\n"); // echo(' Good morning. Chairman Cahill, members of the Assembly Insurance Committee, thank you for holding this hearing on behalf of property owners, business owners and residents throughout our city who are continuing to struggle in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

We convened this hearing so that we can begin to address some of the problems that New Yorkers have run into with their insurance companies following the storm.

Our city was devastated by Sandy and so many of our fellow citizens have lost everything: Their homes; their businesses; tragically, in some cases, their loved ones.

We owe it to them, and to everyone who has suffered and continues to suffer, to get some answers and help them put their lives back together.

It is for times like this that business and property owners purchase insurance, so that when an unforeseen catastrophe strikes, they are not left to fend for themselves.

We need to make sure that insurance companies do a better job, a timelier job, of coming through with the assistance they are paid to provide.

That is why I sponsored a bill creating a Homeowner's Bill of Rights, which will help both homeowners and business owners understand what they are entitled to and make sure that insurance companies are responsive to policy holders.

In my Lower Manhattan community, suffering in the days following the storm was widespread. To that end, I would like to acknowledge some of my constituents who are here today: Catherine McVay Hughes, Chair of Community Board One, which covers Battery Park City, the Financial District and the South Street Seaport, all of which sustained heavy damage.

Fernando Dallorso and Eve DeGrezia, who are both business owners in the South Street Seaport, which was crippled by the storm and remains on virtual life support.

In fact, businesses throughout the South Street Seaport were wiped out and many are still shuttered completely. A once vibrant economic engine for Lower Manhattan, these businesses are reeling and in desperate need of help.

I never imagined that once again, as we did after 9/11, I would be driving a Winnebago around Lower Manhattan, which in the days following the storm served as a mobile district office, delivering vital supplies, including food and water, and allowing people to charge their electronic devices in an area without electricity.

Many residential buildings all over Lower Manhattan were severely damaged. Some of them are still uninhabitable. Knickerbocker Village on the Lower East Side, home to thousands of low- and moderate-income tenants, was hit badly by the storm and was left in a financial hole because of repair costs.

We cannot know when and where the next disaster will strike but we can make sure that our business owners and our families are protected if the unthinkable happens.

That is why we are here today and that is why I have asked all of you to come and share your experiences so we can resolve the outstanding problems from this storm and take the steps we need to avoid them next time.

Thank you.