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Cuomo: $815 Million for Sandy Projects Coming to Long Island

Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo State of the State

With the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy fast approaching, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that Long Island will receive $815 million for projects already approved by the federal government to help repair LI’s battered infrastructure.

The governor was joined by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and his counterpart from Suffolk, Steve Bellone, during a conference call to announce that much-needed funding is on its way. Both Mangano and Bellone welcomed the news.

Mangano called it “a great step forward with respect to addressing government infrastructure,” and Bellone noted the cash would help Suffolk rebuild “stronger and better.”

A large chunk of the money—$697 million—is earmarked for rehabilitation and mitigation of Bay Park Sewage Treatment plant in Nassau, which will receive $445 million, and Bergen Point Wastewater Treatment Facility in Suffolk, which the state is providing $242 million to replace the facility’s ocean outfall pipe, among other repairs.

Bay Park, which suffered a catastrophic failure after 9-foot waves barreled into the plant, spewing sewage into streets, waterways and homes, still requires extensive repairs. The funding secured by the state will help build dikes, levees and flood walls around the plant.

The state will also move forward on a plan to allow PSEG to install a new outage management system that should help the utility better identify power outages and prioritize restoration, Cuomo said.

“LIPA didn’t have the sophistication to deal with the problem,” Cuomo said of the Long Island Power Authority, which will be reduced to a holding company when PSEG takes the reigns of the electric grid in January.

An additional $20 million will fund two new “micro grids”—one in each county—which will allow communities to operate their own electric grid when the main network goes down.

“We do anticipate another situation like this,” Cuomo said of future storms like Sandy. “We want to be better prepared than we were in the past.”

The state is also funneling down $47 million to strengthen eight bridges—five in Nassau and three in Suffolk—that require additional protection.

They are:

Meadowbrook Parkway over False Channel, Town of Hempstead
Meadowbrook Parkway over Fundy Channel, Town of Hempstead
Meadowbrook Parkway over Sloop Channel, Town of Hempstead
Loop Parkway over Long Creek, Town of Hempstead
Southern State Parkway over Hempstead Lake, Town of Hempstead
Robert Moses Causeway over Fire Island Inlet, Town of Islip
Robert Moses Causeway (southbound) over State Boat Channel, Town of Islip
Robert Moses Causeway (northbound) over State Boat Channel, Town of Islip