US News

Feds helping themselves to $andy pie

WASHINGTON — The maximum FEMA grant for people who lost their homes in Hurricane Sandy is $32,000 — but the Obama administration wants to use the aid to pay a lot more than that to fix up one of its own prized houses.

As part of its $60 billion aid request, the administration is seeking $4 million to fix up the grounds around Grey Towers in Milford, Pa. — the turreted former home of Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the Forest Service — along with trails in the Monongahala and White Mountain forests.

The storm toppled more than 100 white pines and hemlocks on the grounds, plus about 1,000 feet of deer fencing, the National Park Service said. The building was unscathed.

It’s not the only federal project being sandwiched into the aid package.

The feds want $20 million in emergency disaster cash for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to evaluate fisheries and coastal habitats.

Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo has appointed Lawrence Waldman as the new chairman of Long Island Power Authority, The Associated Press said.

The previous head of LIPA, Howard Steinberg, resigned after the utility took heat for its lackluster response to the storm.