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Fair Post-storm struggles continue
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Kris Pugliese, Zerbe’s daughter, has been helping her father rebuild his house. After FEMA denied him any further financial help, Pugliese applied to NY Rising. The organization sent him a letter saying he had been approved for $60,916 for reimbursement for repairs he had already done, and an additional $91,128 for future repairs.
“They kept saying, ‘The check is in the mail,’” Pugliese recalled. “As the process was going on, I kept asking, ‘Where’s Dad’s check?’ Because FEMA gave my father money from Irene, NY Rising decided not to give him any money. After Irene, he spent the money on getting flood insurance and waited. They told him no, they’re not helping him. What they did was dangle a carrot in front of us. I can’t believe they’re basing their decision on $223.”
According to Barbara Brancaccio, a spokeswoman for NY Rising, those who received money from FEMA for damage caused by Irene are eligible to receive more FEMA money for Sandy repairs if they live in the 100-year floodplain and obtained flood insurance coverage for their homes after Irene.
Dottie Spitzer has lived in her Meadowmere Park home for 46 years, and lost her entire first floor in Sandy. “I have no cabinets,” she said. “People donated carpet and furniture to replace what I lost. I have a dump sink for a kitchen sink. My pots and pans are in the bathroom closet. Under my house, that needs to be cleaned out.”
A letter from NY Rising informed Spitzer that she would receive money to rebuild. She had gotten to the point in her application process where she was supposed to get a check, she said. “I went with my son to meet with NY Rising,” she said. “One representative told me I was getting money, and then another representative came up … and told me, ‘Don’t listen to him.’ I was blown away.”
At this point, Spitzer said, she doesn’t know what will happen next. “Every time I ask someone something, it’s always different,” she said. “They said I was denied funding because I never had flood insurance, but I disclosed that in the beginning that I never had it. I have always paid my taxes on time, and have good credit. It feels like they prey upon people who are older, retired.”
“They kept saying, ‘The check is in the mail,’” Pugliese recalled. “As the process was going on, I kept asking, ‘Where’s Dad’s check?’ Because FEMA gave my father money from Irene, NY Rising decided not to give him any money. After Irene, he spent the money on getting flood insurance and waited. They told him no, they’re not helping him. What they did was dangle a carrot in front of us. I can’t believe they’re basing their decision on $223.”
According to Barbara Brancaccio, a spokeswoman for NY Rising, those who received money from FEMA for damage caused by Irene are eligible to receive more FEMA money for Sandy repairs if they live in the 100-year floodplain and obtained flood insurance coverage for their homes after Irene.
Dottie Spitzer has lived in her Meadowmere Park home for 46 years, and lost her entire first floor in Sandy. “I have no cabinets,” she said. “People donated carpet and furniture to replace what I lost. I have a dump sink for a kitchen sink. My pots and pans are in the bathroom closet. Under my house, that needs to be cleaned out.”
A letter from NY Rising informed Spitzer that she would receive money to rebuild. She had gotten to the point in her application process where she was supposed to get a check, she said. “I went with my son to meet with NY Rising,” she said. “One representative told me I was getting money, and then another representative came up … and told me, ‘Don’t listen to him.’ I was blown away.”
At this point, Spitzer said, she doesn’t know what will happen next. “Every time I ask someone something, it’s always different,” she said. “They said I was denied funding because I never had flood insurance, but I disclosed that in the beginning that I never had it. I have always paid my taxes on time, and have good credit. It feels like they prey upon people who are older, retired.”
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