Great Concern Re: NYC Distribition of Block Grant Federal Funds

The below article appeared in today's New York Daily New......

Different Hurricane Sandy payout deals struck for New Yorkers and Long Islanders

The two distinct payouts are due to the city and state submitting different proposals for allocating Sandy relief dollars. New York City residents will not be able to get reimbursed for home repairs, while Long Island residents can get refunded for similar work.

BY VERA CHINESE AND JENNIFER FERMINO / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Try wrapping your head around this one: Under current plans, the feds will reimburse many Sandy victims in Long Island, 

but not those in New York City.

The head-scratching discrepancy, which could lead to people who live minutes apart getting vastly different relief checks, 

is due to the city and state submitting different proposals for allocating a portion of federal Sandy relief dollars called 

community development block grants.

The city is tasked with handing out $1.8 billion of the federal grants to its residents and specifically plans to prohibit 

homeowners and business owners from getting cash back for money they’ve already paid out on repairs.

The state, which is in charge of allocating $1.7 billion to Long Islanders, has no such restriction and will allow 

reimbursements.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) calls the discrepancy unfair.

He’s pushing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which must approve the plans, to force the city to 

allow reimbursements.

“There needs to be consistency between New York City and New York State’s action plans to ensure that all homeowners 

in New York can access the same type of assistance,” Schumer wrote in a letter to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan on 

Tuesday.

“A homeowner in Rockaway Beach ... will not be eligible for the same benefit that a homeowner in Long Beach, just 10 

miles away, will be able to access.”

Sandy victims were also unhappy that they could lose out.

Kathy Kirker, 47, of Breezy Point, said her mother had to pay around $15,000 for a new furnace because her insurance 

didn’t cover it.

“I’m angry, but not surprised,” she said. “The city does things their way.”

Emma Fludd, 40, an executive assistant who lives on Beach 90th St. in Rockaway Beach, was stunned by the lack of 

fairness.

“That’s ridiculous,” she said, noting that she and her husband had to dig into their savings to find $40,000 to rebuild — 

and they’re still not done.

They had no flood insurance to help with the costs.

“Maybe they have better representatives than we do,” she said of her neighbors in Nassau and Suffolk.

A spokeswoman for the city said plans for doling out the funding are still preliminary.

The city plans to dole out its first round of funds to home and business owners who have not been able to make any 

repairs, are living in a damaged homes or have no place to live.

Those who paid cash out of pocket to repair their homes or business might be out of luck.

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In response to the above article, Dan Mundy sent the below email to all of our elected representatives earlier this morning..... 

[The above article] in todays news has local residents in an uproar but is just the tip of the iceberg regarding 

the funding formula 

for these grants.. Consider the following ---FEMA reps had instructed us from the very first days to tell all of 

our residents to apply for an SBA loan--EVEN if they could not ultimatley afford it . They said that doing so 

would open up more opportunities for grants. THis was a bold faced lie. Not one resident i am aware of 

received a grant as a result of  following this advice. Now we find out that the CDBG  community block 

development grants--the funds the city are going to disburse for home repair and mitigation ie house raising--

will employ a formula to determine your "unmet needs".  That would be the term used to identify that grant 

money that you may be entitled to in order to fix or raise your home ( not a bad idea when fema now tells us 

V zone homes could pay $31,000 a year in flood insurance ( also known locally as a FORECLOSURE). 

But low and behold first theing we identify is if you recieved or EVEN applied for a SBA loan. IF so that 

sum is subtracted from what you may be entitled to. 

So mr smith applies for the loan, as instructed, decides against it as he can not afford another monthly 

payment finds out that NO he is not getting some ficitious grant that FEMA indicated may now be available 

to him . Learns about the devasting effects of the new flood insurnace premiums and hopes to raise his home 

to reduce his premiums and avoid flooding in the future. He reads the PLAN A details of the CDBG funding 

intent and finds out that the SBA loan, not even taken only applied for, has precluded him from any funds for 

raising his home. The city seems to be intents on TAKING THIS MONEY and using it for infrastructure and 

NYC housing upgrades that should be funded from their general budget . In addition it has been noted how 

the disasterous and incorrect FEMA maps will require appeal by the homeowner in the case of small 

homeowners in brooklyn , queens and staten island and only BASED ON SCIENCE yet the 

MANHATTAN maps were not released as CITY OFFICIALS contested their impact ( note there 

IMPACT not the science)----perhaps i am approaching ranting at this point but it seems to get more 

ridiculous each day

 
thank you 

dan mundy