By: C. Harrison/Editor

According to State Senator Malcolm Smith’s Office, a Sandy Disaster Aid Release Report amendment to the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) action plan, includes plan details of how the City is going to spend the first or initial monies summing $1.77 billion in Federal Disaster Aid, through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to help with the recovery from Hurricane sandy.

The proposed Block Grant for Disaster Recovery Action Plan Amendment 1 purports to (1). reallocates funding within the existing provision for Housing Programs (2).  clarifies the definition of buildings in the Housing Programs multi-family category and identifies programs to be funded with the $294 million allocated to resiliency investment activities that were not defined in the initial Action Plan.

The City is now taken comments which must be received no later than Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 11:59PM (EST)

The proposed CDBG-DR Action Amendment 1. and public commenting forms are available at http://www.nyc.gov/cdbg.

Individuals should be able to read the amendment and the currently approved Action Plan. Comments are in: English, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese (Simplified). The online materials will also be accessible for the visually impaired.

Written comments may be directed to the Mayor’s Office of Operations, 253 Broadway, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10007. Comments can also be provided by 311 or (212) 639-9675. People with disabilities can access comments by dialing 311 or using TTY or Text Telephone (212) 504-4115.

The Release also articulated that at the end of the comment period, all comments shall be reviewed and a City response will be incorporated into the document. Furthermore, it stated that a summary of the comments and the City’s responses will be submitted to HUD in the final CDBG-DR Action Plan Amendment 1; including the public comments and responses will be posted on the City’s CDBG-DR website at http://www.nyc.gov/cdbg.