Gothamist: Power Outages from Underground to the Home

Blissed

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 09:35:51 -0500

As of 8:30 this morning Sunnyside still has super-low voltage, which is this weird state where some lightbulbs will glow very dimly but most appliances--everything from clocks to the fridge--aren't running at all. When you call Con Ed or 311 you just get someone reading a canned response. No help at all.

pen pen pen

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 08:55:52 -0500

the power was in and out all night where i live in astoria (49th st & 30th ave), but seemed to be on this morning (as well as the trains, thanks god). however, can anyone explain what was going on underground? i saw three manholes pouring out tons of rubbery-smelling black smoke last night (one right in front of my house, 2 on 30th ave) and my roomate saw at least 2 more, including one by the woodside projects shooting up blue flames. kind of scary.

Blissed

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:33:22 -0500

Any updates from the frontlines? I'm heading back to Queens via the N and 7, or at least that's the plan. And does anyone know exactly what happened in the first? First ConEd lowered the voltage, so we had two days of weirdly dim lights in Sunnyside, and today the power's out completely. If it was a cable failing, which is what I've read, how hard can it be to replace that? I'm no engineer, but still.

pen pen pen

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:41:36 -0500

i guess the trains are messed up too: http://ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=61134 this sucks. i wonder if they'll be working tomorrow am? i'm thinking of sleeping at work :( grrrrr i live in queens because i can't afford to live in manhattan or brooklyn. it's not like i can afford to take cabs to and from work. why are they always screwing us?

loveandcyanide

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:33:36 -0500

we're still out on 28th ave and 43rd street...how is it possible that it's taking them so long to fully restore our power?!

marc h.

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:46:56 -0500

power's still out at our apt. at 31st st. and 28th rd. in astoria, but oddly enough the lights are on in our building's hallways. anyone else have any better news?

bill brasky

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:10:02 -0500

Though I am no one's wife, I too just spent some time on the phone with Con Ed (well, 57 minutes on hold and three with a Real Live Lady). She said that she had No information on when power might be back and that they were working really really hard for us. Hmpf. Besides the power problem and the fire under Steinway that NO ONE is talking about, the other thing that I found disturbing this morning was that there was a construction crew of about five guys jack hammering the sidewalk, maybe fixing stuff, with flip flops, shorts and tee-shirts on. No safety goggles or anything. I put my faith totally in Con Ed right then.

Dan Dickinson

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 14:49:56 -0500

My wife called ConEd earlier, asking if there was any ETA for the power to come back; she was told (and I'm paraphrasing) that "maybe if our neighbors actually listened to them, the load would go down and then we'd have power." Uh...

Fried

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 14:42:24 -0500

Shouldn't this be used as a forum to share information and vent personal stories about the ongoing blackout? Instead, people are ridiculing each other because of the neighborhood they live in? No grandstanding here, but come on - this sucks, no matter where you live. I'm just waiting for ConEd's excuses to come rolling in. Thier hotline states the outage sparked from the lightening storm last night, when it began well before that. And the MTA is publicly blaming ConEd for the shortage of trains over their PA announcements. Two crooks passing the buck.

Paging Dr. Benway

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:45:29 -0500

PS1 is Queens is by far the most cutting-edge museum in NYC. And those artists living in Qns who enjoy its peculiar multiculti flavors are way more interesting than those succumbing to the rather middlebrow groupthink of what's a cool/uncool borough.

pissed astorian

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:27:30 -0500

I like it that the Queens haters won't live here! More room for those of us that like it. Well, apart from the SUCKY power crap. And who cares about hip? From what I hear, people detest the hipsters, which flock to "hip" neighborhoods.

Kojak

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 12:35:04 -0500

Queens natives like the idea of living in the 'City' without being labeled as Long Islanders. It’s a nice arrangement. Last time I checked Queens is the most Diverse County in the country. I’d rather live in Queens then in a Shoebox Manhattan apartment, paying *1500 in rent. *Please note that people in Astoria live there because they can't afford Manhattan and believe Astoria is a 'hip' happening neighborhood, cept for the fact that its barren and lame. (Except for Beer Garden)

Eric

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 12:08:58 -0500

Ben, I actually am leaving today, but I'll be back. Sucks for you, I know. I know it's hard to hear that some people don't like living in New York, but big boys get over it.

Aristocrat

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 12:02:54 -0500

Further validation that living in Queens is just not cool....

kings of queens

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:45:04 -0500

Astorians are welcome to my place in Manhattan. Queens has gun ranges and archery ranges, sure it's a pain to get to but if you have a friend in Queens with a car, they'll gladly take you there. That's what I've found with Queens people, they actually will help you out when it comes to transportation.

masande

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:43:39 -0500

last time i checked there was a target in brooklyn. as well as a fairway which queens certainly does not have. and by the way, i'm on day three of brownouts and over 12 hours completely without power.

Jim Norton

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:42:06 -0500

I'm a fancy man, and in my fancy Manhattan apartment I require a constant 69 degrees. People of queens: get better jobs.

F-U Queens

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:38:32 -0500

Cry me a river Queens. You got the airport in your backyard, numerous train lines, the only Target in the area, and the Mets! I live in Williamsburg and I have to deal with the L train f'n up nearly every day, and like this weekend, not having it run at all to and from the city. Boo hoo you were inconvenienced for one night. Get over it and stop your hatin' on the other 'hoods.

Mark Caserta

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:36:36 -0500

A lot of the outages yesterday had nothing to do with having enough power. It was about the transmission lines failing in various neighborhoods thanks to heavy use and the 100 degree temps. A line blew out on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn, causing a lot of the businesses to close all day, including my store 3r Living. Con Ed was there all day but the progress was REALLY slow.

T.R.

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:32:40 -0500

I can't believe its going on 3 days of brownouts, and we have been given no information as to when this will be fixed. I guess we are just supposed to keep going home each day and cross our fingers that power will be back? This is ridiculous.

Ben

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:27:42 -0500

Eric, feel free to leave today. We won't miss you.

pissed astorian

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:27:26 -0500

bray bray, to each their own. I, personally, have no interest in living in Manhattan, despite this nonsense about power. And what's this about urine? Hell, there are uriney parts all the boroughs, no lie. Never smelled Archie Bunker - what a wierd comment to make.

bray bray

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:16:57 -0500

queens is gross. it smells like urine and archie bunker. thank god i'm rich enough to live in manhattan.

zzzzbbzbbb

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:14:12 -0500

Damn straight Brasky my man. Unlike Manhattan or fashionable Brooklyn, Queens is still inhabited mostly by .. well .. real people doing their thing with what they've got. It's been impossible finding much news on Western Queens, but if this happened on the LES or in Williamsburg, you'd have a million tofu-stuffing yupsters freaking out and wishing they never left their parents' McMansion in god knows where.

Eric

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:14:12 -0500

Add me to the column of pissed off Astorians. Luckily my air conditioner was still running last night, but lights, fans, etc. were totally off. Yet, no one else in the city was given "limited" power. It's a joke, and I can't wait to get out of this Mickey Mouse city.

pissed astorian

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:04:18 -0500

I, too, am angry that Brooklyn and Manhattan are not asked to scale down power usage. Why should Queens residents have to bear the burden? And we house the Con Ed power station in our backyard. WTF???

g

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 10:41:25 -0500

Last night while watching TV, WNBC scrolled an alert across the bottom of the screen. Something to the effect of "DUE TO HIGH POWER DEMAND, CON EDISON IS URGING CONSUMERS TO DISCONTINUE USE OF ALL NON-ESSENTIAL APPLIANCES AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT. FOR MORE INFORMATION WATCH NEWS CHANNEL 4 AT 11 OR LOG ON TO WNBC.COM." To learn more about power shortages, use your electronic devices!

bill brasky

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 10:37:26 -0500

Why is it that people in Astoria are completely with out lights, air conditioning, hot water and cell phone service, but people in Manhattan and Brooklyn aren't being ask to scale back their use at all? Hmm, here's my idea: steal from the people who aren't stupid enough to spend their entire salaries on some ugly LES apartment and give to the morons who are.