Comptroller Stringer calls Build It Back 'unmitigated disaster...."

By Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com 

on May 27, 2014 at 5:29 PM, updated May 28, 2014 at 6:09 AM

Hurricane Sandy oversight hearing with Comptroller Scott Stringer will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Olympia Activity Center, Midland Beach. (Staten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimo)

MIDLAND BEACH - If you've got a Build It Back horror story to tell, Comptroller Scott Stringer wants to hear it.

Stringer, who has launched a city audit of Build It Back, is coming to Staten Island on Wednesday to hold an oversight hearing on the program and other aspects of Hurricane Sandy recovery.

"The Build It Back program has been an unmitigated disaster," said Stringer. "It's a disgrace that it's been allowed to fester for so long."

The hearing will be held on Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Olympia Activity Center, 1126 Olympia Blvd., Midland Beach. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

There are myriad problems with Build It Back, Stringer said.

"Money is not flowing," he said. "Paperwork being lost is sort of a standard occurrence. The exception is when they have your paperwork. There's a lack of communication."

He said that the poor performance of Build It Back amounted to the Island taking a "second hit" from Sandy.

As he pledged during his 2013 campaign, Stringer has formed a Sandy Oversight Unit to keep an eye on how public money is being spent and how fast the recovery is proceeding.

"We want to make sure that every dollar is effectively spent on recovery," he said. "I want to measure what has happened over the last 19 months since the storm."

Stringer has already held three oversight hearings in storm-ravaged areas off of the Island.

"Rather than sit here in Manhattan, in the Municipal Building, we're going out and hearing what people have to say," Stringer said.

The audit, Stringer said, would take several months.

"The ultimate success will be measured in homes repaired," Stringer said.

Responding to storm recovery criticism, City Hall has stationed a Build It Back staffer at Borough Hall in St. George every Thursday.

City Hall also said that as of last week, 143 checks totaling over $2.14 million have gone out to homeowners and 29 homes have started construction.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has committed to at least 500 reimbursement checks and 500 construction starts by Labor Day of this year.