The Fema cuts over 300 million dollars in disaster aid in New York

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is cutting $ 325 million in subsidies that were to go to the State of New York, largely intended for the essential efforts of mitigation of floods in New York City, according to the office of the governor Kathy Hochul.

The cuts are part of a wider assault by President Trump and Kristi Noem, his secretary to national security, on the responsibilities of response to the catastrophes of the Federal Government, with both of them who discussed stating Should Shoulder the burden For this work.

But the loss of Fema funds will be particularly harmful to the New York City area, where the remains of Hurricane Ida killed 14 New Yorkers in 2021, drowning 11 of them in the apartments in the basement.

Mrs. Hochul, a democratic, questioned the wisdom of the cuts, affirming that the subsidies were “fundamental to help us reconstruct” after a litany of serious meteorological disasters that had affected the state in recent years.

“The cut of the financing of infrastructures for the communities of New York is short -sighted and a huge risk for public safety,” said Hochul in a note.

Fema announced on Friday that he was deleting the Build infrastructure and resilient community Program (BRIC), calling it in a declaration “Must and ineffective” and “most worried about political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural catastrophes”. Bric has distributed $ 5 billion of subsidies nationally since it started in 2020, during the first term of Trump.

Near $ 1 billion who has been assigned but not distributed to the government entities will be diverted to the Treasury Department, said the agency-ADVANCE that he was “deleting all Bric questions from the tax years 2020-2023”.

Just a year ago, Fema celebrated some of the projects supported by those subsidiesBy saying that they would help local governments “face current and future high -level risks for natural catastrophes”, including “extreme heat, fires, droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes and increase in floods”.

Those threats still exist. But the loan no longer does it.

Kayla Mamelak Altus, spokesperson for the mayor Eric Adams of New York City, said that financing reductions “represent serious risks for multiple communities in the five districts”.

Mrs. Mamelak Altus observed that the program was designed to protect the communities from natural catastrophes and to save the money of the federal government that could otherwise spend for a relief in the event of a catastrophe.

“Many studies have shown that $ 1 spent in advance saves $ 6 in response to the answer,” he said. “This incredible return on investments is the reason why we have already contacted our federal partners, but we are also examining our legal options simultaneously to protect New York City and guarantee our residents to receive every dollar they deserve.”

A last year report from Allstate, the United States Chamber of Commerce and the foundation of the Chamber stated that potential savings have been even greater. When taking into account the local economic effects of these investments, “every $ 1 spent for climatic resilience and preparation saves the $ 13” communities, the report he said.

The cuts affect the whole state of New York but are largely concentrated in New York City.

More than $ 11 million have been eliminated for a storm increase to protect the development of public homes of Polo Grounds and a nearby public school in Harlem; $ 100 million have been eliminated for the mitigation measures of rainwater in East Elmhurst, Queens and Harlem center.

The state senator Jessica Ramos of Queens, who represents East Elmhurst and Corona, was outraged by the news that the climatic resilience projects in his district would have been cut.

“My neighbors could die if we had another storm as we had during the IDA Hurricane,” said Mrs. Ramos, who is running for the mayor. He has committed himself to pushing the state to compensate the deficiency.

More than $ 20 million in federal funding have been eliminated for the mitigation of rainwater mitigation designed to protect the residents of the Breukelen, Nostrand and Sheeppshead Bay, all the developments of popular construction in Brooklyn. The Fema web pages that describe those projects have been removed.

A deleted web page, available on Wayback Machine, a digital repository managed through the Internet archive, noted that the houses of Nostrand and Sheeppshead Bay, who host more than 4,000 low -income New York, “are at risk of extreme floods due to their closeness to a coastal water body and increased rainfall from climate change”.

Latrice M. Walker, a democratic assembly whose district is just north of the Breukelen houses, said that the completion of climatic resilience projects was both a logistical and moral imperative. “Don’t do it is excellent – and he is racist,” he said.

The Trump administration is also cutting over 40 million dollars for Lower Manhattan coastal protections.

In March, Zach Iscol, head of the emergency management office of New York City, said the city council that the Trump administration had put up to risk of up to two thirds of the budget of the response to the emergencies of the city; Federal funds subscribe 66 percent of the number of heads provided by the Department.

“I could fall from the sofa,” said Amy Chester, director of Rebuild by Design, a non -profit organization based in New York that helps communities to adapt to climate change, when told on cuts. “These are so important: each of these programs is life and death”.