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Recovery Resources
For Businesses and Nonprofits
In the event of a large emergency, local, state, and federal resources may become available to help organizations recover. To qualify for assistance, organizations will be asked to provide documentation to support damage assessments. Visit the main Recovery page to verify what recovery resources are available following a disaster.
Report Your Damage
- Report damage to your business or neighborhood by calling 311 (212-639-9675 for Video Relay Service, or TTY: 212-504-4115). This helps the City understand where impacts are worst and where to send resources. Reporting your damage can also potentially help the City qualify for federal recovery funding.
- Need specific services from the City? Submit a 311 Service Request online or call 311.
- Depending on scale of the disaster, the Housing Recovery Office’s (HRO) Report Damage Portal may be turned on. Reporting your damage here allows the City to immediately collect damage information from New Yorkers to assess the impact on affected areas. Your report will help the City give accurate data about the impact of the event to State and Federal agencies.
Local Recovery Assistance
- The NYC Department of Small Business Services provides direct assistance to business owners, fosters neighborhood development in commercial districts, and links employers to a skilled and qualified workforce and will deploy its SBS Business Outreach Team's Emergency Response Unit to assist and assess needs of businesses in the event of an emergency.
- The Mayor's Community Affairs Unit (CAU) works with neighborhood and community groups, nonprofit organizations, and City government agencies to improve the quality of life in New York's neighborhoods. During an emergency, the CAU may aid NYC Emergency Management and FEMA in setting up community assistance centers. The CAU also can help businesses by connecting them with local nonprofits and local political authorities, such as community boards.
- The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) facilitates successful integration of immigrant New Yorkers into the civic, economic, and cultural life of the city. In an emergency, MOIA can help immigrant-owned businesses find city services and direct immigrant business owners to community organizations that offer services in languages other than English.
- Con Edison supplies most of New York City with electricity. Con Edison may reimburse businesses for losses, such as food spoilage, suffered as a result of an outage that was not caused by a storm.
- File a claim with Con Edison if you've incurred losses from food spoilage.
State Recovery Assistance
- The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYS DFS)'s Insurance Division is responsible for supervising and regulating all insurance business in New York State. NYS DFS will help resolve any issues you may have with your insurance.
- Visit the New York State's Department of Financial Service's website to learn about what types of insurance are available for natural disasters and other emergencies.
- The New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management coordinates emergency management services with other federal and state agencies to support county and local governments. This office routinely assists local government, volunteer organizations, and private industry through a variety of emergency management programs. Depending on the nature and severity of an event, the agency may make disaster recovery assistance available to local government agencies, certain private nonprofit groups, and/or individuals and households.
Federal Recovery Assistance
- In the aftermath of some disasters, the Small Business Administration (SBA) may provide financial assistance in the form of low-interest, long-term loans to small businesses in areas covered by a disaster declaration. Loans are managed by SBA's Office of Disaster Assistance (ODA).
- In instances where there is a Presidential Emergency Declaration or Major Disaster Declaration with Public Assistance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides Public Assistance to state and local governments, Native American tribes and certain private nonprofit organizations that may be eligible for public assistance.
- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), under some circumstances, will write off uncompensated losses sustained as a result of a disaster. The IRS has created a disaster resource guide to assist business owners affected by major disasters or emergencies.