WASHINGTON – Following requests by Governor Hochul for the Trump administration to issue a major disaster declaration following last February’s blizzard that caused more than $168 million in damages and placed a serious financial burden on the Mid-Hudson, New York City and Long Island, FEMA has officially denied her request.
“The storm met every FEMA threshold for federal assistance, yet the Trump Administration continues to play political games and betray every New Yorker who believes that the federal government is there to protect and support them,” the governor said. “By refusing to intervene and grant our request, President Trump has told every New Yorker who weathered this major storm and the first responders, utility crews and emergency management staff who works tirelessly to keep our communities safe that you do not matter to him.”
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, a Democrat like Hochul, said the Republican Trump administration was playing “political games again.”
This denial comes as Washington continues to withhold $87 million in counterterrorism funding, the governor said.
She said Trump is not alone in hurting New York financially. “Republican members of Congress across New York are also enabling this neglect,” she said. “Their continued silence and refusal to break with the president is a direct betrayal of the communities they were elected to serve.”
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