New York reached a big milestone with its program to help homeowners rebuild after Hurricane Sandy.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and FEMA announced Sunday that their say Rapid Repairs has now completed work on more than 10,000 residences.

The free program offers emergency repairs, including restoration of heat, power and hot water.

It is a way to keep people in their homes instead of forcing them into temporary housing, and can also be helpful in minimizing damage to buildings.

Rapid Repairs has been criticized at times for being too slow, mostly because of a shortage of contractors.

According to the mayor's report, the program also completed work on more than 6,000 buildings.

Work has started on another 7,800 buildings, with about 4,300 remaining.