Schumer: Sandy Aid Has Delivered Largest Federal Revitalization of New York Infrastructure

Press Release

Ahead of the second anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today released the first "Sandy Infrastructure Inventory" of the historic $17 billion investment of federal Sandy aid funding to date, that has gone towards resilient green infrastructure, transportation, coastal protection and municipal infrastructure. That number is likely to rise close to $25 billion as additional funding is allocated and FEMA negotiations reach completion. Schumer highlighted that Superstorm Sandy aid marks the largest injection of federal dollars into New York State infrastructure since the New Deal; as a point of comparison cited that New York only received $1.5 billion dollars in such aid from the Stimulus. Schumer said until Sandy, national infrastructure funding had shifted away from New York in recent years, until he fought and secured a $60 billion dollar Sandy relief bill, which allowed for New York to recover and rebuild its infrastructure in flexible and novel ways, with a focus on making infrastructure stronger in the face of future storms. While recovery from Superstorm Sandy has had some significant flaws, this injection of federal dollars into New York's infrastructure is a bright spot.

"Superstorm Sandy was a tragedy that wreaked havoc on the metropolitan area, but if there is a silver lining: a historic $17 billion dollar federal investment has been spent to make New York's infrastructure more resilient, greener and stronger, particularly in our transportation systems, hospitals, public housing and coastlines," said Senator Schumer. "Much of today's infrastructure dates back to the time of the New Deal, when a steady stream of unprecedented federal funding was directed towards roads, bridges, tunnels and more. Since then, national infrastructure funding has drifted away from New York. The Sandy Relief Bill finally restored New York as a preeminent site for federal capital infrastructure investment and I'm pleased that many much-needed infrastructure projects are now being funded."

Schumer was joined by Peter Madonia, COO of the Rockefeller Foundation; Rob Freudenberg, Director of the Regional Plan Association (RPA) and Andrew Hollweck, Vice President of New York Building Congress.

"The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to stand with Senator Schumer today to commend his leadership and the federal government on a $17 billion commitment to resilient infrastructure building right here in New York", said Peter Madonia, COO, The Rockefeller Foundation. "The Foundation has been dedicated to building resilience around the world for the last decade, and we have seen time and again that the organizations, communities, businesses and people who plan and prepare for any crisis, will rebound faster. With this announcement today, New York City is living what we call the resilience dividend - where we take stock, and invest now to be safe and save dollars later."

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New York and its deadly storm surge killed forty-three people and injured many others. The flood waters overtook roads, homes, subway stations, tunnels, electrical units and more, paralyzing the city's transportation systems, causing widespread power outages, blocking roads and emergency routes, destroying beaches, boardwalks and businesses, and wiping out entire neighborhoods. This devastation meant two things: that New York must rebuild, but do so in a stronger and more resilient way so that New York City, Long Island and elsewhere are not as vulnerable to future storms. Climate change suggests that storms will only increase in intensity, so Schumer, and his colleagues in New York City and New York State focused on protecting this densely populated urban center.

Schumer said today that the Superstorm Sandy relief bill and its historic investment in infrastructure will mean significant protections for New York City and Long Island that did not exist before Sandy. For example, Schumer said the unprecedented level of spending to raise numerous electrical substations on Long Island will prevent water inundation and whole neighborhoods from losing power and going dark during a storm event. He also highlighted that efforts to fortify and flood-proof NYC and Long Island's transportation system, its tunnels and its substations will make the Subway and LIRR less likely to flood, or will shorten the length of time they are impacted, in the event of future storms. By building dunes, sea walls and other coastal protections, communities like Long Beach, the Rockaways and Staten Island will have an extra layer of protection that stands between storm surges and the front doors of homes and businesses.

During the New Deal, New York City, led by Mayor LaGuardia and Robert Moses, with help from Harold Ickes, was extremely adept at securing a vast and steady stream of unprecedented federal funding infrastructure to build roads, bridges, tunnels, municipal buildings, housing and parks. In fact, New York was able to get projects moving much more quickly than the rest of the country and was the recipient of almost half of all New Deal infrastructure funding during the early years of the New Deal. However, in the post-war era, the federal government's focus on infrastructure investment shifted as the Interstate Highway Act and GI Bill directed infrastructure funding disproportionally away from New York City and outwards to rural areas and the burgeoning suburbs. This trend continued through several administrations, and was exacerbated by the retrenchment and retreat from infrastructure spending in urban areas in the Reagan and Bush eras, as tax cuts and spending cuts diminished and deferred our ability to maintain and modernize our infrastructure. As was often documented and decried by Senator Moynihan, during these many decades New York City suffered under a deficit of payments, whereby it sent billions more to the federal treasury in taxes than it received back in aid. Begotten as it was by tragedy and necessity, the Sandy Bill nonetheless represents a huge back payment to New York, and should ultimately allow us to upgrade and create infrastructure in a modern, resilient way.

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