City Launches Web Site to Track Sandy Funds

The Bloomberg administration recently launched a new Web site to track how money earmarked for Hurricane Sandy relief is being spent. Administration officials said that some of the information on the site would be updated every month, while some of it would be updated every quarter.

The Sandy Funding Tracker provides a Funding Summary, which gives an overview of all disaster recovery and resilience dollars allocated to date by funding type and funding details. The Sandy Funding Tracker also provides further detailed information about projects and programs in each major category of disaster relief funds.

The two main sources of funds are from HUD's Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery and FEMA's public assistance. On March 5, 2013, the city received a $1.77 billion grant allocation from HUD for eligible Hurricane Sandy disaster recovery and rebuilding activities through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-2), signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 29, 2013. The city received a second allocation of $1.447 billion on Nov. 18, 2013. The funding helps New Yorkers rebuild their homes, businesses, and communities through city-led housing, business, infrastructure, and resiliency programs.

Through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act and the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (SRIA), FEMA has provided public assistance funds to the city to reimburse eligible costs of emergency response, debris removal, and repairing or rebuilding damaged public facilities. FEMA and the city continue to work together to finalize funding for eligible costs as part of the longer term recovery.

In October, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that his office would be vigilant in ensuring that roughly $575 million in Hurricane Sandy aid would reach victims.