Albany – Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-Staten Island) Chair of the Assembly’s Office of State-Federal Relations noted that significant amounts of Sandy-related aid are flowing to the State to help the region restore and rebuild its transportation infrastructure.

Recently, Governor Cuomo announced that $193.1 million in total funds includes an initial reimbursement from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) (http://www.fta.dot.gov/) for costs incurred by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and includes millions of dollars to rebuild MTA bridges, tunnels, and other facilities. The funds represent the first round of funding the MTA will receive to recover from hurricane damage and rebuild the system. Covered costs will include pre-storm preparations of the subway, bus and Staten Island Railway (http://www.mta.info/nyct/sir/index.html) system, plus initial capital work as well as scope and design efforts for additional restoration. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand have also reported that an additional $195.7 million will be available to help the Port Authority repair its facilities including an estimated $54.2 million that will go to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

Extended Deadline for Federal Assistance

Titone reminded New Yorkers that there is still time to apply for help. “The deadline to apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance for Hurricane Sandy victims is now March 29th,” he said. Most federal dollars to assist individuals, businesses or non-profits will flow through either the Small Business Administration (SBA) or FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund. State, FEMA, and the SBA staff remain at 14 Disaster Recovery Centers to provide face-to-face assistance to Hurricane Sandy survivors. Assistance includes guidance, housing assistance and rental resources, problem resolution, referrals, and application status (www.FEMA.gov/disaster-recovery-centers). FEMA assistance is available to anybody affected by Hurricane Sandy – homeowners and renters alike. Titone noted, “You can apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov, via a smartphone at m.fema.gov, or by phone at 800-621-3362. Hearing or speech-impaired residents may call TTY 800-462-7585. Or, for more information, visit www.fema.gov/apply-assistance.”

Federal-level Automatic Budget Cuts and Recovery

"I am glad that we can start the rebuilding process," Titone said, "but I am very concerned about the impact that the federal government’s automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, could have on our rebuilding efforts." He noted that members of Congress have warned that there may be a loss of as much as $2.5 billion for Sandy Relief. Beginning March 1, many federal programs will need to take between five and eight percent cuts. The $9 billion for flood insurance is not affected by the cuts, and most individuals will not see any immediate impact." However, we need to make sure that our infrastructure projects are not in peril," Titone observed.

The sequester takes $545 million from the $10.9 billion the Sandy spending measure contained in emergency transit aid and $101 million from its $2-billion allocation for highways. In all, the sequestration directive requires $85.3 billion in spending reductions, divided evenly between defense and non-defense programs. Unless Congress acts to undo or modify the sequester, its cuts remain in place through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.