If you live in New Hyde Park and your house was damaged in Superstorm Sandy, you may still be eligible for government grants from New York Rising. Even if you have received storm damage repair money already (following paperwork and inspections) you might still be able to acquire additional funding, if you total repair work is above any grants or loans already received. The total amount an individual may receive (from any sources (FEMA, insurance and SBA loans) is $300,000.
According to Jon Kaiman, a special advisor to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York Rising storm recovery project, as of mid-October, 4400 applications have already been filed for Long Island, with three-quarters of these applications from Nassau County.
Kaiman, the former Town of North Hempstead supervisor, stepped down a few months ago in order to take this position, as well as the position as president of NIFA (Nassau County Interim Finance Authority). With New York Rising, he deals primarily with storm recovery on Long Island.
As for local municipal assistance, especially for New Hyde Park, Kaiman said that some of these monies will flow to the area. At one point, New Hyde Park expected reimbursements of $650,000 from costs incurred during Sandy.
Money is also available to building departments of villages and to the town to assist residents. For a damaged home, a building department could receive funds for assisting with storm recovery building permits, to ease the additional burden on the departments.
Kaiman explained the paperwork and inspections involved in collecting money, and he noted that the funding “tends to be on the lower side.” The funds are to “help people get back in,” providing basics but not funding luxury items. “Over a billion dollars in recovery funds is expected to be sent out,” he said.
Kaiman said that he expects New York Rising to continue accepting applications for storm recovery funds until early in 2014.
Kaiman also noted that requests for funds could also result in New York Rising buying, at pre-storm value, a damaged home that they believe could be storm-damaged again. That home could be rebuilt and storm-proof improvements made, and then the house would be sold. New York Rising will help people back into their homes by paying mortgages for up to 20 months.
As for villages, Kaiman said he believes that the state will cover the 10 percent of storm recovery costs not covered by FEMA. The agency had previously gone from reimbursing 75 percent of municipal recovery costs to 90 percent reimbursement.
