AS SANDY VICTIMS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE, A PUSH TO MAKE REBUILDING EASIER

MARCH 28, 201

March 28, 2014

Breezy Point residents gathered for a press conference last July, during which they praised Gov. Cuomo for signing a bill that streamlined the rebuilding process for hundreds of people whose homes were destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder has recently authored legislation that will waive the Board of Standard and Appeals requirements for an additional year and allow time for homeowners in Breezy Point to make a full recovery. Photo by Anna Gustafson

While the hum of construction has, over the past year, been emanating from Breezy Point following Hurricane Sandy’s devastation and the battles residents had faced with bureaucratic red tape, homeowners need another boost from the state to ensure they will be able to keep rebuilding, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) said.

A bill sponsored by Goldfeder and approved by Gov. Cuomo last year that expedited repairs to Sandy-damaged homes by waiving the time-consuming variance homeowners needed to receive from the Board of Standards and Appeals before applying for permits from the city Department of Buildings is set to expire in July. Goldfeder has again authored legislation that will waive the BSA requirements for an additional year in order to allow Breezy Point residents a chance to make a full recovery.

Breezy Point residents were hit incredibly hard during Sandy, by both the storm itself and a fire that decimated much of the neighborhood during the hurricane.

“It is outrageous that so many homeowners are still struggling with insurance companies and [Federal Emergency Management Agency] paperwork more than 17 months after Sandy, preventing them from getting their shovels in the ground and rebuilding,” Goldfeder said in a prepared statement. “We have come so far in our recovery, and I will continue to offer support and do everything possible until every family is safe and secure back in their own home.”

Arthur Lighthall, the general manager of the Breezy Point Cooperative, said that of the 350 homes in Breezy Point destroyed by Sandy, 200 have filed to rebuild and called the expedited review and approval process a “godsend.”

“But the numbers clearly show we are not done rebuilding, which is why the extension of the BSA waiver bill, introduced by Assemblyman Goldfeder, is crucial to our community,” he said.

By Anna Gustafson