New York Times (11/26/12) Thomas Kaplan

New York State will hire more than 5,000 unemployed residents in temporary positions to help clean up debris and distribute supplies in areas stricken by Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Nov. 25. The jobs will pay approximately $15 an hour and could last as long as six months. They will be available to residents in the communities that were most affected by the storm, including areas of New York City, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley. State officials said that hiring would be focused on young people as well as the long-term unemployed, and that the positions would be financed by a grant of nearly $28 million from the federal government.