Lower Manhattan Update 11-10-12

11/10/2012 in

 

Lower Manhattan experienced a significant impact from Hurricane Sandy, but the recovery process has begun. The Downtown Alliance has compiled this information to help businesses, retailers, residents, and commercial property owners. Please email us at [email protected] with any questions.

As the recovery process continues to make significant strides, the Downtown Alliance is producing a daily email that provides you with all of the updates that could affect your home, business or office in Lower Manhattan with information from various agencies including New York City, New York State, MTA, Port Authority, Con Ed and more.  If you would like to subscribe, please click here.

Remember, you can also get the latest updates and retail openings from Facebook and Twitter.

 

IMPORTANT LINKS

Federal Disaster Assistance

Disaster Assistance Service Centers

Food, blanket and water distribution locations

Daytime Warming Centers

Overnight Warming Center locations and bus pick ups

Emergency Shelters

Medical Van Locations

Business Recovery Resources

School Relocation Information

MTA Status (Subways, Buses, Metro North, LIRR)

Subway Map

East River Ferry

Hudson River Ferries

PATH

NJ Transit

Volunteer Opportunities

Board of Elections Poll Site Relocation Information

Con Edison

Parks

Alternate Side Parking and Meters

Sanitation

BROOKFIELD OFFERING FREE OFFICE SPACE IN LOWER MANHATTAN

Brookfield Office Properties is offering 100,000 square feet of office space to displaced non profits and small businesses at 250 Vesey Street, Brookfield Place (aka World Financial Center), free of charge. The space is equipped with tables, chairs and internet and cellular connectivity. Interested organizations can contact Mark Kostic at [email protected] or 212-417-2516.

In addition, Brookfield is offering the 29th floor of 4 WFC/250 Vesey as a venue for Sandy-related fundraisers free of charge; Brookfield will cover cleaning and electricity costs.

NYC RAPID REPAIRS PROGRAM

Mayor Bloomberg and Director of Housing Recovery Operations Brad Gair announced NYC Rapid Repairs, a new program to send teams of contractors and City inspectors into neighborhoods impacted by Hurricane Sandy and quickly and efficiently make necessary repairs to damaged homes.

Through an unprecedented partnership between FEMA and the City, the city is bringing in contractors who will be given responsibility for specific geographic areas hard hit by Sandy. These contractors will be responsible for repairing the homes of anyone who wants to take part in NYC Rapid Repairs.

Under the typical FEMA process, it is up to the homeowner to arrange for repair work and carry it out, but this new system will make repairs happen more quickly and efficiently.

Beginning Tuesday, homeowners will be able sign up for NYC Rapid Repairs by going to www.NYC.gov or by calling 311. They will need a FEMA ID number, which they can get by registering at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362.

The Rapid Repairs teams will work closely with City agencies, including the Department of Buildings and Department of Housing Preservation and Development, to make sure that any necessary inspections and certifications are done as quickly as possible.

SUPPLEMENTARY ROCKAWAY FERRY SERVICE ANNOUNCED

Mayor Bloomberg and Seastreak today announced a partnership to provide temporary ferry service between the Rockaways and Manhattan while subway service on that route is suspended. Seastreak will operate the ferry service beginning Monday, November 12. Ferries will depart from Beach 108th Street and Beach Channel Drive, where the Economic Development Corporation has been working to install a temporary landing, and stop at Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan with free transfers between Pier 11 and East 34th Street in Midtown. The service will start at 5:45 AM in the Rockaways with ferries departing for Manhattan regularly until 9:20 AM, with regular service resuming during the evening rush. One-way fares will be $2.

The schedule of ferry service is as follows:

Rockaway Departures Pier 11/Wall St. Arrivals East 34th St. Arrivals
5:45 AM 6:35 AM 7:00 AM
6:35 AM 7:25 AM 8:00 AM
7:45 AM 8:35 AM 8:45 AM
8:15 AM 9:05 AM 9:30 AM
9:20 AM 10:10 AM 10:30 AM
4:30 PM 5:30 PM N/A
5:55 PM 6:45 PM N/A
6:55 PM 7:45 PM N/A

 

East 34th St. Departures Pier 11/Wall St. Departures Rockaway Arrivals
N/A 6:35 AM 7:45 AM
N/A 7:25 AM 8:15 AM
N/A 8:35 AM 9:20 AM
2:45 PM 3:05 PM 3:55 PM
4:20 PM 4:45 PM 5:35 PM
5:10 PM 5:35 PM 6:20 PM
6:30 PM 6:50 PM 7:40 PM
7:30 PM 7:50 PM 8:40 PM

 

STUDENT LOAN RELIEF

Governor Cuomo directed New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) to grant temporary student loan relief to New Yorkers who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. If requested, New Yorkers in Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Rockland Suffolk and Westchester counties are now eligible to receive a 90 day grace period, from October 27th, 2012 to January 25th, 2013, in order to repay their student loan payments. All members of the military who have been called to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy will also be eligible.

In addition to the suspension of collections efforts, other actions to assist impacted student loan borrowers will include the suspension or reversal of delinquency or default notifications made by HESC to credit reporting agencies, the suspension of referrals for administrative wage garnishment and the suspension of collections calls to federal student loan borrowers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who are delinquent in their federal student loan payments.

Borrowers should contact HESC to request a temporary suspension by calling 1-866-991-HESC (4372) or by emailing [email protected]  A specific option has been added to the toll free number for Sandy victims.

RESTORATION OF L-LINE

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has restored limited L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan, extending the line from Rockaway Parkway to 8th Avenue. The reopening of the 14th Street tube reconnects residents of Williamsburg, Bushwick, East New York and Canarsie to Manhattan.

L trains resumed through the 14th Street tube at 3 p.m. with 10 minute headways returning service to stations from 8th Avenue to Broadway Junction. The tube was flooded to a depth of 15 feet for its entire length of 3,400 feet. MTA crews worked around the clock pumping water and then repairing severe damage to the tubes stationary pumping, signaling and communications systems which all required extensive repairs.

The A line in the Rockaways suffered extensive damage as did the Sea Beach Line on the N from 8th Avenue to Coney Island. There is no timetable for the return of service to each of these segments of the system, but track workers and crews will continue to work 24/7 to restore service as quickly as possible.

Pumping is also continuing inside the Montague Street tube. Once the tube is dry, workers will be able to assess the damage and make all necessary repairs to restore R service into Manhattan.

WAIVING OF NY BANK FEES

Governor Cuomo announced that several major state-chartered banks have agreed to waive a number of fees and penalties in response to the impact on consumers by Storm Sandy. State-chartered banks that will drop the fees include M&T Bank, Apple Savings, Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, Emigrant Savings Bank and New York Community Bank.

Details may vary from bank to bank and consumers should contact their individual bank for specifics. In general, banks have agreed to temporarily waive the following fees and penalties at least until November 15, and in some cases longer:

– ATM fees

– Late payment charges

– Penalties for checks returned because of insufficient funds

– Overdraft protection transfer fees

– Penalties for early withdrawal of savings in circumstances where the customer has a demonstrable need for the funds resulting from the disaster

Financial institutions seeking additional guidance for assisting customers affected by the impact of Storm Sandy are urged to contact the Department’s Albany office at 518-473-6160.

Superintendent Lawsky also urged banks to work with depositors or borrowers who have been affected by the disaster. Banks should consider reassessing the current credit needs of communities to help meet those needs by making or participating in sound loans. They should also consider a prudent restructuring of an affected borrower’s debt obligations, by altering or adjusting payment terms.

Door to Door Medical Care in Brooklyn and Queens

Beginning tomorrow morning at 8 AM, medical teams will be deployed to high rise residential buildings in Coney Island and Far Rockaway to:

Make sure the medical needs of residents are being attended to

Conduct a medical assessment to ensure that residents are safe

Connect residents with prescription medications.

The teams will be focused on assessing the well-being of residents who have not been able to leave their apartments and who may have been without water, electricity and heat.

If the paramedic determines that a resident has immediate acute medical needs, the resident will be taken to a field clinic or a hospital for additional care.

These teams will be dispatched in ambulances and will consist of a paramedic, Health Department staff, and a member of the National Guard.

The New York City Health Department is coordinating the effort with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Guard.

This outreach will run from 8am to 8pm starting Friday and running through Monday.

The City is requesting that building management and landlords in Far Rockaway and Coney Island make their sites available from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm through Monday so that the teams can access residents in the buildings.

If the building management cannot have someone at the building at these times, they are asked to please call the Health Department at 917-231-6066 or email [email protected] to provide a contact name and number so they can be called to let the team into the building.

MUSEUM UPDATES

Wall Street Walks:  Wall Street Walks is launching special post-Sandy tours to highlight where New Amsterdam is and where the water for Sandy came up to as well as the impact on business in the area, how the cleanup and getting to normal is going.

New York City Police Museum: The New York City Police Museum sustained substantial damage to its infrastructure. Fortunately the Museum’s collection remains intact.  It will take the Museum time to recover and it will remain closed during the rebuilding process. All events and educational programs for the foreseeable future are cancelled. Please check the Museum’s website at www.nycpm.org for updates and the Museum will send out an email when it reopens for business.

Tags: Hurricane Sandy, Lower Manhattan

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