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NEWS
Federal Emergency Management Agency

Some still waiting for help 2 years after Sandy

Akiko Matsuda
The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News
Village of Grand View Mayor Lawrence Lynn and Trustee Catherine Whitney inspect outside of the heavily damaged Village Hall for Grand View-On-Hudson on Oct. 28, 2014.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — After Superstorm Sandy ripped through New York two years ago, billions of federal dollars were allocated to help the recovery effort.

But despite the fanfare that accompanied the funding's announcement, dozens of municipalities and hundreds of homeowners in the Lower Hudson Valley are still waiting for their checks to arrive.

The unprecedented scale of the disaster, which destroyed thousands of homes and flooded critical infrastructure, is cited as a main cause for the delay. But some local officials said layers of bureaucracy as well as frequent turnover in state and federal personnel have been partly responsible. While their funding applications have stalled, frustration continues to mount among local officials and homeowners who are trying to put the disaster behind them.

"I never would've expected to be standing here two years later and not have it approved, not have it finished," said Catherine Whitney, trustee for the village of Grand View-on-Hudson, as she stood in front of Village Hall, which has been condemned since the storm ravaged the building that sits on pilings along the Hudson River.

Since the storm, the village has been operating out of rented space in the Piermont Community Center.

Mayor Lawrence Lynn said the goal is to rebuild the Village Hall, a century-old former boathouse, at the same location while maintaining its historic look. Though a final estimate has yet to be determined, the project could cost between $4 million and $6 million, officials said.

"We're just trying to work something out so that we can have a building that's historically accurate but safer, that's not falling into the river in the next big storm," Lynn said.

Whitney characterized the process as "difficult."

"It's slowly making its way to the end. ... But we don't have a final word yet," she said.

Grandview Mayor Lawrence Lynn inspects the outside of the Village Hall on Oct. 28, 2014.

The city of New Rochelle also endured a prolonged funding application process since the storm gutted its infrastructure, including the city's marina, parks and sea walls. But the city had a major breakthrough about three months ago when a series of funding approvals started coming through from FEMA.

Omar Small, assistant to the city manager, said the remaining two applications — one for the Davenport Park seawall and the other for Five Islands Park — have also recently received final approval.

Westchester County has also had multiple funding applications before FEMA for its Sandy recovery, and most of them have gotten final approval, except for $4.9 million in roof replacement work for the Ice Casino. Without waiting for FEMA's approval, the county decided to forge ahead with the project and the facility will officially reopen Thursday, said Diana Costello, county spokeswoman.

Homeowners have also been waiting for funding, said Jim Killoran, executive director for Habitat for Humanity of Westchester, which has been helping storm victims in Westchester and New York City since 2007. Killoran said that every time disasters hit, new assistance programs are introduced under new leadership, and no one, including those employees with FEMA or the state, is familiar with how things work.

Michael and Nan Zavoski said they have been getting the runaround from the New York Rising program, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's initiative funded by federal money. The Montebello couple have been hoping to recoup about $5,000 for tree removal work with no success.

Village of Grandview Mayor Lawrence Lynn inspects the outside of the  Village Hall for Grandview-On-Hudson on Oct. 28, 2014.  The building was damaged beyond repair during Superstorm Sandy.

"We've been dealing with New York Rising for 18 months," Michael Zavoski said. "They keep changing their story."

Haverstraw Mayor Michael Kohut said his village also moved forward with its storm recovery projects while dealing with the funding application process.

"We've been passed off from one person to the other, and we have to bring someone up to speed every time a new person comes in," Kohut said. "We had to provide the same documents that we've already provided before."

Nyack has also been waiting for the FEMA funding for its municipal marina recovery project, which is estimated to cost about $2 million.

To apply for the federally funded public assistance program, local municipalities work with the state Office of Emergency Management to build their cases.

Mike Wade, spokesman for FEMA's New York recovery office, said he understood some local officials were frustrated, saying the process is "time-consuming."

The Grand View Village Hall after Superstorm Sandy.

"Criticisms are there, and if a municipality has an issue, we'll work with them," Wade said. "Everything goes through the state. It goes from us to the state and to the sub-applicant (meaning local municipalities). Back to the sub-applicant and the state and to us. If anywhere in that process, if something happens, it slows it down. I can see it can be frustrating for people."

Aimee Licari of Stony Point, along with her husband, has been battling through the storm's aftermath at her home at the Ba Mar Mobile Home Park, which was one of the hardest hit waterfront areas in the Lower Hudson Valley.

The Licaris initially thought that unlike their neighbors, their mobile home didn't have to be raised to meet new federal rules. But they later learned that theirs wasn't an exception. The couple has been waiting to receive funding approval from New York Rising for the work.

"We're not supposed to get it all at once. We're supposed to get part of it in order to start the process," Aimee Licari said. "We haven't gotten anything."

Barbara Brancaccio, spokesman for New York Rising, said due diligence is needed to disperse the federal funding, adding that many of eligible homeowners who haven't got checks under the program would receive some funding in the coming month.

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