Rallying against NY Rising

Nearly 100 people gathered on the boardwalk at Long Beach Boulevard last Saturday, where a group of storm victims — many still displaced — called 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 were joined by city, county and other officials just days before the second anniversary of Hurricane Sandy.

“Unfortunately, the program intended to help us rebuild is holding our heads under water,” said Long Beach resident and organizer Kevin Reilly, a co-founder of the group Long Beach Rising, which shares information with storm victims to work through NY Rising’s “cumbersome” grant program. “Make no mistake, today is not an anniversary for when Sandy came ashore. Today we are demanding answers as to why New York Rising has continued to fall well short of the promises made so many months ago.”

For many still struggling to rebuild, Reilly said that there is no end in sight.

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.

Reilly, who is in the process of elevating his home in the Canals, said that despite some positive changes to the program, NY Rising’s $160-per-square-foot reimbursement formula “just doesn’t cut it,” since it doesn’t adequately cover the exorbitant building costs on Long Island.

Reilly and other protesters also called on NY Rising to change its 50-50 payout plan, saying that it is unrealistic and has led homeowners to deplete their retirement and savings to cover half of the costs upfront.