City Approves $85.4 Million for Hurricane Response New York City has approved $85.4 million in emergency contracts to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, buy equipment to respond to the disaster and provide relief to its victims, the city comptroller's office announced on Monday. The contracts include millions for work on the city's beaches as well as money for equipment and repairs - laptops, sandbags, food, cars, oxygen, new pumps at sewage treatment plants and escalator repairs, according to a spokesman for the office of Comptroller John C. Liu and a spokeswoman for the medical examiner. Approval was also given to a contract for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on the recovery of bodies, according to Mr. Liu's office and a spokeswoman for the medical examiner. The spokesman for Mr. Liu's office, Matthew Sweeney, said that because the contracts were approved on an emergency basis, he did not yet have the names of the contractors and vendors and had no further details on the nature and scope of the work or the materials approved for purchase. He also could not say whether any emergency contracts submitted for approval were denied. "The comptroller's office has been working with City Hall to ensure that agencies have the resources to get recovery and relief efforts where they are needed," Mr. Sweeney said in a statement. The largest contracts, after work on the city's beaches for the parks department, were for the Department of Environmental Protection, the Sanitation Department, the Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the spokesman said. The comptroller's office approved $30.3 million in parks department contracts to repair damages to various beaches, including Rockaway, Manhattan Beach, Coney Island and along Shore Parkway. Approval was given for $15 million in contracts for the Department of Environmental Protection for pumping equipment and work at sewage treatment plants and satellite phones. The office also accepted $14 million in Sanitation Department contracts for heavy equipment and for workers to augment the agency and provide replacement disposal capacity, the spokesman said. A Sanitation Department official was also unable to provide details but said the disposal capacity probably referred to thousands of tons of storm debris the agency was taking to construction and demolition vendors. The spokesman said $12 million in contracts for the Department of Design and Construction would go toward heavy equipment and construction-related services. City agencies are normally required to follow a set of detailed rules when they purchase goods or services. In extraordinary circumstances, agencies can submit emergency contracts, seeking the approval of the city comptroller and corporation counsel by phone. The contracts announced on Monday were approved in that fashion. Smaller contracts were approved for the Police Department ($285,238 for aviation fuel, dock and station house repairs); the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications ($30,000 for laptops to be used at City Hall); and the medical examiner ($16,050 for the disaster preparedness consulting on the recovery of bodies). Other contracts were for the Transportation Department ($1.7 million in repairs to escalators, elevators and electrical systems at the Staten Island Ferry terminals in Whitehall and St. George); the Office of Emergency Management ($4.84 million for oxygen, ambulances, ambulettes, buses, ready-to-eat meals, livery cars, sandbags, vacuum trucks and other equipment); and the Buildings Department ($750,000 for structural engineers). The $85.4 million figure was for contracts approved as of 4 p.m. Monday, but the spokesman said that contracts were constantly being submitted and approved and that the Mr. Liu's office would continue to provide updates.