Reverse NY's snowstorm aid denial

President Donald Trump this month denied New York State’s Major Disaster Declaration application to cover local costs from the February 2026 record snowstorm that shut down Long Island for days. That’s wrong, even if the decision wasn’t politically motivated.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, announced she is appealing the decision so Long Island communities “have access to every resource available to recover and rebuild” from the “tremendous costs due to this historic storm.”

Trump denied New York’s application along with the applications from New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — states led by Democrats — while the same day approving nine disaster requests for states with a Republican governor. According to an analysis by Politico, in Trump’s second term, he has approved 23% of disaster requests from states led by Democrats and 89% of requests with a Republican governor and two Republican senators.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s mission is “helping people before, during and after disasters.” Yet, under Trump’s direction, the agency’s most recent denials of money to states led by Democrats feel political. A FEMA statement to Newsday’s news division disputed that assertion, saying the denial “was based on policy not politics.”

FEMA did note New York suffered $79 million in damage from the snowstorm, exceeding the minimum threshold of $39 million statewide to qualify for FEMA aid. Still, despite meeting that threshold, the decision rests with the president, making the process malleable to political considerations.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, said in a statement that FEMA considers “more than 90 percent” of the state’s request for reimbursement of the cost of snow removal and plowing as the responsibility of state and local government, making the remaining portion of the funding request below the threshold.

But FEMA’s own definition of what constitutes a major disaster includes snowstorms without setting aside plowing. That the bulk of the response to the February 2026 snowstorm required plowing shouldn’t preclude federal aid approval.

In a statement to Politico, FEMA said “the East Coast is generally expected to manage major snowstorms independently.” Long Island municipalities have been doing just that for decades, with millions allocated every year for snowstorm preparation and removal. But February 2026 wasn’t just a major snowstorm — it was a record, and part of FEMA’s mission is to render aid in extraordinary circumstances caused by major disasters.

The blizzard of February 2026 closed schools and roads, led to at least six post-storm deaths, and overburdened local municipalities and first responders like never before. For a region accustomed to handling snow every winter, this was beyond our ability to manage independently.

FEMA historically has come to the rescue for Long Island in the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Sandy in 2012, when the federal government provided at least $1.8 billion to local municipalities. Disaster relief isn’t partisan, it’s American. This time, FEMA needs to follow its own blueprint and approve the state’s appeal.