VIDEO: Gillibrand and Lowey Tour Rye Flood Damage

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congresswoman Nita Lowey and several other officials toured Rye’s downtown business district on Monday morning, thanking local police and hearing from business owners hard hit by flooding.

The two toured with a coterie of state, county and city leaders all in need of federal disaster assistance funds.

County Executive Rob Astorino, Legislator Judy Myers, and State Assemblyman George Latimer, Rye Mayor Doug French and Councilwoman Paula Gamache all accompanied Gillibrand and Lowey on the tour.

While the event was straightforward: meet and greet local police, walk and talk through downtown while stopping into local businesses, the most interesting undercurrent of the visit was the jockeying between local leaders to have their priorities heard by Sen. Gillibrand.

At a press conference outside Rye Country Store, Senator Gillibrand said it was important that leaders from the local area “work as a team” with county, state and federal government to get the necessary resources for local recovery.

Gillibrand said she already persuaded President Obama to declare Westchester County a federal disaster area, qualifying it and local business owners for certain funds. She urged state and county officials to make a bipartisan appeal to President Obama for assistance and loans to restore the area.

At the county level, that assistance could come in the form of reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of any money spent to restore area streets, roads, bridges and other public assets.

County Executive Rob Astorino said “Westchester County is currently in an assessment phase.”  If the county’s expenses exceed $3 million, the federal government would reimburse as much as 75 percent of the money spent. 

But the problem of flooding in the Sound Shore area has been persistent and not just a one-off event. Congresswoman Nita Lowey acknowledged that fact saying that “we provided $3 million for Rye Brook [containment projects], but it still overflowed.”

Lowey said that, in addition to disaster assistance, the approach to problems in the area had to be changed.

“We have to prevent damage,” the congresswoman said.

In response to Congresswoman Lowey, Gillibrand said that the Army Corps of Engineers had been involved with flooding issues through the region. But in the short term, she said: “We are still concerned about the health and well-being of citizens.” 

Mayor Doug French weighed in and turned his remarks to the recurrent problem of flooding and its source.

“The [root of the problem],” said French, “is retention upstream.” French said the key to preventing flooding in the Rye area was to find an effective way to mitigate the damage from occurring at all. 

“Water doesn’t care what municipality it flows into,” said County Legislator Judy Myers in support of Mayor French’s words. “A regional approach is what’s needed.”

“There’s currently a debate about the cost of government,” said State Assemblyman George Latimer. “Here we saw an example of when government must step in, federal assistance is essential. We can’t do this alone.”

County Executive Rob Astorino said the most acute concerns of Westchester County citizens in the aftermath of the storm were restoring power and service to the Metro-North rail system, which resumed limited operations Monday afternoon.

Before the press conference in front of Rye Country Store on Purchase Street, the group stopped at the temporary police sub-station in front of City Hall as well as the Rye Firehouse so that Sen. Gillibrand could thank emergency responders for their service.

Sen. Gillibrand shook the hand of Detective John Wood in front the temporary police sub-station outside City Hall and thanked him and other emergency responders for their service. She emphasized that she was working hard to get federal funds directed toward the cost of their service. 

Officials also walked down Elm Place, surrounded by a pack of reporters and photographers to talk to business owners at Fong’s Cleaners and Morgan’s Fish House as well as the Trinity Presbyterian Church Office. They turned the corner to Purchase Street and stopped to greet Councilwoman Catherine Parker as she cleaned up her Purchase Street store.

Gillibrand conceded that the assistance most likely available to small businesses owners would be disaster loans, an additional burden they might not want to add to their ledger sheets.

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