ALBANY – Superstorm Sandy threw about 46,000 New Yorkers out of work, Gov. Cuomo said today.
The number of unemployment claims jumped by that amount during the first week of the storm, Cuomo told The Post’s Fredric U. Dicker on Albany’s Talk 1300 AM radio today.
That added to a base of about 140,000 to 150,000 New Yorkers out of work, Cuomo said.
“That is a serious economic consequence,” he said. “How long those people are unemployed, how many businesses that reflects, we don’t know. But it’s gong to be significant. This is a fiscal issue prompted by human suffering.”
Cuomo said it was too early to calculate Sandy’s impact on the state budget, which already faces a “manageable” $1 billion deficit next year. “But it can’t be good,” he said.
“The big question” is whether Washington will approve a supplemental appropriation he’s requested to help reimburse New York for what he estimates is $30 billion worth of economic damage caused by the storm, Cuomo said.
“This is probably the second greatest storm after Katrina” to hit the United States in recent memory, said Cuomo, who argued the feds have ponied up supplemental appropriations for far smaller disasters.
He acknowledged federal lawmakers are reluctant to approve big payouts in the face of the looming “fiscal cliff” that will trigger big spending cuts if Washington can’t agree on alternatives by the end of this year.
“It’s going to be a difficult time for the delegation to deliver,” Cuomo said in reference to the state’s congressional representatives – who are reportedly angry with the governor for failing to vet his request with them before going public with it.