Category Archives: Dan Zarrilli

Sandy Fifth Anniversary



Mayor Bill de Blasio marked the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy today with a Rockaway press conference and presentation on several resiliency projects.  de Blasio was joined at the Arverne YMCA by Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, NYS Senator James Sanders, Council Member Donovan Richards, NYC Director of Resiliency Dan Zarelli, Director of the office of Housing Recovery Amy Peterson and Parks Commissioner Mitch Silver.

The mayor outlined seven projects that the City will move forward with, using surplus funding from the rebuilding of the Rockaway boardwalk.  The projects include several parks in the eastern part of Rockaway. Continue reading Sandy Fifth Anniversary

de Blasio Press Q&A: The 3rd Sandyversary Edition



Mayor Bill de Blasio marked the third anniversary of Hurricane Sandy today with a visit to Staten Island’s south shore.  Appearing in front of a home rebuilt by the Build It Back program, de Blasio lauded the progress in Build It Back during his administration.  He announced that the program is to be completed by the end of 2016 and detailed the evolution in the program from the time he took office.  Among the statistics he cited were “2,015 construction starts (including 1,217 construction completions), as well as 5,319 reimbursement checks totaling nearly $104 million”, while noting that each of these categories was at zero when he took office.

Press Q&A:

There was both on topic and off topic Q&A.

Here’s the full Q&A:

de Blasio Press Q&A: The Banjo* Edition



Mayor Bill de Blasio visited Breezy Point today, joined by Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro.  Their appearance two days ahead of the third anniversary of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall was intended to laud the progress in the City’s Build It Back program, and included a separate visit with a Breezy Point family just returned to their rebuilt home.  de Blasio and Castro were joined by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Assembly Member Phil Goldfeder (who represents Rockaway), Council Member, HPD Commissioner Vicki Been, Housing Recovery Office Director Amy Peterson, Resiliency Director Dan Zarilli, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary Marion McFadden and HUD Regional Administrator Holly Leicht.

Press Q&A:

Mayor de Blasio’s staff had announced the press conference as fielding “on topic” questions only.  de Blasio implemented that restriction even more restrictively, declining to answer “on topic” questions addressing the planning and future operation of the ongoing recovery efforts.  Question topics included the estimated time for completion of all of the Sandy recovery home rebuilding, the implementation of new flood maps, whether de Blasio’s reported future endorsement of Hillary Clinton is tied to a longterm need for federal government assistance, whether in Secretary Castro’s view the City could do better on any element of Sandy recovery efforts, communicating an increased sense of urgency to City agencies, significant variations in the reported number of Build It Back applicants, how the City will continue its increased rate of repairs, details on the construction firms used in the program and praise for developer Gerry Romski.

Continue reading de Blasio Press Q&A: The Banjo* Edition

de Blasio Press Q&A: The Sandy Anniversary Edition



Mayor Bill de Blasio marked the second anniversary of Hurricane Sandy with a press conference on the beach in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island.  Earlier, he had participated in a home rebuilding in Coney Island.

de Blasio was joined at the press conference by members of his administration, including Amy Peterson, Dan Zarelli, Mitch Silver and Bill Goldstein, and elected officials including state senators Diane Savino and Andrew Lanza, council members Steve Matteo and Alan Maisal, Borough President Jimmy Oddo and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

We’ve divided the video of his Q&A as de Blasio did during the press conference; Sandy-related, Ebola-related and off-topic.

Sandy:

Ebola:

Off-topic:

de Blasio Press Q&A: The Broad Channel Edition



Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference today in Broad Channel, the small island enclave in Jamaica Bay, celebrating the markedly improved performance of the City’s Build It Back program and announcing expanded goals for the program. The mayor briefly viewed a home being reconstructed by Build It Back and then moved around the corner for his press conference. Continue reading de Blasio Press Q&A: The Broad Channel Edition