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NYC comptroller blowing off Superstorm Sandy relief meetings
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Comptroller Scott Stringer announced that he will be auditing the city's Build It Back program.Photo: Brigitte Stelzer
The city comptroller says he wants answers on the slow pace of the administration’s response to Superstorm Sandy — but he’s been blowing off attempts by relief-program officials to provide those answers for months, sources told The Post.
Comptroller Scott Stringer — who in 2012 flirted with the possibility of running for mayor — announced this week he’s auditing the city’s much-maligned Build It Back program.
But program officials say they have been reaching out to Stringer since November to get a meeting and that he has repeatedly brushed them off.
A Build It Back official with knowledge of the scrapped meetings said a pow-wow with Stringer was initially set up for Dec. 11, so that he could be briefed before taking office.
But Stringer’s office canceled on short notice, the official said.
The new comptroller was too busy in January to attend any meetings, and when program officials inquired, they were told he was booked through April.
On Wednesday — a day before Stringer announced the audit — his office finally called to get the meeting on the books. Even then, Stringer wasn’t planning to attend personally, officials said.
They say the timing of his sudden interest in the program gave the appearance that he had been planning the high-profile audit all along.
“You’d think that someone who was so concerned with Build It Back would take five minutes to meet with us and be briefed about the program,” said another program source.
Stringer’s office denied there was anything underhanded about his busy schedule and that his door is always open.
They said the meeting they offered to set up this week was with four deputy comptrollers.
“Sandy recovery has been a top priority for the comptroller since day one. Our office initiated the Sandy Oversight Unit and the audit of Build It Back to help New Yorkers get back on track after the storm. As always, our door remains open to the administration,” said Eric Sumberg, Stringer’s spokesman.
The troubled program has only helped 39 households with repairs or reimbursements since the 2012 superstorm hit, and now has as many as 20,000 storm victims on a waiting list for help.
Stringer, who said the audit would be run out of his Sandy Oversight Unit, has said he’s “disturbed” that there were so many people awaiting assistance.
The former Manhattan borough president is also planning town hall-style meetings in hard-hit areas to speak to homeowners directly about the trouble.
On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled an overhaul of the program that would seek to get reimbursement checks or repair work started for 1,000 households by Labor Day.
The changes also expand homeowner eligibility, and attempt to cut through the red tape that’s been blamed for the slow pace of relief.
Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen
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