Congresswoman Clarke Urges End to Build It Back Delays

The following is a press release issued on February 25 by the offices of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke:

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke today called on officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Build It Back program to eliminate delays in providing resources to homeowners who are eligible for assistance to rebuild from damage in Hurricane Sandy.

A report by the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding stated that even as 19,920 homeowners have applied for assistance, only 173 homeowners have been notified of the amount available to them, and construction has not yet started on any of the projects. $648 million has been allocated by the federal government to Build it Back.

“The homeowners of Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach cannot continue to wait for the assistance to rebuild their homes, or reimbursement for repairs already completed,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who worked with a bipartisan coalition of her colleagues in the House of Representatives to enact a relief program after Hurricane Sandy. “The resources are available. We need only to distribute these resources to homeowners in need of assistance, who have completed the application process and are ready to rebuild.”

In the neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach, both of which are located in the Ninth Congressional District of New York, 1,088 homeowners have applied for assistance from Build It Back.