Storm Recovery Won't Be 'Business as Usual,' Official Says ...

Visiting New York City, Shaun Donovan,??the nation?s housing secretary and President Obama?s appointee ?to oversee the post-Hurricane Sandy federal recovery effort, said on Thursday that he expected most of the damaged areas along the East Coast to be rebuilt but not necessarily as they were before.

Speaking in Lower Manhattan at a conference on waterfront restoration organized by the Municipal Art Society and Columbia University?s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Mr. Donovan? said long-term redevelopment would go beyond repairs and ?just recreating what was there.?

He said the recovery would require building sturdier structures but also questioning whether rebuilding makes sense in some cases. He later told reporters that ?the vast majority of communities can be rebuilt safely.?

He said making a recovery would involve ?thousands of decisions? on matters like what materials to use, how to protect New York Harbor and ways to improve infrastructure like long-neglected tunnels and transit systems.

?Our response won?t be business as usual,? he said. ?We need to harness this momentum to address weaknesses we?ve known about for years.?

Mr. Donovan was short on specifics, saying, ?My job is to come in and work with states and local communities to decide what the vision is and what makes sense.?

His task force has been asked to identify and pave the way for rebuilding ?in a manner that addresses existing and future risks and vulnerabilities.?

Taking questions from the news media after his speech, he said that sea gates to block storm surges should not be ?off the table? but that such a solution would be up to local governments . (Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg opposes them, but Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has said they should be explored.)

President Obama has asked Congress for $60.4 billion to help states affected by the storm. If approved, it could conceivably cover most of the $82 million in damage identified by the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. And it could help rebuild homes and businesses, repair subway and other transportation and replenish eroded beaches.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who also addressed the conference

after touring damage at Liberty Island, estimated the costs of response and recovery at national parks and other Department of Interior assets at $429 million, including $59 million in damages at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and $180 million at the Gateway National Recreation Area.

At the conference, held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage near Battery Park, Mr. Donovan said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had already provided more than $1.1 billion in assistance ?to hundreds of thousands of families? in the first month since the hurricane.

Mr. Donovan, a native New Yorker who served as Mayor Bloomberg?s housing commissioner before assuming his federal post, said that President Obama was mindful of his ties to the region when he chose him to lead the task force.

Beyond his official responsibilities in the effort, ?it is personal,? Mr. Donovan said.

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/storm-recovery-wont-be-business-as-usual-official-says/

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