De Blasio Promises to Finish Sandy Rebuilding in 14 Months

Three years since Sandy hit the region, Mayor de Blasio is setting a new rebuilding deadline.

"We commit to finishing the Build it Back program for single-family homes by the end of next year," the mayor said during a news conference on Staten Island Thursday. The announcement marked three years since Sandy made landfall.

De Blasio admitted there are challenges ahead, but said he's confident the city will reach that goal.

"It's definitely an aggressive goal," said New York Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder, whose district includes Southern Queens and the Rockaways. But he said he's glad struggling homeowners are getting the city's attention.

"The mayor's announcement, I think, for a lot of families...will provide a light at the end of the tunnel, and give us some real hope to be optimistic that our neighborhood is actually going to recover," he said.

The mayor said 63 percent of families in the city's Build it Back program are now receiving help, either through construction on their homes or reimbursement checks to help them rebuild.

The mayor cited some figures, too: some $104 million has been distributed via reimbursement checks, he said, and more than 1,200 construction projects have been completed. Another 2,000 projects are in progress.

Dan Mundy, president of the Broad Channel Civic Association, said the new deadline creates greater accountability.

"If we don't meet that deadline, I'm sure, you know, many people will be saying...'Why aren't we there?'"

Mundy said many of the bureaucratic issues that initially delayed the city's Build it Back program have been settled, thanks in part to dozens of community meetings with multiple city agencies.