The de Blasio administration still hasn’t spent $8.1 billion in federal funds for Hurricane Sandy recovery six years after th🔥e storm — including $1.8 billion for NYCHA, according to a new repor༒t by city Comptroller Scott Stringer.
The city has used up just 54 percent of a total $14.7 billion allocated for infrastructure, homeowner recovery and 🐭resiliency projects.
Only 41 percent targeted for the New York City Housing Aut✱hority has been spent.
“All the talk of a monitor, all the NYCHA investigations from lead to boilers, there’s a pot of money, $3 billion, and NYCHA and City Ha🐼ll could only allocate 4ꦏ1 percent! This is the tragedy of this moment,” Stringer said.
He attributed some of the slow pace to federal bureaucracy, but said the mayor should act now to storm proof public facilities like hospitals.
NYU Langone Medical Center, where staff had to carry patients to safe💜ty when the power went out, has used $1.45 billion in federal money to make the center more resilient.
Yet the city’s Health and Ho🎃spitals Corporation ♒has only dipped into 20 percent of grants, Stringer noted.
Staten Island University Hospital hasn’t used any🍰 of the $28 million it was allocat💙ed.
Jainey Bavishi, director of the Mayor’s Office of Resiliency, disput🌸ed Stringer’s report.
“There is no spending lag,” Bavishi said. “The bulk of federal recovery funds for New York City were not made available until 2015, and we are not scheduled to🐓 spend all . . . funds for years.”
He insisted, “We are sp💯ending our federal recovery funds 🍬faster than the national average.”