Hurricane Sandy A Year Later

Hurricane Sandy was expected to create jobs for thousands of general contractors and construction laborers with the billions of dollars flowing in from the Federal Government.

Many New Yorkers believed help was on the way when the US Congress passed Hurricane Sandy relief legislation some 4 months after the storm hit. It was merely a prelude to further delays throughout the total government spectrum. Reports from local sources claim that nobody was doing anything and practically nothing had been done for the whole year. Readers may have been looking for progress reports from stricken areas in the press.

As the anniversary date approaches: no progress report means nothing to report. The New York news organizations reported on just about anything, but the plight of Hurricane Sandy survivors. The major stories of 2013: Gun Control, Immigration, Women in Combat, Keystone Pipeline, same-sex marriage, Boston Marathon Attacks, Bangladeshi Garment Factory Fire, NSA Surveillance Database, Egyptian Military Coup, Syrian Rebellion and Chemical Weapons, The Massacre in Kenya, solving the Baby Hope Murder, the US Government Shut Down, and the birth of Prince George.

New Yorkers were shocked when they opened the pages of the NY Daily News beginning last Friday and began reading that there is a controversy over the distribution of $575 million dollars Sandy Relief aid.

There are plenty of tales of woe throughout New York, New Jersey and New England. Since the storm, the Manuel family members have lived at a Queens school, a Bronx shelter, and a succession of hotels.

Manuel said they don’t know how long they will be allowed to stay in their current digs. And they still can’t afford to rent a place of their own.

“The travelling, just being in the hotel and not being able to cook, is tough,” she said. “We have to eat out every day. The little stuff that we have left we have to watch it all the time because I'm worried about the housekeepers stealing it. I always leave the 'Do Not Disturb’ sign up.”

There are more than 200 storm survivors like Manuel still lost in the city a year after Sandy. They are living in shelters, in rented rooms, in some cases with friends. Many families are still waiting for the Bloomberg administration to approve two-year housing vouchers to help them pay for rent. They are not deadbeats. They are people whose jobs, whose homes, whose lives were washed away by the storm.

“They just can't afford housing on the private market especially because the rents have gone up in the places they used to live,” said Attorney Goldiner of Legal Aid Society. “The city has completely abandoned them and seems to just want them to go away.”

Families in Distress

A Year Later

Hurricane Sandy Revisited

In Far Rockaway

Weather of Mass Destruction - The Dark Ages

New York City's Response

Damage Assessment

Property Tax Relief - Rapid Repairs

Rapid Repairs finished in March 2013

New York State

The state of New York plans to spend up to $400 million buying out and knocking down homes in Sandy-affected communities. For many struggling homeowners getting a buyout is the equivalent of winning the lottery. (Oct. 28)

State Buyout

Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Taskforce

December 7, 2012 - Executive Order Establishing the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force

This order establishes the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force (Task Force) to provide the coordination that is necessary to support these rebuilding objectives. In collaboration with the leadership provided through the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), the Task Force will identify opportunities for achieving rebuilding success, consistent with the NDRF's commitment to support economic vitality, enhance public health and safety, protect and enhance natural and manmade infrastructure, and ensure appropriate accountability. The Task Force will work to ensure that the Federal Government continues to provide appropriate resources to support affected State, local, and tribal communities to improve the region's resilience, health, and prosperity by building for the future

Rebuilding by Executive Order

August 19,2013 - Rebuilding Strategy Press Release

Among the recommendations that will have the greatest impact on Federal funding is a process to prioritize all large-scale infrastructure projects and map the connections and interdependencies between them, as well as guidelines to ensure all of those projects are built to withstand the impacts of climate change. The Strategy also explores how to harden energy infrastructure to minimize power outages and fuel shortages – and ensure continuation of cellular service – in the event of future storms.

HUD Task Force

Chelsea Clinton Comes to the Rockaways

Clinton led hundreds of volunteers with the Clinton Foundation in a cleanup mission along Rockaway Beach. She also broke ground on a Sandy damaged home that will be rebuilt to better withstand future storms, thanks to a resiliency competition from the Clinton Global Initiative.

"We are so excited to be doing this," Clinton said in front of the single-family home, which will be complete in July. The winning design for the home — which was required to be both affordable and storm-resistant — could be used on other homes damaged by Sandy.

Chelsea Helps in Rockaways

Hundreds of New Yorkers still suffering from the impact of Superstorm Sandy gathered at City Hall Sunday night to rally for a more equal recovery effort that they say has forgotten many low-income and immigrant families.

Organized by the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, community leaders and politicians spoke about the so-called “tale of two recoveries” to scores of people who marched in from across the city.

“Is it justice to rebuild in a way that doesn’t guarantee affordable housing for people that have been living in those communities for a long time?” asked Councilman Brad Lander of Brooklyn, adding that the recovery effort has left many people in the outer boroughs without enough help.

City-Wide Protest

Charities Withheld Funds

Four charities that had been under fire for sitting on millions of dollars of Hurricane Sandy relief funds have agreed to pony up $10 million to aid victims of the storm. The charities — including the American Red Cross and a fund created by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees — reached an agreement with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The deal came after revelations in July that 40% of the $575 million in Sandy aid collected by 90 charities had been disbursed within six months of the storm. “We have been dogged about making sure that when they raise money and tell the world they are going to spend it on Sandy recovery, they in fact spend it on Sandy recovery,” Schneiderman said during an appearance Thursday in hard-hit Long Beach, L.I.

July 17, 2013 - Attorney General Schneiderman on Hurricane Sandy Relief

During a press conference in the heart of the Breezy Point neighborhood devastated by fires started by Superstorm Sandy, Attorney General Schneiderman outlined the findings in his office's report on spending by charities in the wake of the storm, revealing that $238 million of the $575 million that was raised for relief efforts had not been spent as of April 2013. The Attorney General was joined by New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, City Councilman Eric Ulrich, and Arthur Lighthall of the Breezy Point Cooperative.

So many Members have pointed out when we had the [Hurricane] Katrina damage, which was also a very broad-based natural disaster, we acted within ten or 11 days, [providing] $60 billion. We acted with alacrity. Here, for whatever reasons ... we're now some 60 plus days later and we haven't acted.

January 1, 2013 - Congress adjourned before passing Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill