Gov. Cuomo on Thursday marked the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria by proposing a memorial in Battery Park City to honor the victims killed or…
Gov. Cuomo on Thursday marked the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria by proposing a memorial in Battery Park City to honor the victims killed or left homeless when the devastating storm slammed Puerto Rico.
“One year ago, Mother Nature tore through Puerto Rico claiming the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans and forever changing the lives of many more,” Cuomo said at a news conference in the Bronx.
“The federal government’s failed response is a stain on American history, and I am establishing a commission to create a memorial honoring the victims and survivors of Hurricane Maria and the resilience of the Puerto Rican community.”
The state will seek proposals for designs and the exact location in the complex for the memorial.
Meanwhile, at City Hall, Mayor de Blasio and members of the city’s congressional delegation marked the grim anniversary by pushing for legislation that would establish a 9/11-like commission to investigate the federal response to the killer storm .
Brooklyn Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez introduced the legislation in June, but her aides said Republicans have yet to hold hearings on the proposed bill or to mark it up.
“The American people deserve to know what happened and why it happened,” Velazquez said on the steps of City Hall.
“I think that it is now widely known that the administration’s response to Maria has been an abject failure. We know that this inadequate response cost nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens their lives. Make no mistake: These deaths are attributed to Maria, and even worse, to this administration’s woeful response.”
President Trump recently questioned the revised death count on Twitter — at one point even alleging without evidence that the numbers were inflated as a political scheme by Democrats to make him look bad.
“FIFTY TIMES LAST ORIGINAL NUMBER – NO WAY!” he tweeted earlier this month .
Cuomo also announced an expansion of the New York Stands with Puerto Rico Recovery and Rebuilding Initiative, saying the state would send 500 additional SUNY and CUNY student volunteers to work with non-profits rebuilding homes on the island, a US protectorate.
Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan
