Group Releases Action Plan For Sandy Rebuilding

Fresh off of a sit-down at City Hall with the de Blasio administration’s Superstorm Sandy recovery team, the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding has released an “Action Plan” for rebuilding after the storm, hoping to influence the mayor as he revamps the slow recovery effort.

The Alliance met with the mayor’s new director of the Housing Recovery Office Amy Peterson yesterday, perhaps an indication that the administration is soliciting the advice from on-the-ground experts ahead of releasing its own comprehensive rebuilding plan, which is reportedly coming out on Friday. 

Nathalie Alegre, the coordinator of the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, was encouraged by the meeting, when reached by phone after it. 

"Clearly the administration has been listening to the growing number of advocates and Council members concerned with Sandy rebuilding and recovery issues. It seems like they are heeding the voices of Sandy-impacted communities who, frankly, continue to be in crisis,” Alegre said. “Obviously there’s a lot of follow-through that needs to happen but so far we’re very encouraged to see positive signs, including some very strong choices for the Sandy leadership team that the mayor announced some weeks ago. We’re hopeful that the mayor is charting a new course."

The AJR action plan is centered around the idea that Sandy presented an opportunity of sorts to further the mayor’s goal of reducing inequality, especially economically. The report outlines how the administration can use the rebuilding effort to create 30,000 jobs, leverage affordable housing to work toward the mayor’s 200,000-unit goal, and develop more resilient infrastructure for the waterfront communities that were hit hardest by the storm.