Power

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Politics
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Con Edison, John Hall Barry Grodenchik, Queens Centers for Progress, Alex Coroneous, Battery Park, NYC Council, North Bellerose Civic Association

Big news of the week involved so many of us – including this commentator – losing power last week.  Lost ours around 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday.  I reported to Con Edison via text message. Interestingly the text “process” never yield an approximate power up time.  News stories Wednesday suggested today.  Ouch! I worked with my local NY City Council Member Barry Grodenchik to help get my community up and running (I am “acting President” of my North Bellerose Civic Assocation; another story).  Got to credit Barry for his advocacy and frequent check-ins. Indeed, as soon as I heard my landline chirp Thursday just before 10:00 a.m. signaling power’s restoration, I heard a knock at my door; it was my Councilman making sure the power got back on as promised.  With power came the return of phone, cable and Internet service.

 

I texted my daughter she could return home from her granddad’s who had power and ‘net (and where she was powering up our laptops. We had used our cars to power our iPhones and iPads the night before. I tweeted my thank you to my council member.

 

One casualty of the outage: A zoom talk scheduled last Wednesday before the “Queens Business Morning Mixer,” now re-rescheduled for Wednesday, August 19.  The topic (think the relatively quick return of power in my community): “the benefits to your business of knowing your politicians” (RSVP Alex Coroneous, Queens Centers for Progress, at acoroneos@queenscp.org.

 

The intermittent Internet left me at one point having to “process” over 200 emails Wednesday eve and we powered my phone sitting in our White Car (Marisa used the blue car.) listening to baseball on the radio.

 

So many friends and colleagues reported power being out. Some relied on generators.  Times like this frustrate this former public servant.  I discussed with friends and colleagues better strategies going into this summer and (severe) storm season.  From the statements and news report I expect some accountability.

 

So not quite relating to the loss of energy per se, enjoy former U.S. Congressman John Hall’s song that titled today’s commentary (and this version from the 1979 rally at Battery Park sandwiched between some Garden concerts that I served as part of the day’s legal team, and the studio original).

 

Wishing those still without get empowered again promptly!

 

Stay safe!

Comments

Fred Klein

We came home from dinner Friday night to spy our lights on! I immediately took a photo of the glare of an outdoor spot light and posted it on Instagram/Facebook with the caption “Power for the People!”

My main complaint during the outage was the annoying sounds of generators.
Mitch Tobol

Power's on but Cablevision is not. Poor response from the company. When we called them, they said they had no power...back-up generator? Hello?
Rick Raymond

I was upstate. Lost power for about 7 hours Several hours into it .. about midnight the security system alarm starts sounding due to lack of power. got it turned off, back to sleep. An hour later it went off again, waking all. Turned it off. An hour later again. I dismantled it. An hour later the CO monitor alarm is screaming (about 3 am). Dismantled it. But now my wife and I are sitting there thinking about CO. Is it power failure or is there CO? How to know? Where would CO be coming from? If we went to sleep again would I wake up? If we asked the children what to do what would they say? What are the alternatives? No tent in the backyard available. We could sleep in the car. We did until about 7:00 am. Power was back on and no alarms were sounding. As they say, better safe than sorry.
Corey Bearak

Shelly complained as well because of the loud noise overnight. The level probably violated the municipal code.
Should change the phrase to mirror the song: https://youtu.be/4Epue9X8bpc
Daniel Schwartz

Luckily we never lost power. But several on my son's baseball travel team did, just blocks away. My wife and I have been walking every morning this last week (trying to trim down) and we still notice a few generators in one particular area of Lynbrook. We saw a lot of Verizon trucks around yesterday as well. Are they blaming delays on the pandemic, as many were likely furloughed?
Corey Bearak

With both the PPP and other programs, no reason exists for public utilities to furlough workers AND always work to be done from pruning branches threatening overhead lines to upgrading transformers and other equipment. These companies are usually excellent for their shareholders so no excuses exists to invest properly to mitigate impacts of heat waves and severe storms. Accountability required!
Rona Gura

Didn't lose power at home but we did at my office. So I lost two days at my office. Pre-Covid that would have been disastrous for me. But I am fully functional at home and was very productive.

Submitted by Steven_Lichtenstein on Sun, 08/09/2020 - 01:34

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Steven Lichtenstein

We had no AC for the last week unrelated to and preceding Aisias. We got our AC back Thursday. PSG&E were adequately prepared as they brought in over 4000 crews from out of state emergency teams. It is what it is and What’s So is that this season may have 15-20 named storms and 3-6 major ones. This one snuck up on this so the lesson learned should be to start preparing for the next one. We can’t just blame government and local municipalities every time something goes wrong.
Carly Bentley

Been without for 5 days total. Generator running non stop. No cell or internet-make working from home impossible. Just heard, we’re up and running now. We went to Buck Hill Falls, to no internet or furniture
Corey Bearak

Unconscionable delay! What I found interesting was how weak cell service (towers out?) during the outage.
Corey Bearak

Knew about your office from email from my insurance agent advising on outage. I always believe in overlapping capacities.
Corey Bearak

disagree on blame. Essential for government to be prepared and make certain public utilities have systems in place. We did that when I served inside. Also, it involve more than the response. Everyday things including pruning branches and equipment maintenance and upgrade must not be ignored to "slow-waled."
Shelley Simpson

I can't help but think about what it is like to feel completely powerless. While I have found myself in that condition on more that one occasion, I always knew deep down in my gut that my power would be restored. As for electrical power, we were spared any inconvenience this time around. That said, and given this tale, I will definitely be on th Queens Morning Mixer.
Kelly Welles

Gotham’s White Knight rides again. In coming days, I am reminded to introduce you to a military intelligence Vet who produces portable generators that can sustain power up to four days in a blackout.
RitaSue Siegel

Putnam County where I am had power restored yesterday. But that did not tun on my power because the line to my property was knocked to the ground separately. We are at mercy of local electricians who are overwhelmed; but one loaned us generator while we wait. Worse is the sporadic WiFi.I have vowed to keep calm. Living with anxiety is unhealthy.
Corey Bearak

That is horrible; just adds to the questions one needs to ask when re-locating. Stay safe. Hope you get back on the grid soon.

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