City: $1.1M Grant Will Expedite Post-Sandy Residential Rebuilding

The City of Long Beach will use the majority of a $1.1 million federal grant to hire building inspectors to help the remaining displaced residents rebuild and return to their Hurricane Sandy-battered homes, city officials said when voting to approve the awarded funds at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.  

Follow Long Beach Patch on Facebook.

Administered through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program, the grant will help the city expedite permits, code inspections and certificates of occupancy, according to Newsday. About 20 percent of Long Beach residents remain displaced, according to city officials, and the increased inspectors will be used particularly in the hard-hit Canals and West End Neighborhoods, where many residents continue to rebuild.

Councilwoman Eileen Goggin said:  

"We have so many people who are rebuilding. The building department is inundated. This money will allow the process to go forward."

The community centers targeted for improvements include the Martin Luther King Center, Long Beach VFW Post 1384, Long Beach Soup Kitchen, St. Mary’s of the Isle Roman Catholic Church, Long Beach Auxiliary Police, Ice Arena, Recreation Center and Senior Center, all of which sustained damage from the storm, according to the Long Beach Herald.