SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Loans available by gold bars or check…just kidding. (Source: Angico Eagle Mines Limited via Wikimedia Commons)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the City of New York are providing small businesses with disaster recovery loans. According to a press release, the city, through federal Community Development Block Grants, will by distributing $293 million in loans for the purposes of business recovery.

Small businesses that experienced damage as a result of Superstorm Sandy and can demonstrate that you can repay the loan, will be eligible for up to $150,000 in loans. They will have a one percent interest rate and must be repaid in five to seven years. Businesses who get their loans approved also are eligible for a matching grant up to $60,000.

The program will be administered by the New York City Department of Small Business Services and the New York Business Development Corporation.

Here is a list of relevant links that will help you apply for the loan and give you more information on the program.

Please see the NYC Hurricane Sandy Loan & Grant Program Core application.  Once complete, please contact an account manager at one of the local NYC Business Solutions centers to submit your application. For more information, please see our Loan and Grant Program FAQs and Document Checklist.

For more information about this important loan and grant resource, follow the link below:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/html/home/home.shtml

And a consolidated list of resources available to businesses is always located here:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/html/home/Hurricane%20Sandy%20Recovery%20Services.shtml

A new program for residents affected by Sandy will launch next month. We’ll have details then.

The following is from the office of Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz:

Click to enlarge

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is planning to propose placing 12 foot high removable steel barriers along the city’s waterfront should a massive storm like Sandy head our way again, NY1 reports.

If enacted, Bloomberg’s plan would see the installation of the removable barriers along flood-prone city coastlines. Bloomberg is betting that this method of flood prevention will not only protect the coastline and the environment but be more cost effective then the massive Dutch-style barriers that have also been proposed.

Governor Andrew Cuomo prefers this latter option, pushing for a more permanent and ambitious solution to fight massive flooding, a plan that oceanographer Malcolm Bowman thinks is the right course.

“I think we have to do what Governor Cuomo has asked for, and that is an engineering analysis of storm surge barriers across the major entrances to New York Harbor, Rockaway to Sandy Hook, and then the East River,” Bowman told NY 1. “Because nothing less will protect the major airports, the shipping facilities, all the infrastructure that we saw devastated during Sandy.”

Source: J. Reed via Wikimedia Commons

UPDATE (5/22/2013 @ 12:45 a.m.): It turns out that Nathan’s famous opened for business the night before we posted this story on Monday, May 20, at 7 p.m., according to a CBS report. Hot dog mode, engaged!

Original Post

The iconic Nathan’s Famous (1310 Surf Avenue) has faced a long and sometimes trying path to recovery. Weathering extensive flood damage following Superstorm Sandy and a small fire that broke out on its roof while being repaired, the famous wiener mecca is closer than ever to reopening, hoping to dole out dogs before Memorial Day.

NY1 is reporting that not only are the repairs on Nathan’s almost complete, but that they have significantly upgraded their service counters and infrastructure. The changes include a redesigned interior space, a new clam bar that will be serving oysters for the first time in 30 years and an overall modern more modern look.

Nathan’s also made the effort to protect themselves against future storms.

“We used to have all of our utilities in the basement, so we brought everything above flood line, so if something should happen again it won’t knock us out completely,” Bruce Miller, senior director of operations told NY1.

While lamenting that they couldn’t recreate the location exactly as it once was, Miller promised that the new Nathan’s is working hard at improving what they have.

“You can’t go back to the way it used to be 50 years ago. You have to make everything current to code, so Nathan’s took the opportunity to not only bring everything up to that level, but also to take an opportunity to provide a better service for our customers,” Miller said.

People visiting Coney Island before the Surf Avenue Nathan’s reopens can still grab a hot dog at their boardwalk spot, which was quickly rebuilt following the storm.

Source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority Patrick Cashin

As the $60 billion Sandy aid package finally gets doled out, it is interesting to see how that mountain of money actually gets spent. A New York Post editorial highlights how Governor Andrew Cuomo intends to spend $6 billion worth of the pie on water-proofing the city’s subway system.

On top of the $6 billion set aside to figure out a way to somehow make sure the subway doesn’t get flooded again, the MTA is also receiving $4.8 billion in federal funds for general Sandy repairs. The Post editorial takes aim at Cuomo and the MTA for trumping up the damage estimates to ensure the biggest federal payout possible.

For example, when accessing the damage to the A train tracks in the Rockaways, the MTA guessed that they would need $650 million. Construction on that line is nearly finished and will open at the end of the month. In Cuomo’s actual budget released at the end of March, the cost so far has only amounted to $17.9 million. According to the Post, something isn’t adding up:

From photo op to photo op, there’s no reconciliation between huge initial numbers and later smaller ones. But this seeming opposite of a massive cost overrun isn’t that surprising — and it’s more Cuomo’s fault than the MTA’s.

Last year, the MTA was under huge pressure to announce huge numbers, fast — or watch the state lose out on federal aid. And now that the state has secured that cash, no one much cares what happens to it. After all, the money was free.

The cost overruns are creating questions as to where the money earmarked for the ‘water-proofing’ plan is going and how exactly it will be spent. While officials have solutions on how to protect above ground subways from storm surges by building protective walls, they have less of a clear picture on how to protect the underground portion of the system.

At a recent press conference, MTA chief Tom Prendergast admitted that he has no idea how to prevent flooding in places like Lower Manhattan, which has over 500 flood entry points alone.

The Post noted that many ideas floated to protect the underground subway are practical and low on cost, like installing deployable watertight grates across vents and stairways and placing inflatable bladders in key locations. Despite this, the Post is guessing that Cuomo and the MTA will likely favor a more expensive and futuristic idea that makes full use of the billions headed their way.

Photo By Erica Sherman

Bayfest, Brooklyn’s largest waterfront celebration, is coming to Emmons Avenue this Sunday, May 19. This incarnation of Bayfest marks its 22nd year in existence as eight blocks of Sheepshead Bay’s waterfront will be filled with music, fun, and vendor-free booths giving out a slew of samples and product information.

This year’s Bayfest will include the usual mix of musical performers, raffles and kid friendly activities, but will also feature a big selection of Sandy-related recovery organizations looking to help rebuild the community.

You can also say hello to your friends at Sheepshead Bites as we’ll have our own booth and be giving away a few goodies.

Here are all the relevant details from the organizers:

SANDY RECOVERY INFO
We admit we got a very late start preparing for BAYFEST because we were so involved with post-Sandy efforts.  At the same time, we saw it as the perfect opportunity to support the community’s long-term recovery from the disaster, and the event has come together beautifully. We’re grateful and pleased about the number and variety of Sandy recovery organizations that will be on hand, and their eagerness to meet with and assist residents still suffering from the disaster.

At this writing, two dozen organizations will participate in Investors Bank BAYFEST (with more signing on), making it the largest event of its kind in Brooklyn to date.  We were able to put this list together with the cooperation of the Brooklyn Long-Term Recovery Group, which brings together organizations that focus on coordinating to address the various unmet needs of Brooklyn’s Sandy survivors.

Here is the list so far of the two dozen organizations that will attend Investors Bank BAYFEST, with brief descriptions of the types of assistance they offer:

• Alzheimer’s Association – scholarships for Medic Alert bracelets/necklaces (part of the Safe Return program)
• Arab-American Family Support Center * – case management
• American Red Cross * – case management including housing assistance, appliances, financial aid, referrals
• Asian Americans for Equality – loans and grants
• Bridge Street Development – temporary housing
• Brighton Neighborhood Association – mold remediation and other assistance
• Brooklyn Jubilee – pro bono legal assistance
• Brooklyn Long-Term Recovery Group – referrals
• Catholic Charities * – case management and a variety of resources and services
• Coney Island Hospital medical van – free checkup with a doctor, blood pressure screening
• Department of Financial Services
• Diabetes Education and Resource Center – healthcare
• Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol – emergency preparedness
• Lutheran Social Services – case management and a variety of resources and services
• Met Council – case management and a variety of resources and services
• Neighborhood Housing Services – loans; referrals
• Neighborhood Revitalization – professional mold remediation
• New York Cares – muck-outs, mold remediation, repairs, tax advice, volunteers
•  NIA Community Network Services – financial counseling, debt management and reduction
• NYS Energy Audits – free insulation, appliances, weatherization
• NY Mortgage Coalition – foreclosure prevention, mortgage assistance, legal support
• Operation HOPE – insurance counseling, financial management guidance and support
• Project HOPE – counseling, and emotional and psychological support
• YaDestiny Treasure Chest – children’s clothing

Eligibility for services offered by some of these organizations is income-based. Some may require a FEMA number; others work with undocumented residents.

The organizations with an asterisk (*) do case management, meaning a trained, compassionate case manager works one-on-one with you to:

• Answer your questions about recovery
• Develop a plan to address your needs
• Connect you with appropriate community resources
• Determine what financial assistance may be available to you
• Advocate on your behalf with service and benefit providers

All of the case management organizations are 501(c)3 non-profits and participate in CAN.org (Coordinated Assistance Network), the American Red Cross’ membership database that works to prevent duplication of services.  It may not be accessed by the government for any reason.

MUSIC
ReverbNation.com supported us again this year in our search for bands.  Over 1,600 bands from as far away as Japan applied through their platform to play Investors Bank BAYFEST.  We narrowed the list down to 300 bands within 25 miles of Sheepshead Bay that were family friendly and that sounded good in videos of live performances.  We listened to all of them–twice.  There’s a lot of good music out there!  But we had to choose.  In total, Investors Bank BayFest will offer 23 performances on two stages and eight blocks of Emmons Avenue.

Main Stage
On the Main Stage The Voice will meet American Idol, as Brooklyn’s own Adriana Louise(The Voice, Season 3) and Good Day New York’s Michael “Big Mike” Lynche (American Idol, Season 9) share the stage, backed up by the pro outfit East Coast Band.  We’re bringing back two BAYFEST favorites: Stout, with their traditional songs of the sea, and rock ‘n’ roll fire-fighting bagpipers The Shots.  New will be feisty, bluesy Amy Lynn & The Gunshow and Vinny Jett, who will give his rap song “Sandy The Homewrecker” a Brooklyn twist.  Early in the day we give the DSNY a Lifetime Achievement Award and at 3:15pm the FDNY fireboat will do a display in the Bay.

Mobile stage
Indie sensation Darnaa is donating her performance and will perform on her mobile stage, which she is allowing other bands to use.  Defying categorization, Band Droidz will warm up the stage for her, while top flight jazz artist Onaje Allen Gumbs and his band New Vintage, as well as soaring arena-rock band Face The King, will open the day.

Pier performances
Pier bands will include:

• Inner Situation
• January Jane 
• Jose Polo
• SpinBox
• SanzEnd
• Two Cent Sam
• Annika Vitolo
• Giant Flying Turtles
• Michelle Ferreira
• Ghosts of Eden
• Nando Griffiths & Pure Fyah
• Daddy Rocker

KIDS FUN

• Arts & Crafts with A2Z Party and ScribbleShop (Tucker Park)
• Strolling cartoon characters
• Giant Bounce
• FDNY Smokehouse
• Face Painting
• Brooklyn Public Library storyteller (at their table)
• Harborlore “Fish Tales” storyteller (2pm, pier 4)
• NY Aquarium

RAFFLES & GIVEAWAYS

• 50/50
• Brooklyn Brewery gift certificate
• Circle Line tickets
• Intrepid tickets
• GNC men & women’s vitamin packs ($50 value each)
• Wheeler’s gift certificate
• JoMart Chocolates gift certificates
• More coming in…

The All Community Arts event will be taking place simultaneously east of BayFest on Emmons Avenue.

Councilman Lew Fidler (Photo By Erica Sherman)

In the six months following the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, victims of the storm have been facing a slew of problems beyond the damage to their properties. The New York Daily News is reporting that one of the new hurdles confronting residents is the city’s yearly sale of tax liens to debt collectors.

Every year the city sells the tax liens, which include unpaid property taxes and water bills, to third party debt collectors. The collectors then jack up the interest fees, sometimes as high as nine percent on homes valued under $250,000. The increased fees force many homeowners to foreclose their homes.

This year, 720 Sandy-damaged homes, located in Brooklyn and Queens, are on the city’s lien list. Lawmakers, like Councilman Lew Fidler want the city to delay the sale of the liens another year.

“Sandy hit many homeowners like a brick bat and many have still not recovered. For the City to come along and whack them again with a lien sale is not only cruel but, in the end, it will be counter-productive. If our goal is to get people to pay what they owe without losing their homes, this is the exact wrong way to go about it. Allowing people some more time to recover from this disaster is both reasonable and compassionate.” Fidler said in a press release.

The city has taken the step of removing homes who have faced extreme damage from the tax lien list but has not yet taken any extra steps.

Pictured In Photo: Annetta Lee, Natasha Naveed, Noel Aly, Lisa La Spina, Selma Albin, Janet Kennedy, Assistant Principal, Jeanne Fish, Principal, Cherie Lang, Hillary Stackpole, Dell Coe (Photo Courtesy of Hillary Stackpole)

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz awarded a special commendation to the staff of Gerritsen Beach’s P.S. 277 (2529 Gerritsen Avenue) in a ceremony last week.

According to a press release, the school’s Parent’s Association wanted to recognize the staff for their efforts in providing relief to the children and community of Gerritsen Beach following Superstorm Sandy. So they reached out to the beep and asked him to surprise the school’s team at a morning assembly, and he honored them for their terrific work providing comfort to the community kids.

Sheepshead Bites would also like to extend a salute and warm-hearted congratulations to the staff of P.S. 277 for all their excellent work throughout the trying days of Superstorm Sandy.

Source: nytimes.com

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office announced that it is doubling the number of evacuation zones along New York City’s coastline. The New York Times is reporting that the expanded map will add 640,000 residents to the three million New Yorkers already living in such zones, putting 37.5 percent of the total population in evacuation zones.

The city is hoping that by expanding the evacuation zones, people will take calls to evacuate more seriously. The new map represents only a preliminary look of what is expected to change. A more detailed map is expected to be released in June.

While the evacuation zones have been expanded, it’s worth noting that to date, residents located in Zone A, which includes Sheepshead Bay, have been the only ones ever asked to evacuate.

The release of the new map was the major highlight of a city report on the response to Superstorm Sandy. The New York Times summarized a list of other conclusions and initiatives drawn from the report.

Many lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy will be set down in new “playbooks” for city agencies that had to learn on the fly how to deal with a major storm’s aftermath: how to request waivers and extensions from federal school-lunch and food-stamp programs to serve a deluge of needy families; how to muster economic development programs to help battered businesses get back up to speed faster.

Others issues will be left to future task forces to interpret.

A number of smaller recommendations are already being acted on, like the purchase of more emergency lights, generators and small boats for firefighters.

The report also calls for new regulations for hospitals, nursing homes and adult homes during evacuations. It recommends the creation of a patient tracking system, better communication equipment and guidelines for the return of patients.

Source: Free Press Pics via Flickr

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, many business and homeowners were left with tough financial decisions as to how to rebuild their lives. Many were offered loans by the Small Business Association (SBA) but rejected them because they didn’t want to incur more debt.

Because of complex bureaucratic rules, business and homeowners who rejected the SBA loans are now being denied some resources, leading politicians like Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Michael Grimm to press the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) into changing their rules, according to a press release.

Current HUD policy now demands that the amount of approved loans, including those who didn’t even accept them in the first place, are to be counted against the potential grant amounts they are eligible for in the upcoming distribution of the Community Development Block Grants. The justification of the complex rule that Schumer and Grimm are battling against was explained in the release:

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, which comes in the form of a grant, not a loan, is intended to supplement other forms of available aid, and cover only “unmet need.” In determining the amount of “unmet need,” HUD regulations provide that any SBA loans for which a homeowner is approved are counted against the of unmet need.

The problem with this regulation is that it does not take into consideration the circumstances that might have led someone to reject a loan in the first place. Schumer expressed concern that this policy will hurt people who need it most.

“This policy will punish these homeowners and HUD should do everything in it power to make sure these individuals are eligible for additional federal assistance,” said Schumer.

Schumer’s concerns were shared by Grimm, according to SI Live.