Governor Andrew Cuomo is offering financial support to business owners in Chelsea who were affected by Saturday night's bombing. The governor was in Chelsea Tuesday for the announcement. Zack Fink filed the following report.
Making his second visit to Chelsea since a bomb rocked the neighborhood on Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state will be providing help.
The governor deployed a mobile unit from the state's Department of Financial Services to provide assistance to businesses and homeowners filing damage claims with their insurance companies.
"The Department of Financial Services regulates the insurance industry, so they are very familiar with the process, etc. And in a situation like this, we would hope that the insurance companies would be cooperative," Cuomo said.
Tapping into a $200 million emergency reserve fund in this year's state budget, Cuomo also announced that he and the two leaders of the state legislature will make state funds availble to reimburse those losses not covered by insurance.
"Most of it will be covered by private insurance," Cuomo said. "If it's not covered by private insurance and it's due to the bombing, then the state will pay."
Cuomo also toured a gallery on West 23rd street that suffered extensive damage from the blast. Daniel Peretz, originally from Israel, is the gallery owner.
"Don't let the terrorists scare us. If they are going to scare us, where are we going to go?" Peretz said. "I am here because of what is happening in Israel. Where are we going to go, back to Israel? Everywhere is the same thing."
Cuomo says he has no estimate yet for how much this cost, but he is confident that the money in the $200 million state fund should be enough to cover it.