Blackout in Queens May Last Through the Weekend (100,000 5 Days Now)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/21/nyregion/21cnd-power.html?ex=1311134400&en=274d763843544531&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The number of people who have been without power in Queens for five days now is actually closer to 100,000, not the figure of 2,000 customers that officials of Consolidated Edison had cited in previous days.

At a press conference in Queens, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg called the discrepancy annoying, and said that Con Edison apparently based its earlier count on the number of customers who complained to the utility company that they had no power, and not on any systematic assessment of the power outage.

“I think what is annoying is that their first estimate was done based on phone calls,” the mayor said, saying he should have directed them earlier just to drive around the area to get an actual count of the number of people whose power was out.

The mayor said some customers may not get power back until Sunday, and that Con Edison workers are trying to at least get traffic lights working by rush hour this evening.

His acknowledgment that the power problem was actually much larger than anyone had thought explains some of the anger and frustration heard in sections of Queens, where the system began to fail on Monday, the third day of a severe heat wave. The problem was probably aggravated by thunderstorms on Tuesday that also blew out power to thousands of other customers in the region.

[bluerum]

1. This is a big deal in a metro area like NY.

[MADem]

2. Oh, what hellish misery.... poor folk

I have friends who have a commuter apartment there...airline workers. They'll be better off trying to pick up extra trips if they can...

[Skink]

3. SHHH now the terrorists know.

calling sleeper cell 48. Implement the plan.

[babylonsister]

4. My gosh, and with all this heat! How are people coping?

Must be lots of hydrants going full blast. Not fun. :-(

[rainbow4321]

16. Little girl killed/shot while playing in hydrant water in Queens

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=4375350

An 12-year-old Queens girl splashing in a fire hydrant was fatally shot by a gunman who opened fire into a crowd of adults and kids gathered on the street to escape the stifling heat.

Eyewitness News has learned the girl, Genesis Regalado, was shot in the head and collapsed into the arms of her 14-year-old brother. She was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital.

Police say three shots were fired from the car, a 1998 Nissan Ultima, that had slowed down near the kids frolicking in the sprinkler at 99th Street near 55th Avenue in the Corona section of Queens. The gunman opened fire after Ultima was splashed with water from the hydrant.

But it was not clear if the gunman was aiming at the kids - or at any one of the many adults who were nearby. It was unclear whether there were any others in the car, but witnesses said the driver was the shooter.

[babylonsister]

21. Jeeze! How sad for everyone involved! I hope they catch

the shit-for-brains that did that.

[krispos42]

22. Jesus

It's an 8-year-old Altima, for God's sake!

Catch'em, convict'em, and fire up ol' sparky!

[girl gone mad]

32. This line caught me.

A 20-year resident of the building said the little girl had played with her own kids. "I can't believe this happened right here," she wailed. A man who was visiting his girlfriend in the building said, "It's terrible - this neighborhood keeps getting worse and worse."

It's a product of our leadership's failed policies and irresponsibity. Crime rates will skyrocket. Infrastructure will crumble. That's what happens when you systematically destroy the middle class.

[The Wielding Truth]

56. Unstable President = Unstable World

[Guaranteed]

34. Nope, nothing wrong with carrying a loaded gun around! nt

[Barrett808]

5. The first thing to go is the power grid...

...more infrastructure will start failing as the formerly great US falls.

[brokensymmetry]

7. Welcome to the Olduvai Gorge.

(Those not recognizing the term should Google it).

[Bonescrat]

25. Wow thanks... See the wiki page for some scary thoughts...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olduvai_theory

From the page:

The part of the decline from 1979 to 1999 is called the Olduvai slope. The rest is predicted to occur in two stages:
1.)the Olduvai slide (2000–2011) - 'may resemble the "Great Depression" of 1929 to 1939: unemployment, breadlines, and homelessness'
2.)the Olduvai cliff (2012–2030) - 'I know of no precedent in human history.' :scared: :wow: :scared:

[smirkymonkey]

26. Wow - I had never heard of that.

And a few years ago, would have thought it entirely ridiculous. Not any more. :scared:

[Barrett808]

29. Yup. Kurzweil talks abourt his exponential curves to the "Singularity"

But I can produce exponential curves, too, and mine lead to a very different sort of singularity.

[ryanmuegge]

42. I think this is probably a more sensible explanation

http://www.gregpalast.com/ken-lays-alive

[Odin2005]

44. The Olduvai hypothesis is a load of horseshit.

[brokensymmetry]

45. Thank you for a cogent, thoughtful comment.

I know that others are as persuaded by your
logic as am I.

[Blue_Tires]

51. well, to be honest

railways were first....then power, roads, and finally water---it won't be a pretty sight

[Jack Rabbit]

6. ConEd, eh?

Another big, fat artificial person that artificially thinks that, because it is so big and fat and has no real competition, that it doesn't need to serve its customers to make a profit.

The world would be a better place without them.

[BlueInPhilly]

8. Freaky! Like SOS

Son of Sam - it also happened during summer and massive blackouts, right?

David Berkowitz - that's his name!

[catmother]

12. yes. i believe it was summer of sam. the super of my building

stayed outside all night with a lantern escourting people up the stairs to their apartments. there were 7 floors.

[sentelle]

9. Not really fair

Who said that ConEd has no real competitors? They were forced to divest their powerplants and are now merely merchants of retail power (plus the maintainers of a lot of wiring).

[Jack Rabbit]

24. You're right. It isn't fair.

It isn't fair to power rate payers at all.

[sentelle]

28. It all depends

You can always get your power from someone else. Just like your phone service.
NYC Forced that to happen.... ala California but without Enron.
I don't understand your point.

[truth2power]

30. I don't live in NYC, but could you please explain..

How does getting your power or your phone service from someone else really make any difference? (I'm excluding cell phone service, here.)

Seems like that whole "break up the big utility companies" was a fraud. Quelle surprise!

Where I live, one phone and one electric company own the wires. They're not going to let other companies use their wires for free, so the usage fee would be passed on to the consumer.I don't see how you save anything in that situation.

[NYC]

59. You don't save anything. Con Ed charges you directly

for delivery of the electricity you buy from someone else.

I tried that.

First, my neighbor called Con Ed, and asked how much Con Ed would charge him for delivery if he bought electricity elsewhere. Answer: I don't know. How can you not know? We don't know.

I went ahead, and bought electricity from an electricity coop, First Rochedale, a reasonable price per kilowatt.

Con Ed charged me as much to deliver it as First Rochedale charged me to buy it.

Did I save money? Not a penny.

Did we lose public control over Con Ed? Yes. Prices are higher. Are they required to maintain infrastructure? It seems not. Did we have a major blackout because of First Energy in OHIO? Yes. Why?

They're very busy making a profit, but maintenance seems down.

Electricity costs much more since "partial privatization" or whatever they are calling it.

Edit: I received two invoices every month: one from First Rochedale for the electricity, and one from Con Ed for the delivery.

[NYC]

60. You can't get your electricity delivered by someone else.

Con Ed still delivered the electricity I bought elsewhere. Every month they sent me a bill for delivery. The delivery cost as much as the electricity.

I saved nothing, and I was still dependent on Con Ed.

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. They were "forced" to divest their power plants?

Every deal I did with big electricity companies getting rid of their power plants was voluntary. They were dropping them like crazy in the late 1990's.

[elehhhhna]

41. ... the maintainers of a lot of wiring. And doing a pisspoor job of it.

[catmother]

13. yep. high rates and shitty service. i so appreciate my electric

provider here in arizona. they tend to get the power back fast. i never complain when i get my bill.

[Jack Rabbit]

14. I lived in Arizona about 25 years ago

That co-op was a good outfit. That's a good model for a public utility. Public utilities owned by the public -- What a concept!

[smirkymonkey]

27. Also, I wonder if things would progress so slowly were it Manhattan

that had the outage. Somehow, I think not.

I live and work in Manhattan, but I do think ConEd is dragging their feet on this.

[eleny]

10. Like Limbaugh said - they're in the process of dismantling FDRs policies

Wasn't it FDR who started the Public Utilities Commission? And that set the rates, profits and how often utilities had to upgrade and repair? I hope that people up there who voted for these killers in D.C. are figuring all this out while fanning themselves on lawn chairs on the sidewalks.

[xchrom]

11. underestimating a count like that is annoying?

are all republicans genetically lacking in the comprehension department?

[halobeam]

23. yeah that struck me too... "annoying"... OMG

try "incompetent, inaccurate, infuriating... etc"... All of NY could "go w/o power" and it what, would be REALLY annoying?

What an idiot Bloomberg is. Never liked him.

[dysfunctional press]

15. last time i was in queens...there were a LOT of blacks out...

so what's the big deal?

:evilgrin:

[heliarc]

19. LOL (n/t)

[ramapo]

17. It is a large portion of Astoria

My daughter is among the affected. No power all week. Luckily she was away the first couple of days and then was able to stay with us here in NJ. Not much fun for her but it was much better than the alternative.
She'll be with friends tonight but may have to come back here tomorrow.

I honestly can't imagine how people, families especially, are coping. The weather is miserable. Their food is ruined. No fans. The city had no resources there until yesterday. The answer was go out and eat!
Eat where? Everything local is closed, and many can't afford to eat out

Wednesday, ConEd said it was 1900 customers. I didn't believe it as I was in Astoria and there were blocks upon blocks without power.

Surprise, surprise, yesterday power was restored to CitiCorp and other large buildings. Meanwhile, local merchants have lost a fortune.

ConEd hasn't kept up the infrastructure in this part of the city.

Finally, as tragic as the shooting mentioned in another reply is, it took place in Corona, which is unaffected by the blackou.

[DoYouEverWonder]

20. I grew up in Astoria

that sucks. It's a densely populated area and a lot of old people live there.

[MnFats]

18. and to make matters worse ( i think)..

this was posted on weatherunderground.com a short time ago:
(question: Queens County includes the borough of Qeens, doesn't it?

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...
Queens County in southeast New York...
Nassau County in southeast New York...

* until 530 PM EDT...

* at 442 PM EDT... National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a
severe thunderstorm capable of producing penny size hail... and
damaging winds in excess of 60 mph. This storm was located near
Ozone Park... or about near crown heights... and moving east at 35
mph.

This is a dangerous storm. If you are in its path... prepare
immediately for damaging winds... destructive hail... and deadly cloud
to ground lightning. People outside should move to a
shelter... preferably inside a strong building but away from windows.

This storm has a history of producing destructive winds and large
damaging hail. Seek shelter now inside a sturdy structure and stay
away from windows!

[Book Lover]

40. FYI

County and Borough are interchangeable in NYC, but not elsewhere in the state. Queens is both a county of the state and a borough of the city.

[survivor999]

31. Could it be that hackers

are messing with computers controlling some of the equipment?... Just a thought...

[HamdenRice]

33. It's a "feeder line" that energizes the local transformer

After 9/11, Coned had replaced feeder lines all around lower Manhattan with street level cables. It's not that hard to do unless you don't give a rat's ass.

[HockeyMom]

35. Rerouted through Connecticut

One blackout we had here on the North Shore of Long Island, they rerouted it through Connecticut to temporarily restore our power until they could fix it.

Couldn't they do something similar?

[lonestarnot]

37. Is it back on yet?

[Betty88]

38. According to the news, it is not

Only about 800 homes have been connected so far. Thousands of customers are in their fifth day of the outrage. Food has spoiled and you can't trust anything perishable that you buy in a neighborhood store. To make matters worse, all Time Warner high speed internet connectivity crashed yesterday afternoon in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. I am wondering it if was the domino effect from the outages. We still don't have high speed access, and if you are a tecnhnophobe who doesn't know how to plug into dialup, then you are screwed.

I ordered groceries this morning and the shop was out of a couple of key things. It might be another sign that the outage in Queens is having an impact elsewhere. (I live in Brooklyn.)

[lonestarnot]

39. Oh my gosh. Now day 6. What is the temp in Brooklyn?

[Betty88]

43. about 80

not to bad yet. However we have had a few days this week that were very hot. We have been lucky so far, power was lost just one block down form us for a night a few days ago, I think it was well into the 90's that evening.

[mitchtv]

46. What parts of Queens? anyone know?

100k people? some big neighborhoods. I grew up in Jackson Heights.

[Betty88]

50. Astoria, Woodside, around there

In some of these neighborhoods people can look out the windows and see the generators but they haven't had power for days. There are lots of senior citizens who live here, this could take lives. Con Ed misrepresented the number of households that were affected and so the initial emergency response was limited. For the first two or three days of the blackout they had a voice recording up at their service number. Now there are city service workers and the Red Cross on site. Mayor Bloomberg is finally get into gear but Governor Pataki, who appoints members of the Public Service Commission, is nowhere to be seen, and the situation in these neighborhoods is getting dangerous.


People are talking about our broken infrastructure and how we are devolving into a third world country.

[NYC]

61. Tall bldgs. have no water without electricity.

Water is electrically pumped in tall buildings. I don't know how many tall apartment buildings are in that neighborhood.

I lived in a tall building in Manhattan. If I'm around when the blackout starts (like the big one two Augusts ago?), I fill pots, fill the bathtub, fill jars. We have water until the water tower drains. Then, no more.

[Hosnon]

47. Happened to me last year in Jackson, MS after Katrina...so damn hot...

I slept nude the whole week...if you could call it sleep.

I feel for these people.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

48. Hello California! Hello New York!

It's just a coincidence that the two largest bastions of Liberalism can't maintain their power stations.


:freak:

[mitchtv]

49. Hello Ahnold

Hello George

[ariesgem]

53. I'm here in Altadena, CA

Our power here has been on/off periodically throughout the last 2 days. I've been a little grumpy about the outages but I cannot imagine what New Yorkers are going through. I was raised in Queens and all of my relatives live there. I remember NYC summers (all day & through the night) to be brutal. Here in California, it's hot as hell during the day but fortunately it cools down at night.

[Renew Deal]

52. A friend and fellow DUer is caught in this.

He has just enough electricity to run the AC. He had no power since Monday.

[ER One Seven]

54. I Blame Bush

Somehow or another, this can be traced to Bush

[DYouth]

55. Blackouts from Gaza and Beirut to St. Louis and the Queens

What is this world turning into under crazy leadership?

[ckramer]

57. Wow, no power, gun shots, people are getting killed

Sounds like Baghdad to me.

[Raine]

58. I really feel for those people

living in CA I know what it's like to have no power. I was without power for a couple of days a year or so back and that was bad enough but all those people in NY without for days in the heat...just awful.