Mayor, Schumer discuss additional Superstorm Sandy aid

A day before the city marked the first anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, the city's elected officials laid out plans for future aid for thousands of affected New Yorkers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Sen. Charles Schumer and Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Jarold Nadler Monday to give specifics about the second round of federal aid that will be coming in a couple of weeks.

The majority of the $6.3 billion will be going to home and business owners who are still rebuilding their properties, according to Bloomberg. "After all they have been through, they should have this aid," he said.

Bloomberg also touted the work done by his Fund to Advance New York City, which raised $60 million in the past year to pay for housing renovations for needy families.

The mayor's office said there is no timetable for when affected New Yorkers will see the federal money, but they said it will be rolling out over the next few weeks.

Congress approved $60.2 billion in aid for Sandy victims in all affected states back in January.

Last week, the mayor's office said the initial $1.77 billion in aid wasn't enough to cover most of the applicants who applied for the city's Build It Back assistance program, but these new funds would expedite the process. Schumer said he understood the anxiety that those applicants faced but said both the congressional gridlock and the need to make funding effective caused the delays.

Schumer said millions were wasted during Hurricane Katrina when the federal government didn't properly plan the aid dispersal. He said he didn't want history to repeat itself.

"You need the money out fast enough . . . but you need to have it go exactly where it needs to go," he said.