Gothamist: Con Ed Releases First Report of Many on Queens Blackout

Aristocrat

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:47:20 -0500

As usual, a bunch of conspiracy, snopes-worthy bullshit. Give me a fucking break.

zincink

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:27:11 -0500

I feel bad for the poor graphic designer who had to put those charts and graphs together to make that 107 page PDF from hell.

East

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:51:53 -0500

They are handing out flyers on 14th St between Ave A and 1st Ave. They say, "URGENT This neighborhood is at risk of a complete power outage." And list things to do to protect yourself and save power. (Has Sephora shut their doors yet?) My building has shut down the laundry and elevators. We also got notices warning of a possible power outage. Notices on the doors say we are already on reduced power.

CoreyK

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:58:46 -0500

Speaking of wasting power, every effin store on 34th st has their doors open with AC blasting out. Same goes for SOHO and probably every other shopping area.

MT

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:53:25 -0500

Ahhh. Thanks for the clarification S.D.

Kips Bayer

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:27:47 -0500

"there are no reported outages on Manhattan's east side." They don't know what they're talking about. Because ConEd is so dense, I called them up around 2:30 to tell them that Kips Bay Tower, on 30th btwn 1st and 2nd (the huge 20story concrete building), has no power. So, they're wrong about whether there are any reports and wrong that there are no outages. This morning, all the elevators were out in the building, there was no water, and most apartments had partial power (rooms without power, reduced power in other rooms). They've had plenty of time to figure this out. Kips Bay Towers are one of the largest apartment complexes in New York City. Just goes to show how reliable 311 is for anything.

S.D.

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:20:42 -0500

MT, the subway train power worked since it's on DC but everything else went down (Switching, lights, communications, etc)

charshiu

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:19:11 -0500

Called 311 as of 4:10 PM and the operator said: 1) they are reducing power to Bkyln, Qns and Bronx by 5% and 2) there are no reported outages on Manhattan's east side.

Glenn

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:49:40 -0500

I have talked with folks from Councilmember Garodnick's office and I just got an email from State Senator Liz Krueger saying they are very concerned about a blackout happening since many of the feeders are out so this is real. It looks like the Eastside is going to have some problems. They might have to isolate it from the grid to prevent the whole thing from going down.

MT

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:47:54 -0500

How can the subway stay up during a power outage? Didn't it die along with everything else during the big blackout a few years ago? If it were on an independent grid, how would that have happened?

hmm

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:43:56 -0500

It's weird that they send people home, to all their individual apartments where the first thing they will do is go inside and crank the a/c. I wonder which uses more power - 100 ppl in an office or 100 ppl at home with a/c. Also, some buildings on the East Side (like 3 Park Ave.) were lit up on top ALL NIGHT last night. Nice power saving measures, guys. 41st and 5th had about 8 jumbo TV screens on in the windows as well. There really should be a fine for places that do that. So wasteful.

S.D.

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:36:42 -0500

"My friend's dad" might as well be from "your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate."...

eugene

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:24:25 -0500

Apparently it is true that non-essential ConEd staff were sent home around noon. My girlfriend's aunt works for them. No other details.

inet speak

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:24:17 -0500

"rascism"? is this like "linching"? I know that wasn't a typo because I see it a lot. (alot)

Krissa

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:16:41 -0500

I'd err on the side of caution with that email and its veracity. Anything that starts with "my friend's dad" is questionable.

jmchez

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:15:54 -0500

Well, this what happens when politics intrudes into technology. Con Ed, like all electric utiltities , has a system based on what is most likely. Spending millions of dollars on extra equipment (feeders) when they may only be needed a few days a year does not semm like a sound fiscal policy for any business no matter what the industry. So the solution would be to cut off the power when you see the regular feeders overheating, right? No, because the last time Con Ed did that, the politicinas cried foul and rascism because of the neighborhood that was cut off. So now, Con Ed will rather let the system go haywire and blame technological issues rather than take the right and most efficient action. Anything to avoid the demagogic pols from jumping on an explicit human decision by a system operator.

Tim N.

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:14:51 -0500

The email looks bogus to me, but apparently Con Ed has actually asked all the buildings on the East Side from 14th to 42nd to cut power in half. There are offices that are sending people home, but I don't think the email has anything to do with it.

Dave H.

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 14:55:40 -0500

I talked to a ConEd lineworker last week--and this may just be union agitprop--but according to him, ConEd execs facs massive fiscal penalties for shutting down feeder cables. In that situation, they're more liklely to allow a more-widespread failure occur and say "Ah man, the system's f'd" than cut the power at a less critical juncture. Again, that's just hearsay from a lineworker, but those guys are "On It."

snow

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 14:26:12 -0500

If the power goes out in Manhattan, will the subways still work?

Eric

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 14:19:54 -0500

Link doesn't work.

Gothamist: Con Ed Releases First Report of Many on Queens Blackout

Aristocrat

zincink

East

CoreyK

MT

Kips Bayer

S.D.

charshiu

Glenn

MT

hmm

S.D.

eugene

inet speak

Krissa

jmchez

Tim N.

Dave H.

more problems

snow

Eric