Charities had not disbursed almost $240 million of the $575 million in contributions they had received to help victims of the storm, according to a survey conducted at the end of March. So the attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, sent letters to some of the bigger charities, including the American Red Cross, asking them to explain how they have handled the donations.
Mr. Schneiderman said it was "deeply troubling" that as late as April, "so much money had gone unspent." He added, "Sadly, even today, we have far more questions than answers about how charitable donations for Hurricane Sandy relief have been used — or why this money has not been spent so many months after the storm. It is crucial, both for the victims and for the donors who gave so generously, that these funds are deployed as quickly and effectively as possible."
Mr. Schneiderman was scheduled to release his report on the hurricane relief funds on Wednesday, in Breezy Point, Queens, the beachfront neighborhood that was devastated by flooding and fire. All told, the storm caused the destruction of more than 350 homes there.
Some in Breezy Point are still grumbling about how images of their damaged community were widely used by charities to solicit contributions. They said they did not feel that their neighbors had received a fair share of the relief money.
The damage in Breezy Point was invoked repeatedly during the nationally televised "12-12-12" benefit concert in December, which raised more than $50 million. But Steven Greenberg, the chairman of a relief fund organized by residents, said it received just $150,000 from the Robin Hood Foundation, which received the money from the concert.
"People are hurting; people need help," said Mr. Greenberg, of the Breezy Point Disaster Relief Fund. "There's a lot of frustration in the community that we became the poster child for this devastation, but what share of the money has come back to us?"
Arthur Lighthall, the general manager of the Breezy Point Cooperative, which owns the land under the remaining 2,482 houses there, said, "People are just very surprised by the fact that there are millions and millions of dollars collected out there and the face of it is Breezy Point, and the average person isn't seeing anything close to that kind of money."
For its part, the Robin Hood Foundation says it has given out all of the $71 million it had collected for hurricane relief before this week.
"We made a great effort to make sure that all of the money was granted as soon as possible," said Patty Smith, a spokeswoman for the Robin Hood Foundation. "We recognize that for a lot of these folks there were going to be immediate and acute needs to be addressed."
The Robin Hood Foundation passed on the money it collected to other organizations to provide specific services, like home repair or mental health treatment, in communities from Long Island to the Jersey Shore, Ms. Smith said. It ranked second behind the Red Cross in the amount of money raised for Hurricane Sandy relief, according to the attorney general's report.
The Red Cross received about $300 million in contributions, but as of April 1 had allocated only $130 million of that money. In his letter, Mr. Schneiderman pressed the Red Cross to detail how it planned to distribute the rest of the money, and also to explain why it stopped collecting for Hurricane Sandy relief so soon.
He said the Red Cross responded that on Dec. 31, it had stopped directing money it received toward Hurricane Sandy relief unless the donor expressly requested that it be used for that purpose. But he demanded to know how the Red Cross informed donors of those restrictions, or if people may have mistakenly thought their contributions would help victims of the hurricane.
A spokeswoman for the Red Cross, Anne Marie Borrego, said, "The Red Cross is spending all donations that are specifically designated for Sandy for those impacted by the storm."
Ms. Borrego also provided updated figures for the Hurricane Sandy relief that the Red Cross has doled out. She said the agency had "already spent or committed" $225 million of the $304 million it had collected.
A relief fund in New Jersey that is presided over by Mary Pat Christie, the wife of Gov. Chris Christie, received criticism a few months ago for spending the money it collected too slowly. That organization, the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, has collected about $38 million and allocated about $15 million, a spokeswoman, Eileen Lofrese, said. She said an additional $5 million would be spent in the next few months.
"Our purpose is to fulfill unmet needs in areas where federal money falls short," Ms. Lofrese said. "Gaps in funding between federal aid and insurance will become more pronounced as time goes on, and we will be there for New Jersey communities as they need help on long-term recovery needs."
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