MONEY MATTERS
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Hochul’s $27M Ida-Relief Fund for Immigrants Has Doled Out Less Than $1M BY SAMANTHA MALDONADO AND JOSEFA VELASQUEZ, THE CITY
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early five months after Hurricane Ida, just under a million dollars have been paid to New Yorkers from the city and state’s storm relief fund for undocumented immigrants and others ineligible for federal aid — far short of the $27 million pledged. Cash assistance is being dispersed or in the pipeline to nearly 500 applicants, with some slated to get multiple payments, but nonprofit administrators don’t expect the full pool of money to be used up. Gov. Kathy Hochul has included the leftover funds in her proposed budget, without a specific plan for what comes next. Groups distributing the dollars are pushing for the creation of a permanent relief fund for undocumented New Yorkers affected by natural disasters in the future. “I don’t see a scenario where they’ll actually spend the full amount,” said Becca Telzak, deputy director of Make
Many of Nancy Ospina’s belongings were destroyed after her Queens apartment flooded during Hurricane Ida. Courtesy of Nancy Ospina
the Road New York, one of the six community-based organizations administering the funds. She stressed that the effort should still be seen as a success. “Even if it doesn’t seem like that much money was spent, I think just that amount of money for the number of people that were impacted, it makes such a huge difference,” she added. “We should
look at this as a model of how to create programs like this moving forward.” A Hug From Hochul Hochul and former Mayor Bill de Blasio created the fund to help New Yorkers excluded from FEMA assistance in the wake of the September storm that killed 13 people in the five boroughs, including 11 in basement apartments.
As of the end of January, 160 applicants across the state had received $907,153 in funding, with an average payment of about $5,000, according to Mercedes Padilla, a spokesperson for the state’s Office for New Americans. The fund offered a maximum of $72,000 per eligible household, but it’s not likely any applicant received the full amount, according to administrators. To secure funds, applicants must document losses by showing proof of some kind. That can take a while and prove difficult if, for example, receipts were lost to flooding. In that case, applicants can resort to self-attestations. Among those needing help is Nancy Ospina, who had recounted her ordeal at a news conference with Hochul and other officials at the Queens Museum as they unveiled the fund in late September. Her basement apartment in Woodside had flooded within minutes on Sept. 1 as rain pummeled the city. The 65-year-old housekeeper lost all her possessions — furniture, clothes, all of the Christmas decorations she’s collected through the years and memorabilia that continued on page 21
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