Over the past few weeks, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Broad Channel) met with Broad Channel resident Frank Harnisher, whose story has been covered in local media because the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) hired a contractor to help make his block more storm-resilient, and the contractor subsequently left his property in a state of disrepair. Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. and Councilmember Eric Ulrich were also on hand to weigh in on Harnisher’s behalf. Harnisher had given the contractor permission to store equipment used in storm fortification on his property. The transportation and use of the equipment then damaged his pool, his fence and several other structures, and actually decreased the length of his house's own bulkheads, increasing his susceptibility to storm surges.

"It was absolute craziness," said Pheffer Amato. "Frank voluntarily opened his property to this contractor, and they not only damaged his home, but then they disappeared - supposedly at the direction of the Build-It-Back - without repairing the damage. I'm glad our office got the call, and that we were able to bring the DDC and the Contractor back to the table. We've received assurances that his property will be next in line for appropriate repairs, which is important, because Mr. Harnisher has been living with this damage for months."

"I appreciate everything the Assemblywoman, the Senator and the Councilmember have done, and I'm glad to hopefully be getting this all behind me," said Harnisher. "This is the first time everyone has come together to make a plan. It shouldn't have to take this much effort. Reasonable people should be able to sit down and work out these situations. But I appreciate everyone who stepped in to actually starting to get it done, and I look forward to seeing it actually completed."