From the Staten Island newspaper, this article about the slow progress in helping small businesses post H. Sandy.See: Few small businesses helped with federal Hurricane Sandy relief funds, administration tells City Council.

It’s not just homeowners hit by Sandy who are waiting for help: Relief has also been slow to trickle to small businesses, city officials and business owners testified to City Council members Wednesday.

Just 10 businesses citywide have received only $2.76 million as part of the Hurricane Sandy Business Loan and Grant program, out of some $42 million available for the program in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development block grants, Small Business Services Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer said.

“In looking at the program, there are process improvements we can make so that number — which was seven a couple of weeks ago and is now 10 — is dramatically higher, as quickly as possible,” Ms. Torres-Springer told members of the Small Business and Resilience and Recovery Committees.

The dismal statistics echoed testimony at previous hearings on housing recovery — when officials admitted that the number of homes under construction or with checks in the mail was also in the single digits. Ms. Torres-Springer blamed strict rules around the HUD funding, designed to be a last resort for business owners, for the slow disbursement, and pointed out the city had much more quickly handed out grants and loans funded by other sources.