Steven and Terri Kuhr’s East Northport home.
He was axed by Gov. Cuomo over broken branches but still raked in the green.
Steven Kuhr was fired as chief of the state Office of Emergency Management on Nov. 7 amid the Hurricane Sandy disaster when Gov. Cuomo learned that Kuhr had diverted a Suffolk County emergency crew to his home after his wife whined to him that a tree had fallen on their driveway.
Kuhr lost his $153,000 state job, which he had held just over a year.
But two weeks later, the state extended a $415,000 consultant contract with a firm that Kuhr founded, Strategic Emergency Group, and which his wife, Terri, runs out of their East Northport home, The Post learned.
The contract was awarded to SEG — which assists in planning and training for disasters — nine months before Kuhr took the state job. It remained in effect while he held the post, paying $111,612 to the company, records show.
Kuhr, 51, president and CEO of the company when he took office in October 2011, said at the time he would “divest himself” of the company’s interests.
“In the application process, Mr. Kuhr claimed he was relinquishing all his personal responsibilities and ownership” of the firm, said Matthew Wing, a spokesman for Gov. Cuomo.
But Kuhr “did not disclose that his wife was CEO of the company” when he was hired, a state official alleged. She owned 60 percent of the company and he 40 percent, filings with the state Comptroller’s Office show.
Last May, in his financial-disclosure form, Kuhr claimed no involvement with any firm doing business with the state.
SEG’s Web site last week listed Kuhr as “Senior Emergency Manager,” the second of a six-person “team” after his CEO wife.
In the May disclosure, Kuhr listed his spouse as CEO of SEG, and a “consultant” with a contract worth over $1,000 with the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.
That contract was set to expire in September 2012. On Nov. 21, two weeks after Kuhr’s firing, the state approved a two-year extension to 2014, which would have let the firm collect the full $415,000.
But Friday, a day after The Post asked the state for an explanation, officials whacked the contract.
“The Governor’s Office immediately canceled the contract after being made aware of the extension,” Wing said.
Terri Kuhr denied her husband has any role in SEG.
“If anything, he’s going to be a consultant to the company. That’s what we’re hoping he comes in as,” she said.
Steven Kuhr referred The Post to his lawyer, John Rieck, who said his client hid nothing.
“Not a single individual in state government was deceived about anything,” Rieck insisted.
SEG is designated a “Disadvantaged Business Enterprise” because it is “woman-owned,” a label that helps it compete for federal contracts. On state forms, Kuhr listed his wife as a “compensation analyst” for AIG.
Kuhr previously held contracts with the state Comptroller’s Office and the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, which hired him. Earlier he worked about 20 years for the city Office of Emergency Management and as an EMT.
The state Inspector General is conducting a “broad investigation” of Kuhr, officials said.