La tragedia se presentó en casa de Long Island - La Voz Hispana NY

HISPANICVOICENew York's Largest Spanish Weekly NewspaperOfficial Newspaper of the NYC Hispanic Chamber of CommerceCalling on insurance companies tohelp small businesses after SandyBy Bill de BlasioPublic AdvocateSmall businesses were some of the hardest-hit victimsof Hurricane Sandy. From Cross Bay Boulevard in HowardBeach to Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, local enterprisessustained severe damage that rendered them inoperable– in some cases, indefinitely. But instead of proppingthese businesses back up on their feet as quickly aspossible, some insurance companies add fuel to the fire bydenying customers full payouts on their policies. This isnot the spirit we need as we continue to rebuild afterSandy.Many insurance companies offer compensation forwind and rain damage – but because the damage so manylocal businesses sustained during Sandy was from flooding,many small businesses receive much less compensationthan expected. This often isn’t enough to cover the costs ofrepair, whether it’s replacing a boiler or fixing shatteredwindows. The longer these small businesses -- local shops,cafes, restaurants and mom-and-pop stores -- stay closed,the more likely they are to fail.If your insurance company denied your business a fullpayout on your policy, you’re not without options. Ifyou’re contesting the amount -- not the scope of damage --each policy has an appraisal clause that requires mediation.You can also file a complaint with the State Department ofFinancial Services. To file a complaint about an insurancecompany, submit written complaints to DFS that includesyour name, property address, name of insurance company,claim or policy number, and nature of complaint to:Kate M. Powers, Esq.Director of Legislative AffairsNew York State Department of Financial ServicesExecutive Offices - Suite 1700One Commerce PlazaAlbany, NY 12257For more information, call the DFS storm hotline at800-339-1759. You can also contact the small businesshotline at the Public Advocate’s office for further assistance:212-669-4691“The City should have monitoredthis lease agreement and nowmust work to recoup millionsof dollars of lost revenue.With all the additionalfinancial demands in therecovery from Sandy, weneed to bring in all therevenue taxpayers are owed.”LIU: CITY, CARNEGIE HALL ARE OWED MILLIONSAudit finds for-profit subtenantCarnegie Tower overcharged expensesCity Comptroller JohnC. Liu announced thatthe Carnegie HallTower — a for-profitoffice building that is adjacent to,but unaffiliated with, thevenerable concert hall — owesthe City as much as $2.1 millionin rent from underreportedincome in recent years.The City collects a percentageof rents that Carnegie Tower paysto Carnegie Hall as the culturalinstitution’s subtenant. Severalyears ago, the Tower inappropriatelyexempted millions ofdollars of expenses from the rentsit owes without approval fromeither the City or Carnegie Hall,thereby reducing its payments toeach.“Our taxpayers and the iconicCarnegie Hall were shortchangedto the tune of millions ofdollars,” Comptroller Liu said.“The City should have monitoredthis lease agreement and nowmust work to recoup millions ofdollars of lost revenue. With allthe additional financial demandsin the recovery from Sandy, weneed to bring in all the revenuetaxpayers are owed.”Comptroller Liu’s audit foundthat, in Fiscal Year 2010,Carnegie Tower deducted $8.7million in expenses from itsreported rent collections withoutapproval. The Tower also failedto report $224,000 in rentalincome. As a result of theTower’s unapproved deductionsand unreported rent, the City —and Carnegie Hall — did notreceive the full payments thatthey were owed in FY 2010. Forthat year alone, the City shouldcollect at least $363,521 inunpaid rents and interest. TheCity may be owed up to $2.1million because Carnegie Towerbegan taking these unapproveddeductions as early as 2001. Asmaller percentage of the Tower’srent collections goes to CarnegieHall, resulting in a likely loss forthe cultural institution of morethan $1 million over the years.The audit also found that theDepartment of CitywideAdministrative Services, which isresponsible for monitoring theCarnegie Hall lease, failed toreview the calculations behindthe entities’ payments.Background:In 1987, the 60-story CarnegieTower was made a subtenant of CarnegieHall.Each year the Tower must payCarnegie Hall either its full real estatetaxes or $3 million, whichever is higher.The Tower also pays 4% of itsgross commercial rents, minus certainexpenses, to Carnegie Hall. CarnegieHall passes 70% of the Tower’s paymentsto the City.The Tower underreported its incomeby taking $8.7 million in unapproveddeductions to its reportedrents in FY 2010. Comptroller Liu’saudit found the Tower started takingthose deductions several years earlier,so the City may be owed asmuch as $2.1 million.The full audit is available fordownload at http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/audit/audits_2012/11-15-12_FM12-068A.shtm13LA VOZ HISPANA • N.Y. NOVIEMBRE 29 A DICIEMBRE 5 DEL 2012 • http://www.lavozhispanany.comLA VOZ HISPANA NEWSPAPER IS LOOKING FOR ADVERTISING SALES PEOPLEPlease call for an appointment at 212-348-8270during working hours 9 to 5 pm -monday to fridayLA VOZHISPANASee our Webside at: http://www.lavozhispanany.com