A slew of elected officials from Queens have blasted the Trump Administration’s decision to cut more than $300 million in federal funding for flood protection and climate resiliency across New York State, including resources to combat flooding in Queens.
U.S. Reps. Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined State Senators John Liu and Jessica Ramos, Assembly Members Larinda Hooks, Jessica González-Rojas and Nily Rozic, and Council Members Francisco Moya and Sandra Ung to issue a joint statement criticizing the Trump Administration over cuts to several key flood relief initiatives across New York State.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump would eliminate FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The program provides federal funding to state and local governments to mitigate natural disasters.
Critics of the Trump Administration said the decision will result in more than $325 million in cuts to critical pending projects across New York State and risk about $56 million worth of work that has already begun.
Meanwhile, Queens-based elected officials said Trump’s decision to eliminate FEMA’s BRIC program would have a “devastating impact” on Queens.
They said Wednesday that the decision to eliminate FEMA’s BRIC program would impact several Queens projects, cutting $46 million from the Kissena Corridor Cloudburst Hub and $47 million from the Corona-East Cloudburst Hub.
Additionally, eliminating BRIC will result in $50 million worth of cuts to the East Elmhurst Cloudburst Flood Mitigation, which aims to mitigate the impact of high-intensity rainfall in a 485-acre area with primarily residential neighborhoods.
They said FEMA funding provided a lifeline for local communities in the wake of Hurricane Ida, adding that “lives will be put at risk” without access to the funding in the future.
“We all remember how Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc on our borough. Lives were lost, and homes and businesses sustained extensive damage. We fought hard for these needed funds and without the money, more lives and property will be put at risk,” Queens elected officials said in a statement criticizing the Trump Administration.
They added that Queens should be “better prepared” against the threat of future flooding and be able to mitigate the effects of severe storms and heavy rainfall but argued that funding cuts will have the opposite effect.
“Slashing this funding will leave us less prepared and susceptible to more devastation. We urge the administration to immediately abandon this reckless decision,” they said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Ung said the decision to slash funding for flood mitigation projects in Kissena Park would be devastating for local residents.
“This is not just a budget line on a spreadsheet, it is a life-or-death issue for our community, which knows the devastating consequences of inadequate infrastructure all too well,” Ung said in a statement Thursday.
Hochul also criticized the decision to eliminate BRIC in a statement Tuesday, describing the cuts as “short-sighted” and a massive risk to public safety.
“Without support for resilience projects now, our communities will be far more vulnerable when disaster strikes next,” Hochul said in a statement Tuesday. “As I’ve said all along: no state in the nation can backfill the massive cuts being proposed in Washington, and it’s critical New Yorkers stand united to call out the damage this will cause.”
New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray additionally warned that the decision to cut funding would ultimately be more costly to the federal government.
“It is far more expensive to rebuild than it is to prevent damage before it happens,” Bray said in a statement. “Mitigation is the best way to save taxpayer dollars and increase resiliency. These projects were created with the sole purpose of helping prevent further damage from the storms that continue to impact the residents of New York State.”
