FEMA has approved nearly $117 million in disaster recovery and resilience funding for New York and New Jersey, covering a sprawling list of projects that range from emergency-power upgrades at the Holland Tunnel to a washed-out road in the Catskills and a century-old dam outside Albany. The money blends reimbursements for damage from past storms with grants meant to prevent the next one from doing as much harm.
Of the total package, Public Assistance funds account for $95 million, while the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program contributes more than $17 million and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program adds $5.1 million, according to fingerlakes1.com. FEMA coordinates the mitigation work directly with state officials, and the agency describes the overall goal as funding projects intended to prevent or reduce future disaster damage, per the same report. New York alone is set to receive $10.8 million in hazard-mitigation funding as part of the award.
Holland Tunnel and Brooklyn Navy Yard Lead the Big-Ticket Repairs
The largest single piece of the package is nearly $56 million for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, which will restore dry docks, pump motors, and electrical and mechanical systems damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the outlet reports. The nonprofit yard oversees more than 4 million square feet of commercial space and six dry docks across 300 acres, and floodwaters from that 2012 storm swamped critical electrical equipment, pump motors, and waterfront berths, according to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.
Separately, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will upgrade emergency-generator capacity and power distribution at the Holland Tunnel, with BRIC funding contributing more than $3.8 million toward the effort. The tunnel's vulnerability traces back to Superstorm Sandy, when roughly 30 million gallons of saltwater flooded the Holland Tunnel, reaching up to nine feet deep in the North Tube and severely damaging its electrical and power distribution systems, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
A Delaware County Road and a Rensselaer County Dam
Public Assistance funding will also support permanent repairs to Deerlick Road in Andes, a small town in Delaware County, after the roadway was damaged by the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby in 2024, per fingerlakes1.com's account. New York City, meanwhile, will draw more than $3.4 million for emergency protective measures taken after the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the city.
Upstate, New York is receiving more than $3.7 million to stabilize and improve the Burden Lake Dam system in Rensselaer County, a project expected to reduce downstream flood risk along Wynantskill Creek and help reopen County Road 51 for emergency access. The dam, which dates back to the 19th century and controls downstream flow into Wynantskill Creek, became the subject of a formal agreement in December 2025 among the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Rensselaer County, the Town of Sand Lake, and the Burden Lake Preservation Corporation to settle a state consent order and rehabilitate the system, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Streambank Erosion in Orange County Gets a Long-Term Fix
In Orange County, a hazard-mitigation project will stabilize and reinforce an embankment along Moodna Creek, aiming to prevent erosion and improve drainage. The project calls for a 400-linear-foot soldier pile and lagging wall along County Route 32/Mill Street to halt streambank erosion that previously caused a private driveway to collapse and threatened public roads, according to Orange County Government.
New York City Building Codes and New Jersey's Coastal Fixes
The New York City Department of Buildings will receive nearly $499,000 to develop recommended code amendments addressing stormwater flood risk and flood-resistant construction, fingerlakes1.com reports. Across the Hudson, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will get nearly $4.9 million for permanent repairs to the Heislerville Dike, which was damaged by Tropical Storm Isaias in 2020.
New Jersey's Blue Acres program will receive more than $923,000 for its ongoing mix of property acquisitions, elevations, mitigation reconstruction, and floodproofing projects. Created in November 1995 following a statewide bond act, Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program for flood-prone residential homes that has completed over 1,200 property acquisitions to convert vulnerable parcels into permanent open space for natural stormwater storage, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Also in New Jersey, the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority will receive more than $285,000 to study and design an upstream relocation of its Metedeconk River raw-water intake. The utility supplies drinking water to more than 100,000 Ocean County residents and has long faced risks of saltwater intrusion and pollution near its current intake, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Part of a Larger Federal Pattern
The $117 million award follows more than $171 million FEMA approved for New York and New Jersey in June 2026, which included $43.5 million to the New York City Housing Authority for floodproofing residential complexes damaged by Hurricane Ida, per FEMA's own accounting. As of July 31, FEMA's monthly Disaster Relief Fund report documented $235 million in unobligated commitments and $127 million in uncommitted allocations for major disasters nationwide.
Standard FEMA Public Assistance grants cover up to 75 percent of eligible public infrastructure restoration and emergency response costs, leaving state or local recipients responsible for the remaining 25 percent cost-share, as Hoodline previously reported. That cost-sharing structure comes as pre-disaster mitigation funding has faced its own turbulence: in March 2026, a federal judge ruled that FEMA's attempt to terminate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program was unlawful, ordering the agency to resume processing grants after New York City had submitted filings expecting $351.4 million across 19 local resilience projects.
For now, fingerlakes1.com notes that the local projects funded in this latest round are moving toward implementation, with FEMA programs reimbursing recovery costs and supporting work designed to blunt the damage from the next storm before it hits.
