New York City on the eve of Hurricane Sandy

Thousands of co-op owners have been left without a crucial safety net in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as a longstanding Federal Emergency Management Agency policy considers co-ops as businesses and leaves them ineligible for federal aid, the New York Times reported.  [more]

Knickerbocker Village

Local politicians have written to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, urging them to reverse a decision denying aid to some tenants of the Lower East Side’s Knickerbocker Village following Hurricane Sandy, the Lo Down blog reported. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, City Council member Margaret Chin and State Sen. Dan Squadron wrote the letter, which addressed reimbursement for hotel expenses, property damage and medical expenses, for which tenants were supposedly eligible. [more]

Andrew Cuomo

Following the Governor Cuomo’s announcement that the city would spend $400 million to buy up homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy, storm victims are receiving some more good news. The deadline for storm victims to register for FEMA assistance has been extended to Mar. 29 from Feb. 27, 2013, Governor Cuomo announced today. Federal disaster assistance for residents of one of the 13 disaster-declared counties can include money for rental assistance, essential home repairs, personal property losses and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance. The counties eligible for assistance: Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Richmond, Rockland, Westchester, Suffolk, Queens, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan and Ulster…. [more]

Sen. Charles Schumer

Sen. Charles Schumer appealed to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Wednesday to ensure that Sandy-damaged co-ops and condos receive a piece of the $60 billion federal storm relief package, the New York Daily News reported.

As it stands, co-ops and condos cannot receive FEMA grants, but are instead eligible for low-interest loans to make repairs. In a statement Wednesday, Schumer said that “condos and co-ops should be eligible for the same assistance as single-family homes, and to say one can receive aid while the other can’t makes no sense.”  [more]

927 Fifth Avenue

Billionaire Marc Rowan flipping 927 Fifth Ave. apartment. Renters struggle to find affordable options in Sandy’s wake. Midtown East could thwart West Side development, critics say. First Sandy-ravaged building to be torn down is in the West Village. Read these stories and more after the jump.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave New Yorkers whose homes were devastated by Hurricane Sandy a 30-day extension on applications for home repairs, the City Room blog of the New York Times reported. The Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, which has helped New Yorkers to continue living in participating hotels and motels, will also be extended a fortnight, according to a statement from the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “We remain committed to assisting all victims of Hurricane Sandy, ensuring that they have the shelter they need, especially in this cold weather,” Gov. Cuomo, who requested that FEMA grant extensions, said in a statement. “The Transitional Sheltering Assistance program will continue to provide shelter to those New Yorkers who do not have homes to return and help others with critically needed funding to rebuild.”… [more]

Vandervoort Avenue in East Williamsburg during Hurricane Sandy

Federal officials have spent the last six weeks working with New York City officials to redraw maps and expand flood zones that haven’t been changed since 1983. And the boundaries have nowhere to go but farther inland. Last month, Mayor Bloomberg emphasized that two-thirds of the homes battered by Sandy were beyond evacuation zones, with neighborhoods that had never flooded before, such as Gerritsen Beach and East Williamsburg, seeing significant amounts of water…. [more]

The City Council has proposed anti-flooding legislation that affects requirements for new and renovated buildings, in an effort to buttress New York’s ability to weather future “superstorms” such as Hurricane Sandy, Crain’s reported. [more]

From left: FEMA’s Craig Fugate and Forest Hills Tower (credit: PropertyShark)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has inked a 200,000-square-foot lease at Forest Hills Tower in Queens for its New York City headquarters, according to a release from Muss Development, the landlord of the property. The lease encompasses 10 full floors that will be used by FEMA for administrative office space.

The lease spans the next several months, as the area recovers from the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy, and has options for short-term extensions. The financial terms of the deal were not mentioned. [more]

A flooded home on Staten Island

As power returns to sections of Lower Manhattan and subway lines reopen, there are still an estimated 40,000 New Yorkers who have been left homeless by Hurricane Sandy, according to the New York Times. And with housing inventory tight, securing temporary housing for such a large number has become a daunting task for city and federal officials.

The estimated number of people left homeless by the storm is the worst case figure provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which claimed the number may be closer to 20,000. Many of those left homeless where residents of public housing. [more]