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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER on the Waterfront at DUMBO in Brooklyn, New York, USA. September 28, 2013:

The Downtown Under the Manhattan Bridge Arts Festival wraps up Sunday and is well worth a trip to the lively Brooklyn Bridge Park area where you can tour open studios and enjoy the brawny shoulders of the Brooklyn warehouse district.

On a perfect autumn day in the Big Town, thousands of good-natured New Yorkers from all walks of life, creeds, and countries of all ages just enjoyed the heartbeat of the greatest city in the world.

The Ship of Tolerance under the iconic Manhattan Bridge  created by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov of Staten Island

The Brooklyn Bridge built in 1883 wairily eyes the Freedom Tower, left.

I’ll take Manhattan! Part of the greatest skyline in the world–the tip of Manhattan with the 1883 Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground

The Iconic Manhattan Bridge, built in 1909 and it carries rail mass transit. How come the new Tappan Zee Bridge can’t use this design?

The Manhattan Bridge upclose and personal with the Williamsburg Bridge built in 1903, in the distance up the swift East River

The Empire Stores, one block of  shuttered warehouses, built in 1869 and 1885 that served the tall-masted barks bringing goods to and from the Orient. Running along 53 to 83 Water Street. The massive warehouse takes you back in time to cobblestone streets, pushcarts and the smell of coffee in the air

Famous Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses above the Eagle Storage Warehouse built in 1893, now turned into condominiums. Architecture that still stirs the aspiration to achievement

Shades of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis:” the F TRAIN THE OLD BMT MAIN LINE SIGNATURE TRAIN RUMBLES REGULARLY INTO DUMBO ACROSS THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE. THE ROAR EVERY 5 TO 7 MINUTES GIVES THE NEIGHBORHOOD A JUICE!

RESTAURANTS AND SHOPS ALONG COBBLESTONE STREETS WITH BRICK WALLS AND COPPER CEILINGS TAKE YOU BACK IN TIME

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor’s Office. September 28, 2013:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York State’s Housing Recovery Program will fully compensate homeowners affected by Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and Superstorm Sandy for the repair costs of damage to their homes due to ‘earth movement.’

Under FEMA’s existing National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations, damage caused by the movement of soil or earth – even if the movement is the result of flooding – is not eligible for coverage. In comparison, physical damage to a building caused directly by flood waters is covered under NFIP.

As a result of this gap in coverage, hundreds of impacted homeowners throughout the state have had their NFIP claims denied, leaving many with no place to live and no resources to rebuild.

“Over the last few years, we experienced three once-in-a-century storms that wreaked an unprecedented level of devastation in communities across the state,” Governor Cuomo said. “While we have made much progress in recovering from Irene, Lee and Sandy, many New Yorkers are still left without a place to call home and limited resources to rebuild due to National Flood Insurance Program regulations, which state that homes damaged by ‘earth movement’ are not covered.

“Yet it simply does not make sense that some New Yorkers who were just as hard hit by the same storms as others cannot be compensated for their losses. That is why the State is stepping up to bridge this unfair gap in insurance coverage. Under our Housing Recovery Program, homeowners will be fully compensated for all repairs of damage. We are pleased to deliver this assistance so that all New Yorkers can move forward on the path to a full recovery.”

“Many New Yorkers were hopeful that they would be covered since they had purchased flood insurance,” said Director of the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, Seth Diamond. “However, they were unaware of this NFIP rule regarding earth movements. As a result, these homeowners did not receive the assistance they were seeking, and many who did not have the resources to rebuild on their own are still not back in their homes. Now, these residents will be eligible to receive funding through the State’s home rebuilding program instead, and their eligible rebuilding costs will be covered.”

The State will continue to conduct outreach to homeowners to ensure that those interested can apply for assistance. In addition, the Office of Storm Recovery will provide technical assistance to the communities under the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program to evaluate and determine if local resiliency measures could assist with limiting the impact of earth movements. For more information, call 1-855-697-7263 or visit www.stormrecovery.ny.gov.

Governor Cuomo created the Office of Storm Recovery in June 2013 to centralize recovery and rebuilding efforts in storm affected municipalities throughout the State. In close collaboration with local and community leaders in these areas, the Office is working to respond to communities’ most urgent rebuilding needs while also identifying long-term and innovative solutions to strengthen the State’s infrastructure and critical systems for the future. Storm Recovery programs include the Recreate NY Smart Home program, which provides homeowners with assistance for home repairs/rehabilitation, mitigation and elevation, and buyouts, and the Small Business program, which provides small business grants of $50,000 or more, as well as low-interest loans.