Officials: Second shot of HUD money focuses on future storms (Newsday)

Newsday
(10/28/2013 10:10 PM, Jo Napolitano)

The second round of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development money slated for superstorm Sandy relief will have significantly more funding set aside for helping Long Islanders prepare for future storms, officials said Monday.

The HUD funding, released through its Community Development Block Grant program, can be used for housing, economic development and infrastructure improvement. More than 80 percent of the $2.097 billion earmarked for the state in the second round will head for Long Island. New York City will receive a separate $1.34 billion.

"The . . . second will have a lot of money for mitigation," against future storms, said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). "So if you’re a homeowner and you say, ‘I want to spend $30,000 to raise my home, and you’re in an area that’s prone to flooding, you’ll get it,’ " he said.

Schumer, along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, made a formal announcement of the second round’s release in a Manhattan news conference Monday.

The focus of an anticipated third tranche, or funding round, will be long-term infrastructure improvement, the senator said. "Anything that needs specific planning and engineering work will be the third tranche," he said.

The federal government has made available, with this latest allocation, almost $40 billion in Sandy aid, Donovan said. But there is more to be done, he said.

"Too many New Yorkers are still feeling the impacts of the storm and are struggling to recover," he said. "We are absolutely committed to making sure the dollars we are announcing today get every community back on its feet."