Hurricane Sandy Recovery Assistance Resources. Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), is coordinating a set of services to assist small businesses in recovering from Hurricane Sandy.

Below is an outline of available programs & relevant contact information:

For small- to mid-sized businesses that have experienced business interruptionHurricane Sandy Recovery Assistance Resources

An emergency loan for businesses will be available, patterned after similar programs deployed in past emergencies. Loans will be capped at $10,000. Please click this link to contact an NYC Business Solutions Account Manager or call 311 and ask for NYC Business Emergency Loan.

Federal Aid Programs for State of New York Disaster Recovery Loans are available up to $2 million for business property losses not fully compensated by insurance, and for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes that have suffered disaster-related cash flow problems and need funds for working capital to recover from the disaster. More information can be found at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). Information from the Federal Small Business Administration on disaster recovery assistance is also available at www.sba.gov. 

For mid- to large-sized businesses that need to undertake rebuilding 

An emergency sales tax letter from New York City Industrial Development Authority (IDA) will be available allowing businesses to avoid payment of New York City and New York State sales taxes on materials purchased for rebuilding. IDA will also waive all fees and, while following State law, look to streamline its normal procedure. This program is expected to offer economic benefits to reconstruction projects costing $500,000 or more. Please contact Shin Mitsugi at smitsugi@nycedc.com for further information on this program.

For any business that is temporarily displaced from its space

Short-term “swing” office space at Brooklyn Army Terminal available free of charge for the next 30 days. NYCEDC has approximately 40,000 square feet of warehouse space at the Terminal that can be used for this purpose. Please click this link to contact an NYC Business Solutions Account Manager or call 311 and ask for NYC Business Solutions.

For any business in need of other emergency assistance

The SBS Business Outreach Team and Emergency Response Unit’s Large Scale Response Team will be deployed after the storm to help all impacted small businesses. This team is currently on-call for any storm-related business inquiries and is closely coordinating with the NYC Office of Emergency Management.  Please click this link to contact an NYC Business Solutions Account Manager or call 311 and ask for NYC Business Solutions.

Federal Aid Programs for Disaster Recovery 

Click here for information from the Federal Small Business Administration on disaster recovery assistance.

State resources

    • State of New Jersey – The state website has a Hurricane Sandy resource center with emergency hotlines, updates from the power companies and how you can volunteer.

If you would like to help those hurt by this storm, here are a few ways:

Visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767), text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation, or mail a contribution to a local Red Cross chapter or the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. The Red Cross is providing food and shelter to storm victims.

Visit salvationarmyusa.org, text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation, confirming the donation with the word, “Yes.” The Salvation Army is providing food and shelter to storm victims.

Visit www.humanesociety.org to support the group’s pet rescue team.

Visit www.redcrossblood.org to find the nearest blood drive site. The Red Cross said more than 360 Red Cross blood drives were canceled due to the storm.

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