New York City Opens Storm Service Centers In All 5 Boroughs To Assist Ida Victims

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — As New York City recovers from Ida, new resources are available to help storm victims. The city has opened storm service centers in every borough.

The centers opened Saturday, offering services like information on food assistance, health insurance and how to have homes inspected, CBS2’s Christina Fan reported Sunday.

We’re told representatives from several agencies will be available every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until further notice at:

• 80 Willowbrook Road, Staten Island (I.S. 51)
• 71 Sullivan Street, Brooklyn (P.S. 15)
• 4602 47th Avenue, Queens (M.S. 125)
• 215 West 114th Street, Manhattan (I.S. 88)
• 2365 Waterbury Avenue, Bronx (P.S./M.S. 194)

Many families are already taking advantage of the resources.

Rhashan Del faces the same lengthy cleanup as so many others New Yorkers after Ida’s deadly floods.

Del, who lives in Forest Hills, Queens, had nearly 6 feet of water in his house and is worried about how he’ll pay to fix the damage.

“I really need some financial help,” he said. “I have a hot water and heater damage, I’ll probably have furnace damage in the thousands of dollars.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul and local leaders saw the damage firsthand while touring 218th Street in Inwood Saturday. The governor tweeted a picture of a mobile command center setup to help residents with insurance questions.

The five service centers across the city include one at a school in Woodside. It’s where a mother from Queens came looking for assistance Saturday after water gushed into her home.

“The water came from the toilet, from the tub, from the sink,” she said. “I’m very lucky, we’re lucky. But… this is hard, knowing you have to ask for help.”

Those impacted received items like cleaning supplies.

New York City’s Office of Emergency Management said critical resources are being offered in addition to those kits.

“They can talk to DOB, they can talk to HPD, depending on whether they’re a renter or an owner … They can get some advice on combating mold. They can talk to a mental health counselor from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We bring all these services together under one roof so that clients don’t have to look around the city for all these different services during a long period of time,” said Christopher Pagnotta, with the OEM.

Charlie Balgobin showed CBS2 his basement, where he had to rip up his newly-installed hardwood and place it all in large trash bags because of the heavy flooding. He estimated about $40,000 in damages.

He didn’t know about the free assistance right across the street from his home, but said he planned to get it first thing Sunday morning.

“Let’s hope that they give us some good assistance,” Balgobin said.

CBS2’s Christina Fan contributed to this report.

from CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/09/05/ida-new-york-city-storm-service-centers/
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