The Federal Emergency Management Agency is cutting $325 million in grants that was to go to New York State, much of it destined for essential flood mitigation efforts in New York City, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
The cuts are part of a broader assault by President Trump and Kristi Noem, his homeland security secretary, on the federal government’s disaster response responsibilities, with both arguing that states should shoulder the burden for this work.
But the loss of the FEMA funds will be particularly damaging to the New York City area, where the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed 14 New Yorkers in 2021, drowning 11 of them in basement apartments.
Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, questioned the wisdom of the cuts, saying the grants were “critical to help us rebuild” after a litany of major weather disasters that had hit the state in recent years.
“Cutting infrastructure funding for communities across New York is shortsighted and a massive risk to public safety,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement.
FEMA announced on Friday that it was canceling the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, calling it in a statement “wasteful and ineffective” and “more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.” BRIC has distributed $5 billion in grants nationally since it started in 2020, during Mr. Trump’s first term.
Close to $1 billion that has been awarded but not distributed to government entities will be diverted back to the Treasury Department, the agency said — adding that it was “canceling all BRIC applications from fiscal years 2020-2023.”
Just one year ago, FEMA celebrated some of the projects supported by those grants, saying they would help local governments “address high-level current and future risks to natural disasters,” including “extreme heat, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes and increased flooding.”
Those threats still exist. But the funding increasingly does not.
Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, said the funding reductions “pose serious risks to multiple communities across the five boroughs.”
Ms. Mamelak Altus noted that the program was designed to protect communities from natural disasters and to save the federal government money it might otherwise spend on disaster relief.
“Multiple studies have shown that $1 spent in advance saves $6 in response and recovery costs down the line,” she said. “This incredible return on investment is why we have already reached out to our federal partners, but are also simultaneously reviewing our legal options to protect New York City and ensure our residents receive every dollar they deserve.”
A report last year from Allstate, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the chamber’s foundation said the potential savings were even greater. When taking into account the local economic effects of such investments, “every $1 spent on climate resilience and preparedness saves communities $13,” the report said.
The cuts affect all of New York State but are largely concentrated in New York City.
More than $11 million has been eliminated for a storm surge barrier to protect the Polo Grounds Towers public housing development and a neighboring public school in Harlem; $100 million has been eliminated for storm water mitigation measures in East Elmhurst, Queens, and in Central Harlem.
State Senator Jessica Ramos of Queens, who represents East Elmhurst and Corona, was outraged by the news that climate resiliency projects in her district would be cut.
“My neighbors could die if we have another rainstorm like we had during Hurricane Ida,” said Ms. Ramos, who is running for mayor. She pledged to push the state to make up the shortfall.
More than $20 million in federal funding has been eliminated for storm water mitigation efforts designed to protect residents of the Breukelen, Nostrand and Sheepshead Bay Houses, all public housing developments in Brooklyn. The FEMA webpages describing those projects have been taken down.
One erased webpage, available on the Wayback Machine, a digital repository operated through the Internet Archive, noted that the Nostrand and Sheepshead Bay Houses, which are home to more than 4,000 low-income New Yorkers, “are at risk of extreme flooding due to their proximity to a coastal water body and increased rainfall from climate change.”
Latrice M. Walker, a Democratic assemblywoman whose district is just north of the Breukelen Houses, said that completing climate resiliency projects was both a logistical and moral imperative. “To not do so is egregious — and it’s racist,” she said.
The Trump administration is also cutting more than $40 million for coastal protections in Lower Manhattan.
In March, Zach Iscol, the head of New York City’s office of emergency management, told the City Council that the Trump administration had put as much as two-thirds of the city’s emergency response budget at risk; federal funds underwrite 66 percent of the department’s budgeted head count.
“I might fall off the couch,” said Amy Chester, the director of Rebuild by Design, a New York University-based nonprofit that helps communities adapt to climate change, when told about the cuts. “These are so important — every single one of these programs are life and death.”
Benjamin Oreskes is a reporter covering New York State politics and government for The Times.
Dana Rubinstein covers New York City politics and government for The Times.
Grace Ashford covers New York government and politics for The Times.
The post FEMA Cuts More Than $300 Million in Disaster Prevention Aid to New York appeared first on New York Times.
