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Grants to be used for post-Sandy repair in Long Beach
Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara | An American flag flies from a destroyed section of boardwalk in the city of Long Beach months after superstorm Sandy devastated the area. (Jan. 2, 2012)
The City of Long Beach will receive more than a half-million dollars in federal grants to restore homes, community centers, public parks and the boardwalk, all of which were severely damaged by superstorm Sandy, according to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development had earmarked nearly $553,000 in Community Development Block Grants for Nassau before Sandy. But Mangano said the county would now use the funds to help Long Beach recover from the storm.
“Together with the city, we urge the federal government to approve New York State’s local recovery programs that result in significantly more funds being invested in recovery efforts,” Mangano said.
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Block grants are used to rehabilitate eligible homes, for anti-poverty housing projects and to improve low-income neighborhoods.
Long Beach will spend $100,000 to fix residential properties and to maintain its stock of affordable housing. Another $82,000 will go to improve community centers and parks for low to moderate-income residents. An additional $70,000 will be used to repair the Long Beach boardwalk, while $60,000 will be spent on improvements to the city’s water pollution plant.
“These are much-needed funds for the city,” said City Manager Jack Schnirman. “It is just unfortunate that the federal allocation dwindles every year. However, we are still hopeful that we will receive additional critical community development funds for our recovery as part of the supplemental funding recently passed by Congress.”
Tags: Long Beach , towns , Sandy , grant
