Schumer Demands New Army Brass Approve Mamaroneck Flood Project

MAMARONECK, NY — The new Assistant Secretary of the Army didn't get much of a honeymoon before the Senate Majority leader called to demand action on plans to mitigate future flood damage in Mamaroneck.

The new Assistant Secretary of the Army, Michael Connor was confirmed on November 4; that same day, one of the most powerful elected officials in the country was calling to insist the Army Corps of Engineers make the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake River Flood Risk Management Project be included in the "Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022" work plan.

"The Hurricane Ida damage I witnessed earlier this year was devastating, which is why I directly called Assistant Secretary Connor as soon as he was confirmed to let him know the urgency of including this project — to prevent future harm and protect the people of the Village of Mamaroneck," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said of the call. "We need to do everything we can to protect and rebuild the Mamaroneck community that has already suffered for decades because of severe flooding and I will continue to fight tooth and nail to make that happen."

Schumer said he explained Mamaroneck’s tragic history with flooding on the call with Connor. The majority leader said he fought to pass the Disaster Supplemental so that essential flood and storm damage protection projects, like the Mamaroneck project, would not continue to be held up in bureaucratic red tape and he phoned personally to make this clear to the new Assistant Secretary to the Army who now has direct oversight of the Corps of Engineers.

In early October, Schumer announced that he secured the $1.5 billion in disaster supplemental aid to fast-track Ida-impacted Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) construction projects, including the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake River Flood Risk Management Project. New York's senior senator explained this means the project could receive funding quickly, bypassing several of the bureaucratic hiccups that have stalled construction for years.

Schumer said that the purpose of his call with Conner was to make certain this remained the case.

The project has been stalled for the past two years by the Trump administration based on faulty cost-benefit analysis, according to Schumer, despite strong support from the USACE, which would provide the "boots on the ground" necessary for construction.

"Ever since he visited in early September after Hurricane Ida, Senator Schumer has not taken his foot off the gas in this fight to finally get the funding needed for shovels in the ground on the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake River Flood Risk Management Project," Mamaroneck Mayor Tom Murphy said. "He got the funding we needed in the Disaster Supplemental, called the top person at OMB to make sure she knew about our village and the devastation we’ve seen and it says a lot about Senator Schumer that he called Assistant Secretary Connor — just hours after his confirmation as the new Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works - to fight for us and this project."

New York's highest elected officials at the federal, state and local levels converged on Mamaroneck in September to tour the devastation. Saying, "enough is enough," Schumer vowed at the time to clear the logjam that had stalled the flood mitigation project in the village.

SEE ALSO:

• $1.5B To Allow Mamaroneck Flood Mitigation Construction: Schumer
• Mamaroneck Flood Mitigation Project To Move Forward: Schumer
• 'Enough Is Enough,' Lawmakers Demand Flood Mitigation Project