New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan recently to spend $17 billion in federal disaster aid on improving the state’s infrastructure and developing systems that will increase emergency preparedness. Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Albany, New York on Tuesday to show support for the plan. Cuomo’s plan would fund over 1,000 projects across New York City and upstate including finding a way to quickly seal of the city’s 500 subway tunnels quickly during extreme weather. The subway system flooded during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and the system required extensive repairs and needed to be temporarily closed down. He plan’s to undergo the largest reconstruction of the New York transit system in over a hundred years using $5 billion in federal aid. The plan calls for a redevelopment of New York’s two “inexcusable” airports JFK and LaGuardia to keep pace with the best international airports. Another highlight of the plan is the addition of a college to the State University of New York (SUNY) school system that will be dedicated to responding to disasters. Cuomo plans to call it the SUNY College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cyber Security.
New York has so far received $6 billion in Sandy relief aid. Congress approved $60 billion to help the areas affected by the storm. As more money comes in, Governor Cuomo wants to implement later stages of his plan including requiring gas to have a back up generator to prevent fuel shortages likes those in the aftermath of Sandy. He cited that extreme weather is the new reality and rather than rebuild to the same way things were before, the state needs to design for storm surges that will prevent the damage caused by Sandy. Joe Biden praised Governor Cuomo for spending on infrastructure because it creates economic growth and middle-class jobs.
Sources: USA Today, NY Daily News
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