Following Sandy damage, Statue of Liberty to reopen on Fourth of July

[BlueGin]

The Statue of Liberty, closed since Hurricane Sandy battered the Northeast more than nine months ago, will reopen to the public on July 4, officials announced Tuesday.

In a conference call with reporters, outgoing Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer announced that Liberty Island is on track to re-open on America's birthday with a new dock, improved energy infrastructure and repaired facilities.

"July Fourth is the perfect day to reopen a symbol of our nation's freedom, and speaks volumes about New York's resilience," Schumer said in press release after the call. "Lady Liberty was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy, but just like New York, she will be back - and stronger than ever. Being open for the summer tourism season isn't just important symbolically, it's a boon to the city's economy and businesses."

The statute itself was unharmed when the super storm hit in late October. But crippling damage to the rest of the island has left it unsafe for visitors. About 75 percent of Liberty Island was submerged. Nearly all the island’s infrastructure was destroyed by water that was more than five feet deep over some parts of the 12-acre area.

“It’s good news, it’s a little overdue, but at least it’s there and now we’ll watch like a hawk to make sure that this promise is kept,” Schumer told NBCNewYork.com.

Following Sandy damage, Statue of Liberty to reopen on Fourth of July - U.S. News

 

[waltky]

Fatcat Union leader dozed through Hurricane Sandy...

Union big dozed through Hurricane Sandy
May 30, 2013 - Facing a nasty election battle to keep his $156,000-a-year job

He was sleeping on the job — even during Hurricane Sandy. Fuming NYPD tow-truck operators confronted Local 983 union President Mark Rosenthal at a May 11 rally, demanding to know why he was missing in action after their private cars were flooded on a West Side pier while they bravely moved other vehicles away from storm surges on city streets during the height of Sandy’s wrath last October. Astonishingly, the 400-plus-pound union fat cat — who was exposed by The Post this week for repeatedly snoozing on the job and scarfing down $1,400 a month in meals on the rank-and-file’s dime — claimed ignorance about the ravaging storm, according to a recording of the confrontation. “Why you didn’t come down for Sandy?” bellowed one member.

After Rosenthal replied, “I never got the letter,” the member became infuriated and shot back, “You don’t have to get a letter! We was floating in Sandy! We in Zone A! C’mon, the union should have been here for Sandy. Half our employees . . . lost their cars.” Rosenthal later apologized for “not realizing how bad” the damage was. Nearly two weeks later — facing a nasty election battle to keep his $156,000-a-year job — Rosenthal tried to make amends on May 24 by filing a class-action lawsuit against the NYPD on the members’ behalf seeking unspecified damages. “NYPD did not allow the drivers to move their personal vehicles from Hudson River Pier 76 before the tow pound on that pier was submerged as a result of high river levels,” the suit charges. NYPD brass did not return messages seeking comment.

But Marvin Robbins, a union vice president, said Rosenthal is “lying through his teeth,” because Robbins told Rosenthal about the flooded vehicles immediately after Sandy. “He said he did not want to leave the house during Sandy because he did not want to fall,” said Robbins, who was in regular contact with the union boss during the hurricane. He also said Rosenthal did nothing about the members’ cars until after being challenged for president. That election is June 5. “He waited until his job was in jeopardy to file a suit,” Robbins said. Rosenthal has been president of Local 983 of District Council 37, the city’s largest blue-collar municipal workers union, since 1998.

Reached yesterday, he tried to blame the tow-pound shop stewards for not informing him of the damage. “I have two union reps there making $100,000 who are supposed to bring me information,” Rosenthal said. “I oversee 3,000 employees in 50 agencies, so I can’t be everywhere at the same time.” He again claimed to be the target of a smear campaign by opponents. Rosenthal also blamed his daytime sleep habits on suffering from sleep apnea, adding he’s receiving medical treatment.

Source

 

[noose4]

And most of the recovery workers and first responders are union members and the N.Y. Post is playing propaganda tool for the union VP that wants to run against and replace the fat guy.

 

[waltky]

Flood insurance rates goin' up...

After Sandy, a new threat: Feds rewrite flood maps, boosting flood insurance
June 9, 2013 — George Kasimos has almost finished repairing flood damage to his waterfront home, but his Superstorm Sandy nightmare is far from over.

Like thousands of others in the hardest-hit coastal stretches of New Jersey and New York, his life is in limbo as he waits to see if tough new coastal rebuilding rules make it just too expensive for him to stay. That's because the federal government's newly released advisory flood maps have put his Toms River home in the most vulnerable area — the "velocity zone." If that sticks, he'd have to jack his house up 14 feet on stilts at a cost of $150,000 or face up to $30,000 a year in flood insurance premiums. "Everyone assumes when you say a 'home on the water,' people have tons and tons of money, but that's not the case," said Kasimos, whose Toms River home was filled with a foot and a half of water in the storm. "Most of these homeowners are middle class."

Even as those in the most vulnerable coastal areas have struggled to recover from the storm, federal authorities have been issuing them a sobering warning: Raise your homes above the flood plain or face soaring flood insurance costs. For many, it's an impossible choice. They can't afford to do either. And many unanswered questions have left residents paralyzed with indecision. Until the new flood maps are finalized in coming months by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, homeowners won't know for sure how high they'll have to raise their homes — if they have to raise them at all. Officials are urging people to elevate their houses now because they are eligible for federal financial aid. About $350 million of New York City's and $600 million of New Jersey's Sandy relief funding has been allocated for the repair of single- and two-family homes, which could help defray the cost.

Dan Mundy poses for a picture on his dock in the Broad Channel section of Queens, New York. As people finish up repairs to their waterlogged houses, officials are warning them that they must prepare for the future and raise their homes high above the flood plain or they could face up to $30,000 a year in flood insurance costs.

But it's still unclear how that money will be distributed among individual homeowners, which means many of them could be on their own financially. The process of house-raising is laborious and prohibitively expensive, especially for working-class people who are already saddled with storm repair costs. Even a small cottage can cost $60,000 to elevate, while a sprawling multilevel home could run upwards of $250,000. "You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't," said Karly Carozza, who is living with her parents while she and her husband decide when to repair their small ranch house in Brick Township, N.J. "It seems like waiting makes the most sense, but when people have nowhere to go, how long do you want them to wait?"

Officials say now is the time to prepare for the future: Sandy will happen again. But many residents don't believe them. They think Sandy was a fluke, a storm to end all storms, the kind they won't ever see again. And they're preparing to do battle with the government for the right to continue living just as they have for generations — in low-lying abodes that were never built to endure storms, let alone the fierce hurricanes of the 21st century.

MORE

 

[BlueGin]

Flood insurance rates goin' up...

After Sandy, a new threat: Feds rewrite flood maps, boosting flood insurance
June 9, 2013 — George Kasimos has almost finished repairing flood damage to his waterfront home, but his Superstorm Sandy nightmare is far from over.

Like thousands of others in the hardest-hit coastal stretches of New Jersey and New York, his life is in limbo as he waits to see if tough new coastal rebuilding rules make it just too expensive for him to stay. That's because the federal government's newly released advisory flood maps have put his Toms River home in the most vulnerable area — the "velocity zone." If that sticks, he'd have to jack his house up 14 feet on stilts at a cost of $150,000 or face up to $30,000 a year in flood insurance premiums. "Everyone assumes when you say a 'home on the water,' people have tons and tons of money, but that's not the case," said Kasimos, whose Toms River home was filled with a foot and a half of water in the storm. "Most of these homeowners are middle class."

Even as those in the most vulnerable coastal areas have struggled to recover from the storm, federal authorities have been issuing them a sobering warning: Raise your homes above the flood plain or face soaring flood insurance costs. For many, it's an impossible choice. They can't afford to do either. And many unanswered questions have left residents paralyzed with indecision. Until the new flood maps are finalized in coming months by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, homeowners won't know for sure how high they'll have to raise their homes — if they have to raise them at all. Officials are urging people to elevate their houses now because they are eligible for federal financial aid. About $350 million of New York City's and $600 million of New Jersey's Sandy relief funding has been allocated for the repair of single- and two-family homes, which could help defray the cost.

Dan Mundy poses for a picture on his dock in the Broad Channel section of Queens, New York. As people finish up repairs to their waterlogged houses, officials are warning them that they must prepare for the future and raise their homes high above the flood plain or they could face up to $30,000 a year in flood insurance costs.

But it's still unclear how that money will be distributed among individual homeowners, which means many of them could be on their own financially. The process of house-raising is laborious and prohibitively expensive, especially for working-class people who are already saddled with storm repair costs. Even a small cottage can cost $60,000 to elevate, while a sprawling multilevel home could run upwards of $250,000. "You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't," said Karly Carozza, who is living with her parents while she and her husband decide when to repair their small ranch house in Brick Township, N.J. "It seems like waiting makes the most sense, but when people have nowhere to go, how long do you want them to wait?"

Officials say now is the time to prepare for the future: Sandy will happen again. But many residents don't believe them. They think Sandy was a fluke, a storm to end all storms, the kind they won't ever see again. And they're preparing to do battle with the government for the right to continue living just as they have for generations — in low-lying abodes that were never built to endure storms, let alone the fierce hurricanes of the 21st century.

MORE

Good way to put middle class home owners who can't afford to raise their homes out on the streets. Someone is definitely going to benefit from this...but who?