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North Shore Towers Courier n March 2013 17 Schumer pushes for co-op, condo Sandy relief BY MELISSA CHAN New York’s senior senator has joined the ranks of leaders pushing for relief to storm-damaged co-ops and condos. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer penned a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last Wednesday asking the agency to establish Sandy relief program guidelines for co-ops and condos. Co-op and condo owners currently cannot receive Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Sandyinflicted damages because they are categorized as “business associations,” according to elected federal officials. The title makes them eligible for federal loans but not grants. “After Sandy, FEMA was able to help many communities. However, due to inflexible bureaucratic rules, co-op and condo homeowners were left in the wake,” Schumer said. The Stafford Act, which governs how FEMA responds to major disasters, does not include the word “co-op” in the law, according to Congressmember Steve Israel. But there is no statute that purposefully bans co-op owners from being eligible for grants, a privilege given to homeowners. Schumer called on HUD officials to use Community Development Block Grants Disaster Recovery funds to help co-op and condo owners repair and rebuild. HUD allocated $5.4 billion to the recovery program early last week. New Yorkers are eligible to receive about $3.5 billion of that total. Some Queens co-ops suffered $1 million in damages, including Cryder Point Co-ops, a waterfront community which has to repair its shambled pier. More than half of the total buildings in Glen Oaks Village endured “moderate to severe shingle loss,” according to Bob Friedrich, the co-op’s president. The co-op will have to shell out $250,000 in infrastructural damages. And nearly 3,000 Mitchell- Lama co-ops in the Rockaways are forced to shoulder repair costs, said Dolores Orr, coop owner and president of the Rockaway Beach Civic Association. “It is astonishing to me that residential co-op buildings are not being afforded any financial assistance in the recovery from Sandy,” she said. “We are homeowners just like those who live in … family houses.” CASH FOR GOLD! For The Highest Payout In New York WE ARE A 4TH GENERATION FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS CAN’T MAKE IT INTO OUR STORE? We Will Come To You! We Make House Calls! WESTBURY (LONG ISLAND) 465 OLD COUNTRY RD. WESTBURY NY, 11590 (516) 334-2274 NEXT TO DUNKIN DONUTS JAMAICA (HILLSIDE AVE.) 179-39 HILLSIDE AVENUE QUEENS NY 11432 (718) 206-2271 • (718) 206-2273 Brooklyn 9716 Church Ave Corner of Rockaway Pkwy 718-485-0202 Carl Place 207 Old Country Rd. Across from Roosevelt Field Mall 516-741-2909 GLEN OAKS 253-23 UNION TPKE • (718) 347-4653 CORNER OF LITTLE NECK PKWY & UNION TPKE GOLD, SILVER & DIAMONDS ARE AT HIGHEST IN 25 YEARS!* We Pay Cash For: N.Y. Gold Buyers Westbury Gold We Do Gold Parties • GOLD • DIAMONDS • PLATINUM • SILVER • ANTIQUES • ESTATE JEWLERY • SILVERWARE • WATCHES • FINE CRYSTAL • ALL PRE-1964 US COINS WE ARE #1 OUR CONVENIENT LOCATIONS: Call Anytime 516-236-8815 RIDGEWOOD 65-20 FRESH POND RD. • (718) 386-3450 FRESH MEADOWS 183-16 HORACE HARDING EXPWY • (718) 321-3440 NEXT TO ALI BABA RESTAURANT MASPETH 61-51 GRAND AVENUE • (718) 476-8939 ACROSS FROM DUANE READE Photo by Melissa Chan At a January press conference, local leaders pushed for FEMA to make co-ops eligible for recovery grants. From left are Friedrich, City Councilmember Mark Weprin, Congressmember Steve Israel and State Senator Tony Avella.


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