to join Congresswoman Meng in leading our colleagues in this fight to bring much needed relief to those most affected by Hurricane Ida.”
Others who signed the letter include New York Reps. Mondaire Jones, Carolyn Maloney, Nydia Velázquez, Thomas Suozzi, Nicole Malliotakis, Jamaal Bowman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kathleen Rice.
