As summer approaches and we commence our gradual freak-out over whether another hurricane will demolish the city this storm season, many New Yorkers are still recovering from 2012's devastating Hurricane Sandy. Now, victims of the storm have received a few pieces of positive news: The City plans to reimburse those who paid for their own repairs—and their kids are going to summer camp!
New York City residents who funded their own hurricane repairs were not set to receive reimbursements from the $1.77 billion of disaster recovery funding as laid out in the City's initial plan, with the focus instead put on those who couldn't afford to fund repairs themselves. But after the City received nearly 400 comments during a 14-day comment period (along with some strong words from Sen. Chuck Schumer), officials announced yesterday that "qualifying homeowners" of one-to-four family homes whose repairs had not been covered by insurance or FEMA would receive reimbursements.
New York State and New Jersey, which are set to receive $1.71 and $1.83 billion respectively, already had provisions for these reimbursements, which would have left NYC residents without aid that their neighbors would be receiving. The plan will face an approval process from the Housing and Urban Development Department and the federal government before it goes into action.
On a more heartwarming note, Democrats and Republicans came together yesterday to announce they're doing something no one could argue with: Sending kids to summer camp! Senate Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced yesterday that the American Camp Association will give away hundreds of scholarships to summer camp for children of families affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Over 90 day and sleep-away camps are donating free summer sessions to Sandy-affected children. The scholarships are a continuation of the ACA's Heal the Children program, which began after September 11, 2011. "Once again," said Scott Ralls, ACA president, "the Summer Camp community responded by giving these children a safe and wonderful summer at camp,allowing them to leave their troubles behind, even if just for a short time." Interested parents can call the ACA for more information at 212-391-5208. Pretty soon, their kids will be leaving behind their Sandy troubles for lanyards, bug spray and bonfires. It's going to be a great summer, provided they don't fall in.
