$6.3B in federal aid coming for Sandy: Schumer

Senator Charles Schumer
Senator Charles Schumer

About $6.3 billion in Hurricane Sandy-related federal aid will be directed to New York State in 2014, Senator Charles Schumer said Sunday, with $1.4 billion of the money going directly to homeowners hit by the storm.

“The spigot is open and money is beginning to flow,” Schumer said at a press conference in Battery Park. “Homeowners will feel much better.”

The federal government’s $60 billion emergency aid package had “not flowed quickly enough in this last year,” with only $20 billion spent to date, Schumer said, the New York Post reported. “But I’m convinced people will feel the real effects of the rebuilding projects this year.”

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The $1.4 billion for homeowners will be given to those who missed the first round of federal aid, and the other $4.9 billion will be used on upkeep and restoration projects in areas such as the Rockaways, Long Island and Ocean Parkway, according to the Post.

Last week, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he was closely scrutinizing the way charities who had raised money for storm victims were spending the funds. [NYP]Hiten Samtani