Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday said residents and business owners affected by the September five-alarm fire at a Red Hook warehouse can now apply for a disaster loan from the Small Business Administration.
The governor said she secured a Physical Disaster Declaration for Kings, Queens, Richmond and New York counties. A review by the SBA found that 59 businesses sustained more than $9 million worth of damages from the fire at 481 Van Brunt St. on Sept. 17.
“No homeowner, renter or business owner should face the devastation of a major fire without support,” Hochul said in a statement. “By securing a Physical Disaster Declaration, we are ensuring that the Red Hook community and surrounding businesses that sustained major fire damage have access to the financial resources needed to make repairs, recover, and resume normal operations following this disaster.”
The following groups may be eligible for SBA disaster loans:
- Homeowners: up to $500,000 to repair their primary residence.
- Homeowners and renters: up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
- Business owners: up to $2,000,000 for the replacement of real property, inventories, machinery, equipment, and other physical losses.
- Businesses and non-profits: Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2,000,000 to provide necessary working capital until normal operations resume after a disaster.
Applications for disaster loans may be submitted online using the MySBA Loan Portal at https://lending.sba.gov/ or other locally announced locations. Residents and business owners can contact the SBA’s Customer Service Center by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.
The application deadline for physical loans is Jan. 13, 2026 and the application for economic injury loans is Aug. 14, 2026.
