Gothamist: Con Ed Restores (Most) Power But It's Still "Con Dead" to Queens

simon

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:18:14 -0500

tg, couldn't agree more.

Daniel Millstone

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 18:00:55 -0500

Now power outages are popping up in Staten Island. But Mayor Bloomberg shouldn't worry -- it's not the upper East Side in the dark.

tg

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:42:07 -0500

Clearly ConEd has some serious, serious problems going on, but when it comes to how to handle the situation I'm going to go with a guy who built and ran a billion dollar corporation before I'd listen to business advice from NY Post columnists or local city councilmen. They are all populists and will say whatever they think people expect them to. And yes I lost my power too (though not for the whole 8-9 days).

tom

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:45:35 -0500

bob, They may have 4 power plants as you say, but there were no problem with the plants, its getting that power out to local communities that is the problem. Queens is growing extremely quickly, they are going to need to get some large infrastructure and substation projects through to meet the demand as this blackout proves. fortunately for the city those plants you speak of were built at a time when people realized they need to make compromises for everyones good, otherwise we would have to discuss generation issues as well. btw, bob i love how you keep the conversation on such a intellectual level.

dan Selzer

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:01:07 -0500

most of Queens is unsightly enough, who's gonna say "oh, those power lines detract from the natural beauty that is Major Chevy on Northern Blvd, or the delightful scenery that is the elevated 7 line that keeps Roosevelt Avenue cloaked in shadows and dripping in subway drippings". I'm sorry, as a recent convert to Queens, all I can say is, you don't move here for the scenery.

Jeebus

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:48:47 -0500

oops. sorry

Jeebus

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:47:35 -0500

Tom is correct. That is exactly how most communities would react to any proposal to expand power lines, substations, etc. No one wants it in their backyard, but of course they’d love the benefits. “Ohhh but the power lines are unsightly and they bring down our property values, not to mention our quality of life” It’s the same shit, over and over all over this country.

Jeebus

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:46:17 -0500

Tom is correct. That is exactly how most communities would react to any proposal to expand power lines, substations, etc. “Ohhh but the power lines are unsightly and they bring down our property values, not to mention our quality of life” It’s the same shit really.

bill brasky

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:27:41 -0500

I'd like to say that while they may have complained about the substations, these are also the people who, despite objection, are living in the literal shadow of Con Ed and still have a week plus of black outs.

tom

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:12:49 -0500

while i feel badly for what people had to go through and I am no apologist for con ed, these are also the same people who complain every time the city or con ed wants to put a substation or backup gas generation in an area and say not in my backyard. the use of power is going up as queens expands in population and people use more power hungry items. its quite a problem for both sides, but these community groups are really going to have to stop fighting infrastructure changes.

Eric

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:02:35 -0500

I'm glad that my power is back on and all, but nothing has changed at ConEd. This morning I witnessed seven workers standing around eating and smoking while one guy dug a hole. If this is indictative of the way they work, perhaps the power could have been back on last week if they had actually started working on the problem before Friday. Or maybe not.