Sandy survivors to rally against NY Rising

Residents: rebuilding aid program still inefficient

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Two years after Hurricane Sandy, a group of storm victims will take to the boardwalk for a rally on Saturday, and will call on New York Rising to take additional steps to correct what they describe as an inefficient rebuilding program.

Residents from Long Beach, Island Park, Oceanside, East Rockaway, Freeport and neighboring communities will gather on the boardwalk at Long Beach Boulevard at 2 p.m., just days before the second anniversary of the storm.

NY Rising was launched in April 2013, promoted as a way to help homeowners fill the funding gaps left by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and their insurance policies. The program, tasked with distributing $1.7 billion in federal Sandy aid money allocated to the state, began releasing grant awards a year ago, a reimbursement process that residents and local officials described as sluggish and complicated.

Generally, the maximum award is $300,000, though homeowners must follow rebuilding guidelines, and grants do not cover “luxury items.” Those for whom the cost of repairs is more than 50 percent of the value of their home, and who live within the 100-year flood plain, are eligible for an additional $50,000 to raise their homes.

Though residents said that a number of protests over the past year have led to some positive changes — including a loosening of NY Rising’s stringent duplication-of-benefits standard — the program still has its share of problems.

Canals resident Kevin Reilly — who is organizing Saturday’s rally, and has been vocal in calling for changes to the program — was initially awarded just $712 last year to elevate his 1,100-square-foot home, after he laid out $108,000 of his insurance settlement to repair it before NY Rising was created.

“That was considered a duplication of benefits toward the elevation,” Reilly said. “One of the things protesters were able to do was separate the [NY Rising] elevation grant from the repair grant, so it’s no longer considered a duplication of benefits. NY Rising finally realized that insurance money was being used for repairs.”

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