New Rochelle will receive $3.2 million in federal funding to rebuild part of its waterfront damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat, announced on Tuesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, would fund 90 percent of the cost of rebuilding at the city”™s Hudson Park. That work included railings, stone walls and curbing.
Schumer and fellow Democrats Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Eliot Engel announced earlier in July they had secured $1.4 million for work to the municipal marina and docks. Schumer said the city paid $1 million to rebuild the marina and Hudson Park, expecting it would be reimbursed through federal relief money.
According to Schumer”™s office, FEMA initially deemed the waterfront rebuilding eligible for Sandy relief funds but then said the damage was not storm-related. The city hired an engineer to study the damage and prove it was caused by the Sandy storm surge ”“ which reportedly came with waves 10 feet high.
“We went to bat for New Rochelle when bureaucratic red tape was keeping this important rehabilitation project from getting off the ground, and we are pleased that FEMA has heeded our call to swiftly release these funds to make the full reconstruction a reality,” Schumer said.
The total cost of the Sandy repairs to the city”™s waterfront is expected to be $3.96 million.
Engel said, “New Rochelle is ready to rebuild.”
