July 24, 2006
Queens Blackout, Day 8: Power Slowly Returning, Emotions Running Non-stop
After a week of being powerless or near powerless, thousands of Queens homes and businesses are starting to power back up, but it almost feels like too little, too late. It's already been a week of no food, no hot water and no business for many people, and one family blames the death of a 60 year old father on the blackout. Politicians are also fuming: They want Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke to resign, pissed that Burke minimized the blackout as an "inconvenience," and for Governor Pataki to designate Queens a disaster area. Representative Joseph Crowley said during a press conference, "If this were an area of 100,000 people in upstate New York, the governor would have declared it a disaster area." No kidding.
Con Ed now says that only 3,000 customers remain without power (is that customers as in "discrete residents" or customers as in "buildings with many residents") and that Con Ed workers, along with contractors from other power companies, are on the scene:
One thousand Con Edison employees and contractors are working in the Long Island City network to bring the lights back on to residents and businesses in these communities. As service is being restored, residents in northwest Queens will see 39 generators, and miles of wires on the street. Equipment that normally would be underground will be on the street. That equipment is insulated, safe, and will be protected.So, over the next week (weeks?), expect lots of manhole fires as Con Ed tries to rewire everything. And we were reading the Times article today which says, "Con Edison has pledged to reimburse residents up to $7,000 for spoiled food and other damages, and the city has promised to assist small businesses affected." Does that mean the $350 reimbursement for damages has been lifted to $7,000? Doesn't seem that way yet, according to the Con Ed claims site.The network of cables, transformers, and other equipment in the affected area has sustained major damage, and most of it must be rebuilt. Much of the work that was done this weekend was temporary to get power to as many homes and businesses as quickly and safely as possible. Once temporary repairs have been made to restore service, Con Edison will focus on making permanent repairs.
The company is asking customers in the affected communities to continue to conserve electricity even when their power is restored because of extensive damage to wires and cables.
Top photograph from Tina Fineberg/AP; bottom photograph from jasoneppink on Flickr
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Con Ed isn't the only one who failed here. The Red Cross didn't show up in Sunnyside Gardens until Saturday night, and there were thousands here without power since Monday. There was no outreach to the elderly and sick, not a single sign anywhere telling people where they could get food or relief. It was pitch black at night, and OEM didn't bring in giant lights until this weekend. What does this say about disaster prepardness?
Good post!!
yup.
I understand that the $7,000 reimbursement is for store owners only (who have received paperwork to fill in regarding what perishible merchandise what lost); and not all residents.
Yep, Bloomberg did it again.
He praised Con Ed for doing a great job.
"...expect lots of manhole fires as Con Ed tries to rewire everything."
Many Astoria residents know full well that manhole fires can be prevented with a lot of lube, mainly butter.
But on a serious note they don't dispatch services like the Red Cross in partial blackouts like these. Most officials assumed that power would be restored after a short time, but no one, not even Con Ed knew the extent of the Damage until days later.
I know people are ITCHING to point blame at somebody, but I'm going to wait before putting the blame on Con Ed until a full investigation into the cause of the problem and the response is carried out.
Oh and there will be plenty of lawsuits. Oh yes.
Oh yeah, and I love how the one thing the Mayor kept stressing was to be sure to say "Thank you" to the Con Ed workers and the Sanitation guys and whomever else. I guess if you're in the dark, can't get a good shower, have no heat for food or power for A/C, at the very least, you'd better keep your manners and thank everyone for everything that's not fixed.
The $7000 is for commercial use only...$350 is for residents.
Would this ever have gone on so long, with so little explanation, if it had happened in an affluent part of Manhattan? Hmm...
Well, that's the $1,000,000 question, isn't it, Nicole?
When I was in high school, I had a buddy who's dad worked for Con Ed, and he came right out and said it: When you've got a blackout, you can't turn everything on at once, you'll surge, and you can't tend to every area at once, you don't have enough men. So you have to do it a little at a time... and who do you think is going to get their power back first?
So, I said, a blackout really is a black-out?
Needless to say, I wasn't invited back for Sunday dinner.
And while we're on the subject, let's hear it for Governor Shitforbrains, the Poster Boy for Fecklessness. While he spends our tax dollars in this delusional quest for the '08 GOP presidential nomination, food is spoiling all over Queens. I say, instead of throwing it out, send your spoiled food to the Governor's Mansion in Albany. Include a map, so he'll finally know where Queens is.
I know for certain this would never have been tolerated anywhere else in NYC or NY State. Nobody, not Con-Ed, not the mayor and certainly not even the local politicians (until it became politically advantageous for them to yell and scream) gave a shit about what was happening here. I hope every single member of Con-Ed's management team is fired with $0 severance for the blatant lies, misinformation and total incompetence in dealing with this matter.
Just for the record, I'd like to thank Gothamist for being on top of this from the very beginning. More than I can say for our major news outlets or politicians. Suddenly the power outage has been moved to front-page news, suddenly it's advantageous for the politicians to yell and scream and still not get anything done. Where were they a week ago?
A friend of mine who was affected by the blackout in Woodside informed me that con ed workers were working throughout the night in front of their building but only became aware of it when they were woken up by empty bottles of heineken being thrown down the street by workers sitting curbside as well as idley throwing shit down an open manhole cover while killing time until the next shift of workers came by. (will try to get pictures they took of them this happening so I can post) Please, please remember to thank the Con-Ed workers!
Egg timer diplomacy is what a lot of you expect, not just with this, but everything. The blame game is your true game of passion, it gets you thru the day. If there was no one to blame you'd blame inanimate objects. Get a grip!
I'm gonna wait this one out. An investigation will be conducted and at the other end there will be an answer. That is when I will start swingin', if necessary.
When they say "customer" they mean building. It is pure spin and it makes me sick that most news outlets are propogating these lies rather than explaining that 1 customer could easily equal 50 or 100 people, especially in the areas with larger apartment buildings.
It took 1.5 days to restore power to the NY area during the 2003
Blackout. In Queens we are going seven days and counting. In a matter of hours a cohesive answer was provided to explain the blackout that spanned multiple states, in Queens we are going seven days and counting. For a week, dark storefronts lining Ditmar's Blvd. are dotted with signs warning, "Store closed. No Power!" Cops, firemen, and the Red Cross have taken over the neighborhood giving it the appearance of a disaster zone. I count myself lucky two lamps in my apartment have provided enough light to cut through some of the blackness. The only senior citizen in my house to worry about is Tilly, my 90 year old landlady, who is as resilient as a rock, and after a week without power is still raring to go. Throughout all this, two questions have lingered, why did this happen, and when will they fix it. Seven days and counting and both remain unanswered. Our Mayor stated in a press conference that the power company seemed to be making progress. As much as the community appreciates such a dubious answer, I'd like to extend an invitation to him and the Con-ed execs to partake in the privilege of a dark, stuffy apartment, lacking simple commodities such as hot water, a working fan, and lest I forget no cell phone reception. Con-ed has given many of us back our light, but how about they shed some light on why this happened in the first place?
I don't know about all of you, but I could live without electricity for a week or so. Just bring along a good book or do something else that’s constructive. Now is the time to be creative.
I see this as a kind of freedom away from a lot of the distractions that plague our lives. Yes it’s a colossal fuck up of epic proportions, but you all might as well try to make the best of it.
Awww...isn't naivete cute?
"Bring along a book?" Sounds nice, but without light, not a particularly useful suggestion. And by "along," I guess you mean "home" - which, for many people has been an ungodly oven with no food.
I'm sure that most of the Queens residents without power (especially the elderly) don't see this as akin to a quaint weekend camping in the woods.
What if you need to work everyday?
I think I'll tell my boss I'm taking the week off due to the power outage. He'll reply sure but don't come back after that week.
Let's be real, people.
This was a major f up no matter how you slice it.
and, for those survivalists and kookoo for flashlight folks, let's see you survive a week and have to find a way to get to work every morning.
This is not Katrina where everything was shut down and you could of bunkered down for a month with your generator, MRE's and such.
This is why a little preparation can go a long way.
I for one have a list of supplies just in case of a disaster:
-Extra Flastlights, candles, Matches
-Surplus MRE's, lots of canned goods, propane & coal stove
-Tent
-My Old Boy Scout Handbook
-Bottled Water
-Extra Books (Sideway Stories from Wayside School, American Psycho)
-Last 6 Months of FHM, Playboy
-Extra Tissues, Lubriderm
Be Prepared is indeed the Boy Scout motto and Everyone should go by it.
*Flashlights: Gotta appease the GrammerNazis
Grammar! Whoops haha
You're nuts, you know that?
this is not a camping trip, how can you get ready for work the next morning when you have no water.
How long do you think that bathtub of water will last if you're using it for flushing and washing?
Many buildings need an electric pump to get the water into the water tank on the roof.
"This is a major f-up no matter how you slice it". However, it's inevitable the shit will hit the fan, eventually, this could happen again next week or next year.
Perhaps after the 9/11 attacks and the power outage of 2003, ConEd and NYC would have been more prepared, but then again it doesn't seem like the consumer was very prepared either.
Since corporations cannot show us reliability, perhaps it's our duty to help ourselves.
GEAR UP! I know, it sounds nerdy and so "mayor-like" but be serious. This is how to deal with it:
EMERGENCY SUPPLIES:
1. WATER (by the gallon, strore it for situations like this) - Ice is not and essential drink your water warm)
2. NECESSITY NON PERISHABLES: Dry foods, canned food, freeze dried food.
3. Portable Gas Stoves or Grills, ems.com or rei.com or for cheaper deals: campmor.com
4. There are also solar packs (not too expensive) that will eat sunlight and replenish your cell phones and other electronics, batteries etc. Do some research, it will help you in the next disaster.
5. Blankets- wool and down (for winter)
6. BUY (and they'r enot expensive) rechargable batteries.
"survive a week and have to find a way to get to work every morning." Um... do you remember the transit strike? Yeah... survival sucked during those cold-ass winter days... yeah we had electrictiy, but no transportation...
Help your eldery neighbors and children first... it's just electricity, we all know you still have gas. That's where extra water supplies and freeze dried food comes in...
There are some portable showers that work pretty well as long as you hang the water bag on top of something. Other then that, I'm sure by now there are porta-potties outside.
I’m just saying if shit hits the fan, there are always options. Sometimes the only person you can count on in these situations is not Con-Ed or the city government, but yourself.
Unfortunately, the residents of Queens were not preparing for a trip to Burningman, so this checklist is a bit unrealistic. NOW, though, that folks know how much the City has failed them, they WILL be more prepared in the future.
This was NOT a SHTF event.
Being prepared would of helped, of course.
PEOPLE STILL needed to get to work the next morning, so life still went on.
I'd rather walk to work and come back to a home with electricity than to use the limited Subway to get to work and come back to an oven with no electricity.
9/11 SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOUR FIRST INCLINATION TO PREPARE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY FOR "WAR".
This is the main-stage problem in this great nation... "it'll never happen to me/us". Well it did and NEW YORK CITY and the STATE, for 5 long years, have been trying to grill it onto your brain.
BE PREPARED.
While much of the blame probably goes to Con Edison for this electrical outage, I also blame every consumer with no PLAN. Does someone hold your hand on every little element in your life? GET PREPARED, it's as simple as that, stop blaming the world around you for everything.
Kojak, please go back to San Francisco.
And the same thing is happening in Saint Louis right now on a larger scale. I have a sinking feeling that incidents like this are going to be very commonplace in the US from now on.
"I have a sinking feeling that incidents like this are going to be very commonplace in the US from now on."
It really doesn’t have to be. We just need to invest more into our electrical infrastructure, produce more efficient Air Conditioning systems (Since high use of AC’s is a big part of the problem) and other high energy appliances.
I am hoping that Kojak's apartment gets blacked out for 10 weeks. Wouldn't that be funny?
Then he could tell us all about his MRE nibblings.
Hey, I wrote about the manhole fires that this article links to. We still don't have any electricity. I just wanna say that my neighbors are a bunch of good natured troopers. They got complaints of course, but they're not livid, even when we were watching the explosions on Saturday night. I think that's pretty cool. If I had to choose a place to inconvenience for at least a week, without getting into too much trouble with anyone with power (teehee, pun), then I'd probably pick Astoria. Just sayin'. (And obviously we don't know if anyone had a "choice" about who to black-out.)
Don't knock MRE's. Most taste pretty good when cooked properly.
I can live if the power goes out in my area. Bring it on! I'd make even MacGyver proud.
It is not even 350 but *150* for individual residents. The 350 is only for people who can prove item by item (with receipts, photos of "clearly visible" price tags, and photos of each example of spoilage) the specific items that spoiled.
Even if you have saved all your grocery receipts (and I don't)... even if you somehow knew to take photos of each individual item's "evidence" of spoilage rather than throwing out those nasty items... if you don't own a digital camera and have to pay for film/developing, that is even more ridiculous.
Even if the power comes back tomorrow (it's not coming back tomorrow), that is $17 a day for no power, no way to shower or clean anything, no fridge, no cell phone, no way to cook, no answers or public information -- PLUS hundreds of dollars of spoiled food.
Am I prepared for TEOTWAWKI?
yes, but could always be better prepared. (all you really need is a gun, to be honest, wink)
Anyway, I suggest the people with cars get an inverter so they could at least get some things going. A fan, at least. An idling car does not use that much gas, sure it's polluting but you gotta set your priorities.
Help neighbors out by charging their phones and if you're real nice get a long extension cord.
Stay strong Queens residents. Fight the power.
Don't like it?! Well this is NYC, a sh$thole overfilled with masses. You don't like it? Get the f out of there and move somewhere else. If you think that its not for you, then stay and STFU.
All you 'prepared' people.
Tell that to your girlfriends/wives/daughters after some nutcase rapes them.
Cuz it's always the victims fault right?
Radical self reliance is nice, but there's a lot of old people out there who are just too weak/old/tired to be expected to fend for themselves in this shit.
What rambo McGunny says is don't blame con ed for your unpreparedness. then will insert some political crap about how we are a welfare state. yada yada yada.
bunch of nutcases if you ask me, like those flashlight lovers. they need it to find their cock in the dark. nerds, what can you say?
The lot of you should band together and just not pay ConEd with threats of class action lawsuits. Your reimbursement for lost food and inconvenience should be 3 months of free electricity - "free" meaning the average of your previous 3 months' utility bills x 3.
As for these wacko survivalists, you all belong in fucking Montana or something. *You* are the ones who need to get the fuck out. People come to NYC specifically NOT to live off of MREs (no matter how delectable they may be).
Kojak, I gotta say you are a shortsighted dillweed. If you're a youngish person in reasonable health, then of course all you need is to snuggle up with a secondhand copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and an MRE or two. But if you're older, disabled, maybe poor with a couple babies, it's tough to deal with the heat and lack of water during a blackout. It's tough to maneuver around your own apartment in the dark when you're old or infirm. Biological fact: Elderly folks and infants cannot deal effectively with heat, and it can easily kill them. It's not a matter of sucking it up and toughing it out. People die from the heat.
And if you're an average working-class Joe (ie, most people), maybe you don't have a lot of expendable cash to put together an emergency kit for "just in case."
Think outside your own box. Not everyone is as resourceful or idealistic as you, and that doesn't make them weak or inferior.
Since when did I start to side with the notion of the survival of the fittest and fuck the rest of them? I’ve only mentioned a few precautions people can take in case emergency services couldn’t do a sufficient job. The tents, MRE’s and stoves are just stuff I have from past trips but they do come in handy in a time like this. People can certainly keep some basic items on the side in case of a blackout or some other event.
Like it or not, there may be times when the Red Cross, police, etc may be overwhelmed and unable to provide assistance to the people who are most vulnerable for whatever reason. I have never been 100% confident in the ability of government to protect its citizens from any disaster. So what do you do? Bitch about it? nag? Complain? Yeah sure. Why not… but that won’t help solve the problem in the short term. In the meantime at least keep some essentials handy and watch your neighbors if they are in need.
Is that so unreasonable?
What a nightmare.
Thank god no reports of looting.
I agree somewhat with Kojak, but I don't think this is the right time to put forth the idea. It's kind of like blaming the smoker in the family during the funeral of one of the relatives who dies of lung cancer. There will be plenty of time for that later, but for now, how about we give it a rest?
We all know the "prepared" guys are nerds.
C'mon, boy scout?? NERD and perv if you're over 30 and a scout leader.
If you're one of the prepared guys, I would keep that fact hidden until needed. Till then don't show off your nerd stuff like that $200 flashlight.