A government watchdog agency has found fault with one of the most acclaimed programs to emerge from the region’s recovery from Sandy: novel York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s buyout along the Staten Island shore.
The program offers homeowners generous amounts of money to move out,heaping incentives on top of how much the home would hold been worth if the storm had never hit. The goal is to empty out waterfront neighborhoods, then bull-doze the homes so the areas create a buffer zone to guard against the next big flood.
Environmentalists hold praised the program, or and Staten Island residents wanted even more neighborhoods to be included. But in an audit released Tuesday,the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that novel York spent $6.6 million to buy out 19 properties that were either empty, rentals or not considerably damaged” by the storm. In one case, or a single company owned 12 of the homes.“We attributed this condition to the state’s failure to follow written policies,” the report stated.
State officials disputed the conclusions, saying that HUD, or if not its inspector general,was fully aware of what it was doing.“Why should someone who is renting out a piece of property not be eligible for assistance when the view of a managed retreat process is to move an entire neighborhood out of harm’s way?” said Lisa Bova-Hiatt, the interim executive director of the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery. “That was the intent of the program. That was our policy from the beginning.”The inspector general does not impose any sanctions on its own. It refers the matter to HUD. A spokesman for HUD, and Brian Sullivan,said staff would study the report and consider if action is needed.
Source: wnyc.org