1250 Broadway, 27th Floor New York, NY 10001

MONEY FOR CHELSEA VICTIMS

Governor Cuomo Announces Agreement with State Legislative Leaders to Make Emergency Grants Available to Small Businesses, Homeowners and Renters Impacted By Chelsea Explosion

This afternoon, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced an agreement to help small businesses, homeowners and renters access state funds for uninsured losses and physical damage they have incurred as a result of the Chelsea explosion. The Governor made the announcement in Chelsea, where he met with owners of local businesses that were affected by Saturday’s explosion. More information is available here.


VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor’s Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks delivered at the event follows:

Thank you very much. I want to thank Mr. Peretz for taking some time and giving us a tour of his store and showing us the kind of damage that he sustained from the bombing last Saturday night. As you know, we have been working very hard post-bombing to apprehend the people who were responsible, but also to make sure anyone who was hurt directly or indirectly from the explosion, property damage, etcetera, is compensated and gets up and running as quickly as possible. The bomb did do damage to store owners. It did do damage to residences and the state is going to take two actions.

First, the Department of Financial Services, which is an agency of this state called DFS – which operates this very attractive mobile unit – will help businesses and homeowners who are making insurance claims and can help expedite any insurance claims that a company or a homeowner is making. The Department of Financial Services regulates the insurance industry so they are very familiar with the process. And in a situation like this, we would hope that the insurance companies would be cooperative and would expedite any reimbursement that is due the business or the owner.

Number two, if there was a loss that was suffered by a business owner or a residence, which is not covered by insurance, the state will reimburse the homeowner or the business owner. I spoke to Speaker Heastie who is in charge of the New York State Assembly and Majority Leader Flanagan who is in charge of the State Senate and they agreed to authorize a state appropriation to reimburse people who were hurt financially and who are not covered by insurance. So I want to thank the Speaker and the Senate Leader for their cooperation. People talk about how government normally operates slowly. Here it has operated very expeditiously. This is a highly unusual circumstance and it was an emergency so I thank them for their cooperation. So we will expedite the insurance coverage. If the loss is not covered by the insurance, the state will compensate the owner of the residence or the business. Again, this is for damage that was incurred because of the bombing on Saturday night.

Last point before I introduce my colleagues. I was upstate this morning and it was amazing how many people from upstate New York had the same observation: how proud they were of the way the people in New York City handled the bombing, how proud they were of the first responders, how proud they were of the resilience of New Yorkers who got right back to work on Monday, right back to business as usual, and didn’t allow the bombing to affect them, because that’s what terrorism is all about, right? It’s trying to disrupt our lifestyle and that didn’t happen.

Again, we want to thank all of the first responders who did such a great job – federal, state and local. And most importantly, the people in the City of New York who came together, helped one another and moved forward.

I want to thank again Mr. Daniel Peretz for showing us the gallery. Thank Councilperson Corey Johnson for being here. Now I’m going to ask my state colleagues, Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Dick Gottfried to say a few words. Again, the state appropriation is being done on an expedited basis because of the emergency and I want to thank the legislature very much for this unusual but necessary action. Let’s start with Senator Hoylman.

Senator Brad Hoylman: Thank you very much, Governor Cuomo. I’m State Senator Brad Hoylman. I represent the neighborhood. Thank you, Mr. Peretz and thank you, Governor and my colleagues in government, both Councilmember Johnson and Assemblymember Gottfried and Borough President Gale Brewer. You know, the bomber certainly picked on the wrong state. He picked on the wrong city, and he picked on the wrong neighborhood. You can see here today that the state is providing an important backstop for local businesses that have been damaged, but more important than that, the show of support by the State of New York has been extraordinary, and I’m just so grateful to Governor Cuomo, his team, for all the first responders, for our city officials, for really making certain that Chelsea residents and businesses get back on their feet. Thank you so much.

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried: I’m Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, and like Senator Hoylman I represent Chelsea and this block, along with Councilmember Corey Johnson. Small businesses are – it’s a cliché that they are the backbone of the economy – they are the backbone of the community. Not only do the business owners and their employees depend on the business, but the people in the community depend on it. The fact that we are moving so quickly is just enormously important. It is really striking how quickly the state, the city have moved. The first responders that count the most are the ones who run towards danger in uniform, but we tend to forget that also part of first response is the people who work in offices to try to make the money flow, try to make insurance companies do what they ought to do, and try to make sure that everybody can get back on their feet. That’s what we’re all about here today.

Councilmember Corey Johnson: I’m Councilmember Corey Johnson. I just want to thank the Governor. He was here on Sunday with Mayor de Blasio walking the block, talking to small business owners, talking to residents. 1,000 mobilized State Troopers and National Guardsmen and Women, who came into the city and this neighborhood to help with the aftermath. His staff has been in constant contact with all of our offices and so I just want to thank the State of New York for really stepping up with this neighborhood of Chelsea, which has experienced a lot of trauma over the last few days and, we’re still trying to get back on our feet, and the Governor reassuring New Yorkers, giving us real time updates, has been enormously helpful for us elected officials and for the folks that were affected. We’re very lucky that the State of New York, the Department of Financial Services is strong and can regulate insurance companies swiftly and so I am glad they intervened and are going to be helping businesses that were affected. Thank you.

Daniel Peretz: First, I will thank you, the government coming to help us, the community, but I want to say something very shortly. When it happened, I was in Israel. When it happened, I was in Israel. I am a 30 year citizen in America. We came here because of my wife got cocktail Molotov in her car. We came here and I want to tell you guys – don’t let the terrorists scare us. If they scare us, where are we going to go? I am here because of what happened in Israel, now where are we going to go – back to Israel? Everywhere it’s the same thing. So don’t let the terrorists scare anybody, especially New Yorkers. It’s a great city, and I still want to say again, thank you to everybody for support and everything.

Categories: