With the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaching, it appears the city will miss the deadline set by Mayor Bill de Blasio to complete thousands of rebuilding projects. Staten Island Reporter Amanda Farinacci has the story.

Robin Muller says contractors are now a familiar sight outside her Topping Street home.

The city's Build-it-Back program has all but moved in on the block, elevating several houses to meet new federal flood insurance guidelines.

"They're fast," Muller said. "When they're here — they work."

All that work, however, will not be enough to meet an ambitious goal set by Mayor de Blasio.

Ten months ago, he vowed that all projects to repair and elevate homes through the Build it Back program would be completed by the end of this year.

But sources tell NY1 that at a closed-door meeting in Borough Hall last week, program officials downplayed the deadline.

"I want to make sure everyone's clear — this is a goal we're working hard towards but it's not like we're shutting our doors on December 31 in any way," said Amy Peterson with Build-it-Back

Crunch the numbers, and it is clear the work will not be completed in time.

Work to lift 385 homes has begun — but only 50 of the projects are completed.

And basic repairs to another 1,400 homes have yet to begin.

With the average project requiring three to eight months it's all but impossible to meet de Blasio's timetable.

"They have a couple of hundred jobs going on right now, that have been going on for ten months," said Marc Alvarez, who is waiting for his home to be raised. "And I know, there's no way those jobs will be completed by December 31."

City councilman Steve Matteo says his office continues to get calls from residents with concerns about Build It Back.

He says the city needs to move quickly to set a new deadline -- and to make sure that one is reached.

 “Why we didn’t hit that goal, we have to fix it, we have to understand it," said Councilman Matteo.

Build-it-Back officials say some delays have been caused by complicated rebuilds.

They also say work has been slowed by a lack of temporary housing for people whose homes are being repaired

Build-it-Back has asked community groups and realtors to help with that housing crunch. But the demand for temporary housing still outpaces the supply.