SBA administrator tours Brooklyn businesses devastated by Ida's flooding

A Small Business Administration administrator from Washington D.C. and a New York representative visited Saturday some of the many Brooklyn businesses that are still recovering in the wake of Ida.

News 12 Staff

Sep 25, 2021, 10:43 PM

Updated 1,187 days ago

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A Small Business Administration administrator from Washington D.C. and a New York representative visited Saturday some of the many Brooklyn businesses that are still recovering in the wake of Ida.
The storm’s extreme weather hit New York City with record high flooding that left many New Yorkers in waist-deep water and caused some businesses to lose everything.
SBA administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman stood alongside Rep. Nydia Velázquez to meet with business owners and see firsthand the damage Ida has left behind with their own eyes.
"We saw that our infrastructure in New York is not equipped to sustain the kind of weather we saw during Ida," Velázquez said.
Their first stop of the day was at Lucy's Lounge, a staple in Park Slope that is known for its signature cocktails. The business' basement flooded during Ida and caused it to lose months' worth of inventory.
It's situations like these where the SBA said it can offer relief through economic injury disaster loans.
"We fund local small business development centers and women's business centers and veterans' business centers," Casillas Guzman said.
"Let's get the people's work and let's provide resources that are needed so we equip every business," Velázquez said.
A total of 350 applications have been submitted in Brooklyn alone in response to the remnants of Ida, but that is just a small fraction out of the thousands who are hurting.
"This is why it is so important that Congress get to work," Velázquez said.
"Anyone can come in and get direct assistance from an SBA advisor to walk through the process," Casillas Guzman said.
Casillas Guzman added that her hope is for economic aid to be granted to all through these recovery efforts.