Breezy Point, New York 11697 • 718-634-8730 • Fax: 718-945-1661
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FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 ROCKAWAY POINT NEWS PAGE 1 32 POINT BREEZE AVE., BREEZY POINT, NEW YORK 11697 • 718-634-8730 • FAX: 718-945-1661 Serving BPC Easter Egg Hunt (for children 6 and under) The Point Saturday 3/28 At 12 Noon Since 1925 In the Colony Theater VOL. LXXXIX, NO. 13 FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 FREE Two-Year “Breezy Bill” Extension Flood Insurance Help Website Launched Introduced By Goldfeder This past week New York City released a report on FEMA Flood Maps and Bill to add two-year extension to law passed by Flood Insurance as a part of their PlaNYC initiative. The report in essence was Goldfeder in 2013 to help homeowners to make NYC residents aware of their risk and fl ood insurance purchase require- still struggling to rebuild ments thanks to changes taking place to the National Flood Insurance Program effective April 1, 2015. To that end the Center For NYC Neighborhoods in con- sections 35 and 36 of General City More than two years after Sandy and junction with FEMA and New York City launched the website fl oodhelpny.org Law relating to rebuilding and repairing with many families still struggling to to help educate and advise residents of New York City who live in fl ood prone homes devastated by Superstorm Sandy. rebuild their homes, Assemblyman Phil areas of the City of these changes. Under the proposed extension, the city’s Goldfeder announced he has introduced The changes include: changes to the Flood Insurance Rate Maps, rate increase Department of Buildings (DOB) would legislation extending a waiver of city approximations that can be expected, and the new Flood Insurance Affordability be allowed to continue to sign off on law requiring construction plans be ap- Act of 2014 surcharge that will soon take effect. The Flood Insurance Afford- certain Superstorm Sandy rebuild work proved by the city’s Board of Standards ability Act of 2014 annual surcharge for primary homeowners will be $25 and without the property owner needing and Appeals, which can delay work by for secondary and non-primary homeowners $250. to fi rst obtain approval from the city’s up to a year. This bill, which extends a On the website, after you put in your address, there are helpful tabs that will show you a current fl ood map versus the expected 2016 fl ood map; a tab titled, Am I Affected?; A tab titled, What’s My Rate? (which is only an approxima- tion); a tab titled, Get Help; and, of course, a Frequently Asked Question tab. Each one these tabs has sub tabs that will hopefully help homeowners navigate the slew of new information. If you go to the website you can get your individual home’s current base Flood Elevation and Flood Zone as well as the 2016 BFE and Flood Zone determina- tion by inputting your address. The following is the information returned under what is a Full Risk Rate sub-tab of the What’s My Rate? tab for a home on Point Breeze Avenue in Breezy Point. Flood Zone Today AE Flood Zone 2016 AE BFE Today 7.9 feet BFE 2016 11 feet A full-risk rate is calculated by comparing the lowest living level of your home to its Base Flood Elevation (BFE). If your home was built after 1983 and you already have fl ood insurance, you are already paying the full-risk insurance risk for your property based Phil Goldfeder in 2013 at the “Breezy Bill” rally to pass the original BSA waiver on the current maps, which will expire when the new maps are expected to bill. be adopted in 2017. However, if your Base Flood Elevation increases in the law passed by Goldfeder in 2013 and Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), updated Flood Insurance Rate Map, your full-risk rate may increase to refl ect then extended again in 2014, will al- a process that can take up to a year to your updated Base Flood Elevation. low hundreds of families to avoid the complete. If your home was built before 1983 the full-risk rate may be signifi cantly time-consuming BSA approval process The unique size and shape of higher than what you are currently paying. An elevation certifi cate is needed as they rebuild from the storm. property lots in Breezy Point required to determine the full-risk rate. “Two years after Sandy, so many homeowners to obtain approval from Base Flood Elevation Insurance Premiums families in Breezy Point are still not the BSA before beginning to rebuild. back in their homes,” said Assembly- If the waiver is extended, homeowners man Phil Goldfeder. “The last thing they would be able to continue to forgo the need as they struggle to recover is to be time-consuming process. The waiver’s held up by the bureaucracy of the city’s extension could also expedite the pace permitting process. By extending this of rebuilds under the city’s Build it Back waiver, our families can rest assured program currently rebuilding many that this unnecessary red tape will not homes in Breezy Point. This comes as keep them from rebuilding.” a great relief to the beachfront coopera- The bill introduced by Goldfeder tive, which saw 135 homes destroyed Source: FEMA. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE ONLY. Actual rates are based on the (A6326) provides a two-year extension by fi re and hundreds more devastated individual characteristics of the home and fl ood risk. to a 2013 waiver of requirements under (Continued on Page 18) (Continued on Page 18) PAGE 2 ROCKAWAY POINT NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 HOLY WEEK AT BLESSED TRINITY MONDAY Day of Reconciliation and Adoration 9:00AM - 10:30AM (After Mass) St. Thomas More 9:30AM - 11:00AM (After Mass) St. Genevieve 3:00PM - 5:00PM St. Thomas More 6:00PM - 8:00PM HOLY THURSDAY Morning Prayer 9:00AM St. Thomas More Mass of The Lord’s Supper 7:30AM St. Thomas More GOOD FRIDAY 9:00AM Morning Prayer 12:00 Noon Outdoor Stations of The Cross 12:00 Noon Stations of The Cross at St. Genevieve’s Blood Drive 2:30PM - 8:30PM Passion of The Lord 3:00PM HOLY SATURDAY 9:00AM Morning Prayer 8:00PM Easter Vigil EASTER SUNDAY 8:30AM St. Thomas More 9:00AM St. Genevieve 10:00AM St. Edmund 11:30AM St. Thomas More 12:00 Noon St. Genevieve FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 ROCKAWAY POINT NEWS PAGE 3 EDITORIAL By Noreen Schramm Protection or Extortion? Guard your wallets now! As of April 1, 2015, the Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency (FEMA) is requiring everyone in a fl ood zone to pay $25 per Outer Banks Tour Final year if you are the primary homeowner or $250 if it is a secondary or invest- Outer Banks ~ Elizabethan Gardens Payment ment home in an effort to recuperate from the devastating losses the Agency Due Now has suffered between payouts for Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. FEMA is Roanoke Island & more currently $16 Billion dollars in the red and the why is a very good question. In May 11-15, 2015 ~ 5 days 4 nights this writer’s view it all has to do with mismanagement of premiums paid since $810 per person based on double its inception in 1973. (Single supplement applies) When FEMA was fi rst established the premiums were to be used to help folks recover from natural disasters. Since that time in typical governmental fashion insurance recommended (please let us know if you have similar to what has happened with Social Security, these funds have been put any special needs) into the general fund and consequently used for other situations than what it is intended for. As a result rather than having $10 Billion in reserve, the Agency is Tour includes: deeply into the red resulting in substantially increased premiums. Will these in- 4 nights’ accommodations creases actually put the agency into the black is another question all together? 4 breakfast & 3 dinners The problem as we see it is that it will be virtually impossible for most low Wright Brothers to middle income homeowners to afford the fl ood insurance that will now be National Memorial required. In the past fl ood insurance was an option, but if you lived on the coast, Roanoke Island a good idea to have. Now fl ood insurance it is required with an additional tax, Elizabethan Gardens if you will, of $25 per home. Quaint Fishing Village Most of us who did have fl ood insurance were very surprised following Hur- Lighthouse ricane Sandy, that the policies we carried for 30 or 40 years, did not cover the Cape Hatteras National Seashore cost to repair our homes. In fact a direct quote from an attorney was “You didn’t Chicamacomico honestly think the insurance would make you whole?” Well, as a matter of fact, Life-Saving Station a lot of us thought just that. Much to our surprise many of us received only a Local Tour Guides/Tour Director third to one-half of what it cost us to repair our homes. And for those of us who Deluxe Motorcoach with lav were able to repair our homes we are now faced with needing to elevate them in order to keep the premiums at a manageable level. For many retired folks on Terms and conditions apply fi xed incomes this new legislation will truly be devastating. Leaving us to wonder about the fi ne line between protection and extortion. You don’t mind paying because when you need the protection, as we did in For questions and info call ~ 718 945 3989 Hurricane Sandy, FEMA will at least pay something.