© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Governor Cuomo Visits Rockland Town As Part of NY Rising

WAMC/Allison Dunne

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was in the Hudson Valley this afternoon, his second stop of the day in communities that qualify for funding for recovery and rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy, Tropical Storm Lee, and Hurricane Irene under a new state program.

Governor Cuomo visited Stony Point, hit hard by storms before and after the bruising Hurricane Sandy last October. He says it is inarguable that we are living amid a new weather pattern.

The visit came as Stony Point’s first New York Rising Community Reconstruction meeting was about to get under way, with planning experts, residents, and community officials gathering to discuss redevelopment strategies specific to Stony Point. And that is the point of New York Rising – to have reconstruction planning committees in storm-damaged communities across the state.

Cuomo in July designated 102 New York Rising communities combined eligible to receive more than $750 million for storm recovery and rebuilding plans. Stony Point is the only such community in Rockland eligible for up to $3 million. Again, here’s Cuomo.

Cuomo visited the North Country Wednesday morning – Au Sable Forks – and says he will be working his way across the state, visiting communities eligible for funding through the New York Rising program.

Republican state Senator Bill Larkin sat with the governor in Stony Point. Larkin’s district includes portions of Orange, Rockland, and Ulster Counties.

Larkin, also a Conservative, had said just a few minutes earlier that he voted for Cuomo for governor, telling why.

Democratic Assemblyman James Skoufis sat alongside Senator Larkin. Skoufis’ district includes the Town of Stony Point, along with an Orange County community in the New York Rising program – Washingtonville. Skoufis thinks Cuomo’s visit to Stony Point will resonate with local officials and residents.

Grant amounts will be based on Federal Emergency Management Agency assessed damage levels as well as applications for new infrastructure and other mitigation, and will be awarded once a community’s plan is approved by the state. The communities will be eligible to share in more than $500 million of funding through a federal supplemental appropriation, and the state will award at least $250 million of New York’s FEMA-funded Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to New York Rising Communities to implement eligible projects contained in their plans.

There are more than 10 communities in Ulster County, and a few in Orange and Delaware Counties, also eligible for up to $3 million.

Related Content