From the Boston Globe, On Feb. 7 – Bloomberg outlines plan for 1st billion dollars in Sandy aid. Finally, some details about recovery spending plans. And what I find notable is the first mention of Sec. Shawn Donovan, who has been given the lead for recovery. Some excerpts:
New York City plans to spend its first $1 billion in federal funding for Hurricane Sandy recovery on loans and grants to homeowners and businesses affected by the storm, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Wednesday morning. It will also go toward efforts to protect public housing and critical infrastructure from future storms.
The money will come from a $51 billion disaster relief package that will be distributed to New York, New Jersey, and other affected areas. The first installment for the city will total $1.77 billion; in his presentation on Wednesday, Bloomberg did not say how he would use about $725 million of that initial payment.
N.Y. state Governor offers a courageous recovery effort that features a major buy out: see Cuomo Seeking Home Buyouts in Flood Zones; Feb. 4. This is an example of a sensible and courageous recovery plan component. Some additional details are in this article, dated Feb. 7.
Recovery Diva 
What I find notable is that it includes grants for homeowners. Are these homeowners in designated floodprone areas? If so, this is not a helpful step. Also, little is said about mitigation.
-Rob Olshansky
I have not yet read the full act. If you have and would like to comment further, please consider writing a guest blog posting on your observations.
$51 Billion!!! Doesn’t look like that trend of steadily increasing disaster costs is going to go down anytime soon…….at least we seem to have gotten from Jan to February somewhat okay. Kind of makes you wonder what nature has in store for us over the next 10 months……