New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says a program to help city homeowners with Superstorm Sandy home-repair efforts has made progress following his administration’s overhaul.

De Blasio said Monday that there have been 727 construction starts and 878 reimbursement checks through the Build it Back program so far this year. That’s compared to none at the start of the year, when he took office.

The program had come under criticism for its sluggish pace. A report earlier this month from the city’s Department of Investigation found that about 20,000 households applied after the program was created in June 2013. But eight months later, no repairs or reimbursements had been made.

De Blasio said the city aims to get to 1,000 construction starts and 1,500 reimbursement checks by year’s end.

(AP)