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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 413-12
November 9, 2012

UPDATE ON CITY RECOVERY AND ASSISTANCE OPERATIONS

The following is an update of City Government’s Storm Response as of 5:00 PM on Friday, November 9, 2012

NYC Rapid Repairs

Mayor Bloomberg announced NYC Rapid Repairs, a new program to send teams of contractors and City inspectors to areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy:

  • Crews work to quickly and efficiently repair damaged homes
  • Under unprecedented partnership with FEMA, City will coordinate all repair work
  • Homeowners can sign up on nyc.gov or 311 to secure; they must also register for a FEMA ID number from disasterassistance.gov or 1-800-621-3362

Rockaway Ferry Service

The City, with Seastreak, will provide temporary ferry service between the Rockaways and Manhattan beginning Monday, November 12:

  • Ferries depart from Beach 108th Street and Beach Channel Drive and stop at Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan.
  • Free transfers between Pier 11 and East 34th Street in Midtown
  • Service runs from 5:45AM and depart regularly until 9:20 AM
  • Regular service resume at evening rush hour
  • One-way fares will cost $2.00

The Economic Development Corporation has installed a temporary landing in the Rockaways.

Mobile Medical Teams for Far Rockaway and Coney Island

The City has deployed mobile medical teams consisting of a paramedic and member of the National Guard to the Far Rockaways and Coney Island. The teams will go door-to-door in tall residential buildings from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM to:

  • Ensure residents’ medical needs are met
  • Conduct medical assessments to determine if  residents are safe
  • Connect residents with prescription medications
  • If needed, take residents to a field clinic or hospital for medical care

Food, Water & Supply Distribution at City-Run Resource Sites

The City has opened food and water distribution sites in the hardest hit areas and are staffed by City employees, volunteers, the Salvation Army and National Guard. Locations and hours.

From Thursday, November 1 through Thursday, November 7, the following have been distributed:

  • More than 1.8 million meals
  • Nearly 454,000 bottles of water
  • 127,000 blankets
  • 1,248 cases of diapers
  • 183 cases of baby wipes
  • 670 cases of baby formula
  • 8,500 units of new underwear (kids and adults)
  • 3,840 thermal blankets
  • 1,552 winter hats
  • 389 scarves
  • 2,586 socks
  • 8,550 blankets
  • 4,000 hand-warmers
  • 6,252 D batteries
  • 9,972 C batteries
  • 335 cases of garbage bags
  • 3,399 flashlights/lanterns
  • 476 cases of toilet paper
  • 837 cases of bleach
  • 20,000 cases of Ziploc bags
  • 6,000 masks
  • 10,000 boxes of cleaning wipes
  • 1,500 work gloves
  • 878 bars of soap
  • 140 cases of toothbrushes
  • 750 units of toothpaste
  • 584 bath towels

Power Customers Out

  • Total Con Ed customers without power: 47,200
  • Total LIPA customers without power: 39,100

 Odd-Even Gasoline Purchasing System

Mayor Bloomberg signed an emergency executive order today establishing an odd-even license plate system for gasoline purchases to reduce wait times and lines at gas stations. The temporary system will remain in effect from until further notice and will operate as follows:

  • Vehicles with license plates ending in an even number or ‘zero’ purchase fuel on even numbered days.

  • Vehicles with license plates ending in an odd number purchase fuel on odd numbered days.

  • Vehicles with licenses plates ending in letters will be deemed as odd numbered plates and can make purchases on odd numbered days.

  • Commercial vehicles, emergency vehicles, buses and paratransit vehicles, Medical Doctor (MD) plates and vehicles licensed by the Taxi and limousine Commission are exempt.

  • The use of legal walk-up fuel containers by individuals is not affected by the executive order.

 Sanitation 24-Hour Debris Cleanup Continues; Recycling Resumes

Mayor Bloomberg directed the Department of Sanitation to adjust collections schedule so that 24-hour cleanup could continue in the hard-hit areas of Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn.

Areas normally receiving three times a week collection may only receive two collections per week, while areas that receive two times per week collection may only receive one collection while the emergency debris removal work continues.

Recycling resumes on Sunday, November 11.

Recycling collections on Sunday will start with regularly scheduled Saturday recycling.  Regularly scheduled Monday recycling will be picked up on Monday, November 12, even though the day was originally scheduled as a holiday in observance of Veterans’ Day.

  • 728 pieces of sanitation equipment are working on debris removal, including 270 trucks, 234 mechanical broom, 114 front end loaders and 110 cut down dump trucks.
  • Sanitation crews have collected more than 225,000 tons of trash, debris and tree as a part of storm cleanup operations.

The heavily-impacted areas will continue to receive collection and debris removal around the clock.

NYCHA Facilities

  • The City has assessed all NYCHA housing in Zone A and found no major long-term structural issues. All NYCHA buildings flooded in the storm have been pumped dry.

  • Today, power has been restored to 18 buildings in 3 NYCHA developments for 2,500 people. Power has now been restored to nearly 87 percent of the 402 buildings that lost it during the storm.
  • In addition, yesterday, we were able to get heat and hot water restored to 511 residents in an additional building in public housing.  That means today that these services have been restored to 70 percent of 386 buildings that lost heat and hot water during the hurricane

  • NYCHA has set up warming centers in Red Hook and additional warming centers are being established. NYCHA staff and volunteers have been providing blankets to residents who have not had heat or hot water restored.

Mobile Medical Vans with Prescription Services

The City has deployed vans staffed with primary care providers will be able to provide medical care and distribute commonly prescribed drugs at several of the City’s Disaster Assistance Service Centers, as well as two additional high-need areas. Volunteers are also going door-to-door to reach people who may have medical needs but remain in their homes without heat and power. The location and hours are available here.

Trees and Debris

  • The City has received 25,105 tree requests to date.
  • Of those requests, 15,059 were for trees down.
  • The City has addressed 8,015 of these emergency tree conditions and crews continue to work around the clock to address conditions.

 

Support to Businesses

The City’s Department of Small Business Services and Economic Development Corporation have put together a package of support for NYC businesses impacted by the storm:

  • Emergency low-interest loans of up to $25,000 for businesses that have been interrupted and suffered damage as a result of the storm. Applications are available at any of the City’s NYC Business Solutions Centers, by calling 311 and asking for “NYC Business Emergency Loan,” or by visiting on.nyc.gov/contactnycbiz.

  • For businesses facing significant rebuilding costs, the City will provide sales tax exemptions of up to $100,000 on purchases of materials, equipment and related services needed to rebuild. Learn more here: nycedc.com/backtobusiness 

  • For displaced businesses, the City has identified more than 170,000 square feet that will be made available free of charge, including 40,000 square feet of City space at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, and more than 125,000 square feet of space that private landlords have made available, across the five boroughs. A full listing of commercial spaces and other resources is available at nycedc.com/donations.

  • Information on disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration is available at any of the City’s NYC Business Solutions Centers, by calling 800-659-2955, or by visiting sba.gov/disaster.

  • Alliance for Coney Island—a nonprofit organization formed, with the help of the City, to continue the transformation of Coney Island into a year-round, world-class recreational oceanfront destination—launched ConeyRecovers.org, a multipronged relief and recovery effort to help Coney Island residents and businesses dealing with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The Alliance is comprised of all major Coney businesses, and the City has provided them with $630,000 in funding originally allocated to the Coney Island Development Corporation which will wind down operations.

All City Schools Open

City schools are open to all students, and those students and staff who have been reassigned from buildings that sustained structural damage went to other school sites. Parents should continue to check the status of their schools by:

  • Clicking here for the school locator search or by going to www.nyc.gov/schools.
  • Call 311 or texting “nycschools” or ‘escuela’ to 877-877.

The Department of Education has coordinated transportation options for families with children who have been reassigned to other school sites: 

  1. Full reimbursement for any family of a K-8 student at a relocated school taking MTA/cab service to and from school.

  1. 55 cents per mile reimbursement for any family of a student at a relocated school who uses their own vehicles.

  1. Free metro-cards will be distributed to all high school students at relocated schools who do not already have one.

The City has conducted extensive outreach to families, making 1.2 million robo-calls to parents; direct messages were sent from principals and parent coordinators to parents; full page advisories ran in three of New York City’s newspapers; text messages were sent to parents and families enrolled in the Department of Education’s texting program; and information was provided to television and radio outlets.

Air BNB Temporary Housing

Air BNB, an on-line service that connects people seeking temporary housing with those who have unused space, has launched a new platform to link New Yorkers displaced by Hurricane Sandy to New Yorkers who want to offer free places to stay. Air BNB is providing with service at no fee, and information is available at airbnb.com/sandy.      

Partnership with Local Food Trucks

The Mayors Fund to Advance New York City has partnered with the NYC Food Truck Association, NYC Food Film Festival and local food trucks to coordinate hot food distribution at 21 sites in areas severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The locations and hours are available here 

Shelter for Those without Heat

Cold weather in the city continues, increasing risk of hypothermia. Anyone who needs heat should find warm shelter, whether at City facilities or with a friend or relative.

Evacuation shelters remain open and as of Thursday morning, they were 2,656 evacuees and 812 staff. 

  • Buses are running to take people to warm shelters if they cannot get their own their own. The bus pickups are listed here.  

    The City also has opened daytime-only warming centers at senior centers in every borough.
  • Those who are using generators in their homes to run their heat should be very careful to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning by never using portable generators indoors, in garages or near open windows.

  • Early signs of hypothermia include uncontrollable shivering, confusion or sleepiness, slowed or slurred speech, stiffness in arms and legs, poor control over body movements and slow reaction.

Disaster Assistance Service Centers

The City’s Human Resources Administration in cooperation with FEMA, operates three sites to provide information about applying for emergency social and economic benefits and to connect residents with recovery resources. The list of sites can be found here

Community Recovery Directors Assist with Immediate Needs in Impacted Areas

Mayor Bloomberg appointed senior level New York City managers this week to identify urgent needs, stay in close contact with the community leader and deploy resources to meet needs. The City’s Community Recover Directors are:

  • Haeda Mihaltses, Staten Island
  • Matt Mahoney, Manhattan and the Bronx
  • Nazli Parvizi and Diane Billings-Buford, Brooklyn and Queens

Brad Gair Appointed Director of Housing Recovery Operations

The Mayor appointed Brad Gair, one of the nation’s top emergency management professionals, to lead the effort to address challenge of providing longer-term housing for New Yorkers displaced from their homes by Hurricane Sandy. Many buildings that were flooded are going to be out of commission for a long time because of damage to boilers and electrical systems. This includes public housing, as well as private apartments and houses.

Alternate Side Parking

  • Alternate Side Parking regulations will be suspended citywide through Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, to facilitate storm recovery efforts.

  • Alternate Side Parking regulations are not in effect on Sunday, November 11, and will also be suspended for Veterans Day, Monday, November 12, as previously scheduled.
  • All other parking regulations remain in effect.

Volunteering, Donating and Giving Blood 

  • To date, more than $32 million supporting Hurricane Sandy relief has come into the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City from more than 10,000 donors from around the country.
  • Cash donations to support these and other efforts can be made through the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Learn more here: nyc.gov/fund

  • Cash donations are preferable to in-kind donations because the logistics of collecting and distributing those supplies are complex.

  • Anyone wishing to make cash contributions can go to nyc.gov or call 311 for details.
  • Those who want to volunteer can visit NYC Service at: nyc.gov/service

  • Giving blood is incredibly helpful right now. For more information visit: nybloodcenter.org.






MEDIA CONTACT:


Marc La Vorgna/John McCarthy   (212) 788-2958



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