Service on the Rockaways line of the A train will finally resume at the end of this month, MTA officials announced Thursday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that after Sandy hit, the MTA had to rebuild 1,500 feet of washed-out tracks, replace signals and wires, and rehabilitate two stations that had been flooded during the storm.

“The MTA did a remarkable job of restoring service following the storm and, at the end of this month, the A line in the Rockaways will be up and running,” he said.

Workers also installed a steel wall along two miles of Jamaica Bay to protect against future washouts, Cuomo said.

The MTA also announced they will solicit engineers and project managers to join a new division to plan for protecting stations against future floods.

The toll of the hurricane on the MTA was about $4.8 billion in damage, officials said.

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If you want to help clean up beaches still suffering after Sandy, now is your chance.

Environmental group Time’s Up! is organizing a bike ride this Sunday out to Fort Tilden.

The group hopes Fort Tilden will reopen sooner the faster it is cleaned up.

Bikers will meet at 9:15 a.m. Sunday morning at Grand Army Plaza. They will ride together to Fort Tilden, then clean up the beach throughout the day, moving sand and removing debris.

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A tribute to Bette Midler will benefit greenery lost to Sandy tomorrow night with performances and a silent auction.

Lips, the drag-show dining spot, is hosting a charity event to benefit victims of the October storm.

The event, called “After Sandy – A Night of A Thousand Midlers,” will be a nod to Midler’s career, with performances of her most famous songs by the performer Ginger Snapt.

All revenue will benefit her nonprofit dedicated to restoring open space, the New York Restoration Project.

The Project founded the Million Trees NYC initiative, adding greenery to the city. Scores of trees were wrecked in the storm.

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Amid growing questions as to the New Jersey Transit’s readiness for the havoc wrecked by Hurricane Sandy, WNYC requested the storm preparedness plans NJT purported to have had in advance of the onset of the storm.

The transit agency complied, sending a three-page document.

All three pages can be seen here. But the pages do not shed light on any sort of plan: all three pages are completely blacked out.

A spokesman for NJT reportedly told WNYC the heavy redactions were necessary due to “recent events including the uncovering of an Al Qaeda-led terrorist plot targeting rail service.”

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved the city’s plan to spend $1.77 billion in aid for Sandy recovery efforts, and city residents and businesses are set to start receiving the funds as soon as this summer, the New York Times reports.

The city’s plan calls for $648 million to go to programs to rebuild homes and make them more storm-resistant. That sum also includes $9 million in rental subsidies for low-income New Yorkers who are at most risk for homelessness.

The rest of the money breaks down as follows:

• $360 million on city infrastructure
• $294 million on investments to make the city more resilient to storms
• $293 million on loans, grants and other programs for businesses

City officials say the aid is not enough to cover all the damage caused by the storm, but it will allow for crucial progress to be made. The funds will help address some of the most persistent issues, such as evacuees still living in hotels and mold in homes, the Times reports.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to announce the approval of the plan at City Hall on Friday.

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The ultimate way to help out two Brooklyn neighborhoods hit hard by Sandy in one night. Red Hook Winery has put together this benefit to help the good folks at Coney Island USA that keep the spirit of old Brooklyn going at the boroughs’ southernmost point.

Pier 41 – 325 A, 175 – 204 Van Dyke Street, Brooklyn

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New York City public school principals were notified by Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott in a weekly online message that starting next school year, all schools will be required to conduct two yearly soft lockdown drills.

The program, projected for the 2013-2014 school year, is part of the DOE’s work on emergency readiness, said DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg.

Feinberg said many schools have already been conducting such drills.

The program Walcott announced will also involve training for school officials.

“To ensure that all principals are trained to appropriately implement these drills and procedures as well as effectively respond to emergencies, the Office of Safety and Youth Development is providing a two-hour mandatory training focused on emergency readiness during this summer,” Feinberg reported.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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This year’s Major League Baseball All-Star game will take place in New York City, but the focus won’t be entirely on the field.

MLB will hold a fundraiser and 5K All-Star Fun Run on July 13, and all net profits will go to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

Racers will hit their stride in Prospect Park, and prizes will be awarded to the winners.

Participants can register on the MLB website to create a fundraising team.

Top teams will have the chance to throw the first pitch at this year’s Home Run Derby or play an all-star game of softball.

Fans can also register to be a part of the team with four-time All-Star and New York native John Franco, who is now in the New York Mets Hall of Fame.

MLB and its players association donated $1 million to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Feeding America immediately after the storm struck. The Mets team sent players with emergency food and supplies to damaged areas.

This is the fourth MLB All-Star Fun Run.

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When Hurricane Sandy hit Jackie Rogers’ home in Far Rockaway, the last thing she was worried about was a mold infestation. Situated on the island between Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, she packed up and left her home of six years as the storm rolled in.

“I heeded Mayor Bloomberg’s words,” Rogers, who is in her 40s, told Metro. “I just got out.”

Now, six months after the storm hit, she’s still dealing with a mold infestation she never fathomed, one that’s gone from bad to worse even as she’s tried to battle it.

She’s not alone. A new joint report by six community organizations indicates that about 60 percent of homes, perhaps tens of thousands, suffering significant water damage during Sandy now are beleaguered with mold spores. On Tuesday, the report’s authors led community leaders on a walking tour of houses damaged by mold, through Staten Island and Far Rockaway, including a look at Roger’s house.

She seemed optimistic that including her house would help bring attention to the issue in her neighborhood.

She said she and her brothers returned to her 1,532-square-foot coastal blue and white home in early November, to gut the soaked drywall, rip out the sodden beige carpet and trash the sopping furniture. And though she and her family acted quickly on the road to rebuilding the bungalow, the mold still set in. Even after she hired someone to take care of the problem in December, she said that by February, “There were more mold spores than when I started.”

In January, after significant media attention was brought to the issue, a mold remediation program began. Yet, though the federal government has begun stepping in to help pay for remediation, funding reportedly does not extend to mold contamination on exterior walls, including under siding.

“Even though my walls were gutted inside, the insurance says they can’t pay for the thick mold on the outside of my home,” Rogers said.

The New York Times reported in March that although mold may contribute to respiratory problems, there is no conclusive evidence that it is toxic. Yet politicians and community organizers have consistently pointed to the residual respiratory problems following the 9/11 World Trade Center collapse, using that as an example of long-term Sandy-mold potential.

The organizations responsible for the new report, The Alliance for a Greater New York, Community Voices Heard, Faith in New York, Make the Road NY, New York Communities for Change, and Voices of Community Activists and Leaders NY, are recommending a broadened awareness campaign to bring attention to the issue. They also recommend allocating funds specifically for mold and punishing landlords who do not remedy the issue.

“It is absolutely inexcusable that this is still a problem six months after a major hurricane’s flood waters have receded,” said Deborah Axt, co-executive director of Make the Road New York. “We’re showing that the city’s efforts, however well-intentioned, have ultimately been unsuccessful in addressing the Sandy mold crisis.”

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Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer announced a re-imagining of the East River waterfront today.

The East River Blueway Plan, created with residents, architecture and urban design experts and the Lower East Side Ecology Center, focuses on the waterfront from Brooklyn Bridge to East 38th Street.

Along with preventing such storm damage as experienced during Sandy, it includes new bike paths, beaches and boating spots.

“The plan we are unveiling opens up the waterfront, but also protects the community with wave barriers, wetlands and other safeguards,” Stringer said.

Stringer’s office pledged $3.5 million to find new ways to mitigate storm problems along FDR Drive.

The plan extends wetlands from the shoreline and adds drainage beneath the highway, which officials say will absorb storm water surge.

It would also fortify the shoreline beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

Under the plan, people could boat in the East River in a portion unaffected by tidal currents, he said.

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The city released a comprehensive review today about Superstorm Sandy, evaluating how its agencies functioned during the storm.

The mayor-ordered report evaluated how prepared officials were before, during and after the storm.

Bloomberg asked two deputy mayors to review the city’s actions in December. Today, the administration said the recovery efforts were some of the fastest ever.

Officials issued 59 recommendations, focusing on things like evacuations, public safety and shelters.

Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway, who helped craft the report, said the hurricane “caused unprecedented damage throughout the five boroughs.”

“As well as the city performed, we can always do better,” he said. “We will take the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy and strengthen the city’s capacity to respond to future emergencies.”

One highlighted area was 311, which officials said was available throughout the storm but could have had shorter waiting times.

The Office of Emergency Management is also updating the city’s evacuation zones for the 2013 hurricane season, implementing zones from 1 to 6 to replace Zones A, B and C. These zones will be announced in June, according to the city.

The report also suggested the Department of Health evaluate their regulations for evacuation procedures, including back-up power supply, which was an issue when generators failed, causing evacuations.

The city maintained that the 911 system did not fail or drop calls during Sandy, despite criticism that people were not able to reach responders through the system.

The city said 20,00 families have returned to their homes through the Rapid Repairs program, which helped fix up homes.

But many are still unable to return, including hundreds waiting on a court ruling about whether the city can kick them out of city-funded hotel rooms.

The review recommended identifying shelter that would be usable for a longer time.

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The city must keep paying hotel subsidies for people who have no homes after Sandy, a court ruled.

Councilwoman Annabel Palma, head of the Council’s General Welfare committee, said a judge ruled the city could not discontinue the subsidies.

The city had announced they would stop paying for hotel rooms starting April 30.

Since the hurricane six months ago, hundreds people without homes have been staying in hotels temporarily.

Advocates for them say they have nowhere to go and asked the city to allow them more time to find housing.

A State Supreme Court ruling temporarily restrained the city from stopping the hotel subsidy program.

“Today’s ruling is a welcome relief to the hundreds of families living in hotels who cannot afford to have their lives uprooted once again,” Palma said. “But it should not have come to this. New Yorkers should know that they will not be abandoned by the city in time of great need.”

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said the mayor’s administration’s actions were a “disgrace.”

“It’s wrong and inhumane to throw New Yorkers out on the street when they have nowhere else to go,” he said. “The program should end when the last family has a home to return to, and not a day sooner.”

The New York City Law Department vowed to fight the ruling this morning in court.

“The city made heroic efforts after Hurricane Sandy, and we strongly believe this complaint is without merit,” said Thomas Crane, chief of the general litigation division.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for an investigation into the hefty bonuses that a group of Con Ed executives collected for their work during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

He ordered Con Ed to freeze the bonuses this morning, according to a statement from his office.

The governor sent a letter to Con Ed’s CEO on Monday demanding that Public Service Commission review the bonuses and ensure that the cost of paying out the bonuses is not passed onto customers.

Cuomo also noted the poor performance of utility companies after the storm, saying it was a “complete failure.”

Four Con Ed executives split $614,400 in bonus pay last year for the challenges they handled following the storm. After the letter was sent, Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke announced that he would return his $315,400 bonus, the New York Post reported. Burke stood by his company, however, and said he continues to commend the work of all his employees.

The three other executives did not say if they would return their bonuses as of Monday night.

More than a million customers lost power due to the storm, and many city residents did not have power restored for several days. Some customers in other areas of the state did not have power return for more than a week.

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Six months after Hurricane Sandy ripped into the East Coast and triggered one of the worst energy crises in decades, there is scattered evidence companies and state agencies have moved to strengthen complex fuel supply networks against future storms.

But the measures taken by energy firms in New York and New Jersey are uneven, state initiatives remain on paper for now, and in the absence of an industry-wide response it’s unclear the region would fare much better should there be a next time.

Hurricane Sandy unleashed a record storm surge that exposed the surprising fragility of New York Harbor’s fuel supply chain – the largest, most varied trading and distribution hub in the world – serving America’s most populous urban area.

The industry suffered crippling blows at almost every link. Foreign oil tankers were halted by water debris, refineries were flooded and shut, pipelines and storage depots were idled by power cuts and tanker trucks were commandeered by emergency agencies.

At the end of that chain, two-thirds of the region’s service stations were unable to dispense gasoline due to power outages, while the rest struggled to procure scarce fuel. Only state-imposed rationing, the first since the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s, eventually tempered the crisis – it took months to fully restore the interdependent web of supply.

Half a year later and some action has been taken. But the measures remain worryingly incomplete, according to interviews with two dozen officials, industry groups and oil firms.

“We would, in essence, be in the same situation minus some additional gasoline stations still having power thanks to backup generators,” said Robert Sinclair Jr., spokesman for AAA New York in Garden City, Long Island.

LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE

Sandy claimed more than 130 lives in the United States and Canada, inflicted tens of billions of dollars worth of damage and left 8.6 million homes and businesses in darkness.

In the following days, two problems emerged with the fuel supply: flooding, which shut down two refineries and numerous terminals; and power outages, which disabled gas stations and the area’s biggest pipeline. The problem was not so much a lack of gasoline as an inability to transport it to the right place.

At least a few of the companies at the heart of the supply chain – the storage depots and terminals where bulk deliveries of gasoline, diesel or heating oil are stored then loaded onto tanker trucks for retail outlets – are taking action.

Nustar, whose fuel terminal in Linden, New Jersey, was shut for days, has raised the barriers, or berms, around its tanks, elevated critical cables off the ground to avoid water contact and shifted its office further inland, the company says.

The surge during Sandy led to water overflowing several operators’ berms and in some cases lifted partially filled tanks off their foundations, leading to fuel spills.

Coast Guard Commander Linda Sturgis, who oversees emergency prevention at the Port of New York and frequently discusses emergency plans with energy industry players, said several companies were working on improvements including higher berms.

“It takes considerable investment,” Sturgis said. “Nobody thought, at the time, that they would need 15-foot berms.”

But it is unclear how many of the 57 refined products terminals hit by the storm have taken action.

Motiva, a Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco joint venture, had to scramble to clean up 380,000 gallons of diesel from its Sewaren, New Jersey, facility, most of which spilled into the thin strip of water between New Jersey and Staten Island.

Shell declined to name specific measures taken since the storm, saying it has “robust emergency response plans that are reviewed and updated in preparation for every hurricane season.”

Hess Corp said it regularly updates its emergency plans. Magellan Midstream Partners said its emergency planning was followed safely and operations resumed promptly after Sandy. CITGO and IMTT declined to comment. Together with Nustar, the seven companies are the main terminal operators in New Jersey.

“WE’D DO IT THE SAME WAY”

Sandy also disrupted the flow of refined fuels into the New York area, shutting down Phillips 66′s 238,000-bpd Bayway refinery – now the region’s lone plant – for a month and halting for three days the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline bringing refined products from the U.S. Gulf Coast.

These facilities are more critical than ever after the closure of several East Coast refineries – including a small plant in nearby Port Reading, which operator Hess moved to shut down permanently just months after Sandy.

Some additional safeguards are being put in place.

“We’ve…made some physical improvements to the Bayway refinery to help better withstand future major storm events, such as elevating electrical equipment,” Phillips 66 spokesman Rich Johnson said, declining to say whether the refinery’s 11-foot berm would be raised after Sandy’s 14-foot storm surge.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ (PES) 335,000-bpd refinery, which shut down or slowed some units as a precaution during Sandy but ultimately missed the brunt of the storm, sees less reason to protect against what was deemed a 100-year event.

“We came through that storm in superb shape…For three or four weeks afterwards we were supplying 50 percent of the market,” PES CEO Philip Rinaldi said. “There’s not a lot we would do differently. We’d do it the same way.”

PLUGS WITHOUT GENERATORS?

The most definitive government response comes from New York state, in the form of a provision in the 2013-2014 budget that will require gasoline stations on key populous routes to have the necessary wiring for an emergency power generator.

The state will grant $10,000-$13,000 for each station and also requires them to have an emergency generator or be part of a pool from which generators can be leased. But the $17 million program is contingent on New York securing federal mitigation funds and it is unclear whether and when this will happen.

For the majority of stations that are owned by small independent franchise operators, the bigger question is the total cost and availability of generators in an emergency.

“We still aren’t sure how much the rental on the generators will cost or how effective that system will work,” said Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also wants to create a Strategic Fuel Reserve, with the help of federal funding. But the proposal is at an early stage, with the state agency responsible, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), still seeking expert comments.

That agency will also check terminals’ back-up power capabilities and resilience against flooding before this year’s hurricane season, it said. However it does not have the power to force companies to act on its findings.

A report from a New York City agency set up in Sandy’s wake to investigate how the city can become more resilient to future extreme weather may offer more proposals next month.

In New Jersey, a working group appointed to look into ways to improve fuel infrastructure has not made any recommendations as yet, and no legislation has been proposed by the administration.

DRIVERS LEARNED A LESSON

For some in the industry, the best thing the government could do is worry more about demand and less about supply.

Local industry officials say New York should be better prepared to move to rationing that would help contain panic. New Jersey imposed even/odd rationing five days after Sandy and New York ten days after, a period which retailers said was too long.

As the crisis deepened, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) commandeered commercial trucks to deliver fuel to critical services such as emergency responders, but promises of free fuel drops went unfulfilled.

“The effect was confusion,” says Eric DeGesero, Executive Vice President of the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey.

Mike Scott, deputy director of the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) which coordinated much of the effort, said Sandy was an “absolute success” for the agency, though it was looking at ways to strengthen the system.

Many drivers, at least, seem to have learned their lesson.

This past February, as a massive snowstorm loomed over the Northeast, motorists rushed to fill up their tanks far earlier than usual, and in greater number, says Brian Fioretti, vice-president at Island Transportation, one of the area’s biggest retail tanker-truck distributors.

“Everyone knows you’re supposed to go out before a storm and get food, water and gas, but it was taken for granted,” he said. “Sandy has changed people’s perspective.”

(Additional reporting by Selam Gebrekidan, Cezary Podkul, Josh Schneyer, Jeanine Prezioso, Scott DiSavina, Robert Gibbons, Jonathan Leff; Writing by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Claudia Parsons)

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A look back at the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

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It’s another unpleasant outcome of Hurricane Sandy.

The hurricane caused 11 billion gallons of sewage to overflow into rivers, lakes and other waterways, according to a new report today.

Climate change group Climate Central reported that 32 percent was untreated sewage.

The spill is equivalent to Central Park being stacked 41 feet high with sewage — and 50 times the BP oil spill, the group said.

Climate Central said the overflow shows the danger of structures not being able to handle higher waters.

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  PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy aftermath

“Our sewage infrastructure isn’t built to withstand such surges, and we are putting our property, safety and lives at risk if we don’t adequately plan for these challenges,” said the report’s author, Dr. Alyson Kenward.

Today is the six-month anniversary of the hurricane, and people rallied outside City Hall to say they still don’t have enough housing and too many homes face untreated mold.

The Alliance for a Just Rebuilding appeared with union workers and people from groups like New York Communities for Change and Make the Road New York.

Many are still without housing as a city program is scheduled to end tomorrow.

And Staten Island resident Alison Puglisi said many houses are wrecked by mold, which she worried would only get worse as the weather warms.

“The city must do more to help us get rid of mold now in homes damaged by Sandy,” she said.

Council members also announced legislation to track how the recovery funding is spent.

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Orient Beach in Long Island will reopen this weekend after Hurricane Sandy damage, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today.

Sandy wrecked the beach, on the north fork of Long Island, ruining the entrance road and eroding the shoreline. All of the park’s building were flooded with water, which also destroyed dozens of trees and a lifeguard shack.

The state park will reopen Saturday.

Cuomo said the region will reopen more than 30 state parks by Memorial Day weekend.

“We continue to make tremendous progress in repairing damage to the parks’ roads, landscaping, infrastructure and beaches caused by Superstorm Sandy,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo also announced federal approval of $1.7 billion today to help housing recovery in the state.

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Sandy victims with nowhere to go when a city housing program ends April 30 should be allowed more time, officials will say at a City Hall rally today.

While the governor just extended federally-sponsored hotel stays for Sandy victims until May 29, the mayor wants to end a similar program on April 30.

The Department of Homeless Services reported in mid-April that 592 households are still enrolled in the City Hotel and Interim Placement Program, which has already provided six months of temporary housing for Sandy victims.

City Councilwoman Annabel Palma and the General Welfare Committee she heads will discuss extending the city’s hotel program today at an emergency hearing.

Metro previously reported that hundreds of New Yorkers are living in hotel six months after Sandy, and many say they have nowhere else to go.

Council members have been trying to work out a plan to give them more time.

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The city announced that it will distribute federal aid to homeowners who have already paid to fix damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg previously said the city would not reimburse residents because of concerns that there would be fraudulent claims, but the city has reversed its position with the announcement made Tuesday by Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Steel.

Details on the qualifications for the reimbursements will be announced following the program’s approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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On Earth Day, some tree-filled streets wrecked by Hurricane Sandy were finally being restored.

Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and City Parks Foundation workers, along with local students, were replanting trees Monday in Queens.

About 70 trees will be planted in Sunnyside and Woodside this spring, replacing many that were uprooted or damaged in Hurricane Sandy.

The Greening Western Queens Initiative located trees that were damaged and killed, and planned how to replace them.

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South Ferry subway riders will no longer have to walk to Rector Street to get the 1 train. Service was restored at the stop Thursday for the first time since Hurricane Sandy destroyed the station five months ago.

The MTA has restored the old South Ferry station, which has a smaller platform than what riders are used to. The new station will take two or three years to repair, the New York Post reports.

Restoring the century-old station cost about $2 million, the Post reports. Repairing the new station, which was just built in 2009, will cost about $600 million.

Approximately 10,000 riders use the South Ferry stop daily. The new station was flooded with 15 million gallons of water during the storm.

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Dena Pinto just wants a home again.

Pinto lost her apartment, on 116th Street in Far Rockaway, during Hurricane Sandy.

In the six months since, she’s shuttled from hotel to hotel, finally landing in a city-funded Brooklyn room.

But Pinto, like about 800 others that the Coalition for the Homeless estimates are in city-funded hotels, will soon lose her room key.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg will close the hotel program April 30.

Advocates say that means people like Pinto, 47, will have no place to go.

The night of the hurricane, she said, “We were literally standing in the ocean. It was wild.”

She tried to stay, but mold intervened. She ended up in a hotel in Queens, then one in Brooklyn.

After she and her fiancée lost their assistance for the Park Slope hotel, the city placed them at Kings Hotel on Atlantic Avenue.

“We’re just dealing with it,” she said, describing the tiny room where she and her fiancée can barely inch past each other. “It’s hell.”

They want their own place, but Giselle Routhier, a Coalition policy analyst who is helping Pinto, said she faces a stream of problems too common among Sandy victims.

First, they faced a slew of paperwork and frustrating waits for assistance approval. In Far Rockaway, Pinto had an affordable apartment. Now she can’t find something similar.

“Their incomes are not enough to support relocation to a market-rate apartment,” Routhier said.

The mayor recently announced a rental-assistance system, which will help, Routhier said.

Under the program, the city promises rental subsidies for households displaced by Sandy, something advocates have said families need to transition.

Renters will pay up to 30 percent of their income in rent, with the city helping to cover cost after that. Funds are also allotted to help with first and last month’s rent to facilitate leases quickly, according to city plans.

But for people in hotels, a few weeks might not be enough to secure affordable rents. Routhier fears they will end up in the shelter system.

“The majority of them are not going to have housing going forward,” she said. “That’s a huge problem.”

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @reporteralison.

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For many of us Hurricane Sandy is a thing of the past. We lost power for a few days and couldn’t ride the subway to work for a while, but that was about it. Others, though, are still grappling with the aftermath of the storm.

Members of the wine industry are banding together for an online wine auction that is raising money for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

Organized by Union Square Hospitality Group and John Ragan, USGH Wine Director and Master Sommelier, the online wine auction, titled Devine Intervention, will benefit The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.

Participants can bid on 250 wines and experiential packages including a cross-country trip for wine lovers including Napa and Washington.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the hammer price of each lot sold will be donated to The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York, which is helping with the Sandy relief efforts by providing hot meals, relief supplies, loans and grants to those devastated by the storm.

Bidders can visit www.de-vineintervention.com through April 7.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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Coney Island’s Luna Park opened Sunday for the first time since Hurricane Sandy. While local leaders and longtime fans of the park celebrated the traditional opening that comes one week before Easter every year, some local residents who are still struggling to recover from the storm came out to protest.

The opening arrived on schedule, even though devastation from the storm almost delayed the event, the New York Times reported. The storm had damaged rides and flooded electrical equipment. Most restaurants still remain closed, but Sunday’s celebration and opening of the rides signaled a return to normalcy for some New Yorkers.

Sunday’s excitement also highlighted how much more work needs to be done in the area following the storm’s damage. About a dozen nearby residents came out to the park to protest. They held signs that read “Coney Island is not back” and “People live here,” the Times reported.

A number of local businesses as well as major institutions like libraries, hospitals and police stations remain closed in the area.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said he understands the residents’ concerns and that it is important to keep the focus on them.

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The city has completed repairs on more than 20,000 homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy, officials announced today.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Rapid Repairs program finished repairing nearly 100 percent of homes, six months after the storm.

At times, he said, 2,300 workers were fixing more than 200 homes per day.

The homes fixed reflect 20,000 families and about 54,000 people, Bloomberg said.

NYC Rapid Repairs provides free repairs to homeowners who sign up for the program, through city-funded contractors and construction workers.

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu lauded the program, saying that her state learned “the hard way” how “ineffective trailers are as a one-size-fits-all solution.”

Bloomberg also elaborated about how the city will use $1.77 billion in federal aid that began trickling into the city last month. He said $10 billion will be donated to one- and two-family homes in need of moderate repairs. 

“We still have a lot of work ahead of us to help the families and businesses impacted by Sandy to make a full recovery,” Bloomberg said.

Since Sandy, thousands of people have been unable to return to their homes, with some living in hotels where they say conditions are awful.

And some homes might not be salvageable. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has offered to buy waterfront land from homeowners at pre-Sandy prices, to make sure no one builds homes on the land again.

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About 500 runners gathered Sunday morning for what organizers called the first co-ed marathon held entirely in Central Park since 1975.

The marathon course essentially comprised five loops of the park, though it skipped the hilly northernmost section. A half-marathon with roughly 1,000 participants also took place Sunday.

“It was a huge success,” said David Alm, communications director for NYCRUNS, which put on the event and plans to do so again next year. “Our race is essentially a throwback to [the original New York City Marathon]. It appeals to a certain sensibility.”

The New York City Marathon stayed entirely within Central Park from 1970 to 1975, but since then has gone through all five boroughs. This past year, it was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.

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After the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School approximately two months ago, it’s hard to think of a fitting way to honor the memory of the 26 lives lost.

A New Jersey firefighters’ union figured out the perfect way to memorialize the children and teachers lost while also benefiting children in local communities.

The firefighters will build 26 playgrounds in towns that were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. The project is titled ‘The Sandy Ground: Where Angels Play.’

Each playground will be named and themed after one of the victims.

The plan is to build 10 playgrounds in New York and New Jersey each. Another six playgrounds will be built in Connecticut.

Construction for the first playground will start in Sea Bright, N.J. and will be named after the special education teacher Ann Marie Murphy.

“The residents of Sea Bright lost so much from Superstorm Sandy that something like a new playground, besides providing a safe place for our children to play, is also a symbol of hope and recovery,” Mayor Dina Long told the Wall Street Journal. “It has a far greater impact that just a nice playground.”

The park dedicated to Murphy might also include a dog run to honor the teacher’s love for dogs.

Other playgrounds will include features that commemorate each victim’s personality. For example, Jack Pinto, who loved the New York Giants, will get a football-themed playground. Catherine Hubbard’s name will be put on a Staten Island playground by the sea and Noah Posner’s playground will be in Rockaway, near his grandfather’s house.

The project will cost $2.1 million and will be spearheaded by New Jersey’s Firefighters’ Mutual Benevolent Association. Construction for the first playground will begin Mach first. To donate to the project, click here.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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(Metro file photo)

Hearing some extra squeaks in your apartment?

Those might be rats that fled Hurricane Sandy, months after the storm.

Exterminators say the flood waters drove rats further inland than they had been before, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper reported that neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights and Lower Manhattan have been the source of many calls to exterminators.

Staten Island exterminators also reported problems in that borough, where a lot of homes remain empty.

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Residents of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village are seeking a rent reduction for services lost in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

According to the tenants association for the massive East Side Manhattan apartment complex, an assortment of laundry rooms, elevators, intercoms and bicycle storage facilities remain unusable more than three months after the storm.

As a result, the association has decided to file a claim with the state’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal.

“People have been extremely patient,” City Council member Dan Garodnick, a Peter Cooper resident, said Friday in a statement. “Restoring basic services has taken much longer than anyone could have expected. While work is ongoing, residents should not be forced to pay for services that they are not getting.”

A spokesman for CWCapital Asset Management, which runs the site on behalf of investors, could not be reached Sunday for comment.

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Three months after the storm, thousands of New Yorkers are not sleeping in their own homes.

Today, the first Congress-approved aid began filtering in, including $1.77 billion for New York City.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the funding will create grants for homeowners and businesses struggling to rebuild.

In a hearing Tuesday, the City Council addressed the thousands of people unable to return to homes – some in shelters, others in hotels.  Many said before the hearing that they are living in squalid conditions.

Starting in April or May, the funding will provide grants to homeowners, as well as businesses, who need help getting back on their feet, Bloomberg said.

“Some have had their homes completely destroyed, and the question is, what are we going to do to help them?” Bloomberg said.

But Patrick Markee at the Coalition for the Homeless said the proposals do not meet a pressing need – long-term assistance to people waiting for rebuilt homes.

And not all are homeowners, he added. Many had been renting and are now unable to find new apartments.

For example, an older Russian couple was renting a Coney Island basement apartment for $800 a month, he said.

Now, they find $1,500 rents, which they cannot afford.

“There’s a lot of need out there,” Markee said.

More than 13,000 businesses were impacted by Sandy, Bloomberg said today. The city will offer up to $1 million in grants to business owners who commit to staying in New York City.

“You can’t live if there aren’t local stores,” Bloomberg said. “We want to make sure they recover and make themselves less vulnerable.”

The millions devoted to housing recovery also include $120 million toward public housing developments, for uses like installing emergency generators, and $100 million in grants for innovative infrastructure ideas.

People ‘don’t want to leave’ hotels

Bloomberg said today that some staying in hotels are not eager to check out. “Some of the people in hotels don’t want to leave,” he said. Markee dismissed this as “a ridiculous comment,” adding that people do not enjoy spending three months away from jobs, communities and schools. “None of these families want to stay in a hotel,” he said.

Bloomberg defends delay

The mayor told reporters that funds would be available in the spring. “We’re not just going to send out checks,” he said. They want to make sure everyone qualifies. “In government speak, this is instantaneous. The government doesn’t back up a truck and dump bills on the ground.”

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