NEW YORK — Over 100 public housing buildings damaged by Superstorm Sandy are set to receive $100 million from FEMA to pay for new boilers, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sen. Charles Schumer announced Sunday.
According to an agreement between FEMA and Schumer's office, FEMA will pay for new boilers to replace the ones that were flooded during the storm.
They will also fund replacements for boilers that would not meet current codes even if repaired, and those that would cost more than half the price of a new system to fix.
"For more than 16 months, bureaucratic infighting and red tape have denied NYCHA residents the most basic of necessities — reliable heat and hot water," said Schumer at a press conference held at the John Haynes Holmes Towers on East 93rd Street.
"Today we're firmly on the path to righting a wrong that has too often left NYCHA residents in the cold during the winter and in the dark at night."
According to Schumer's office, 60 boilers were impacted by the storm, forcing the New York City Housing Authority to spend $3 million per month on 24 temporary boiler systems ever since. FEMA has agreed to reimburse NYCHA for $56 million spent on the temporary boilers as well.
In total, the boiler systems that are set to be replaced serve nearly 9,000 units in 110 buildings throughout Coney Island, the Rockaways and the Lower East Side.
“NYCHA has been working aggressively for a year to tap the financial resources needed to restore our Sandy-damaged buildings," said NYCHA Chair Shola Olatoye.
"Thank you to our FEMA colleagues for engaging in negotiations and making the commitment to secure the recovery funding we need to begin the work necessary to bring these buildings — these homes — damaged by Sandy up to a state of repair and resiliency.”
As part of the agreement, FEMA will also attempt to secure funding in time for the boiler replacement process to begin later this year, ahead of the projected 2016 start date.
Organizers did not have a complete list of all the recipient buildings on hand Sunday.
