Nearly 130,000 Westchester Customers Remain in Dark
Utilities are slowly restoring power to the area’s beleaguered residents and shipments of gas are starting to arrive at some Westchester gas stations but two of the area’s hardest hit towns still have widespread outages.
County Executive Rob Astorino said Saturday afternoon he has conferred with top executives at Con Edison and New York State Electric & Gas who confirmed that priority has been given to schools and polling places. Astorino spoke directly with Con Ed President Craig Ivey, who assured him that no Con Ed resources are being diverted to New York City. Astorino also spoke to NYSEG CEO Mark Lynch.
The county executive said that Gov. Cuomo’s office has advised him that deliveries of gasoline to retail stations are returning to normal.
“Again, I am asking all our residents to be patient,” Astorino said. “I know this is hard, particularly as the outages continue and the weather gets colder.”
As of 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, 108,469 Con Ed customers in Westchester were without power, down from 120,374 Friday afternoon. In addition, there are about 21,200 NYSEG customers without power, down from 25,499 a day earlier.
Two of the area’s hardest hit communities, New Castle and North Castle, remain largely in the dark as the outages have extended into a fifth day. On Friday, New Castle officials reinstated a state of emergency, effective through Monday, Nov. 5 at noon.
Town Administrator Penny Paderewski said yesterday that about 5,300 out of roughly 6,500 households in New Castle were without power. Numerous roads were still blocked by trees and many residents, who could not get their cars out, walked from their streets.
“When you take a look at our town it’s horrendous,” Paderewski said.
In North Castle, Supervisor Howard Arden reported at 4 p.m. on Saturday about 85 percent of the town is still without power. Parts of North White Plains have been restored while Main Street in downtown Armonk never lost electricity. A long list of roads have crews clearing trees and debris including Byram Lake Road and Oregon Road; Whippoorwill Road and Whippoorwill Crossing; Hickory Kingdom Road; Creemer Road; Old Orchard Street; School Street; Cox Avenue; Route 22; High Street; Middle Patent Road; and Nannyhagen Road. There could be periodic closures of these and other streets, Arden said.
The Hergenhan Recreation Center on Maple Avenue in Armonk continues to serve as a shelter and warming center for the recharging of electronics and food. Earlier this week, six people used the facility for overnight accommodations while several hundred have come to the site each day since Tuesday, said volunteer and former NC-4 Director Jane Cahn.
Astorino said schools and polling places for Election Day are top priority. As of 2 p.m. on Saturday, 92 of the county’s 380 polling places were still without power. If a poll location is changed, the county’s paratransit fleet will be used to take paratransit riders, he said.
In Con Edison’s Westchester territory, 107 out of 142 schools were without power on Saturday afternoon. The utility anticipates the number of schools without power will be down to 55 by tonight, Astorino said.
“Our biggest priorities are our schools. We want all schools open on Monday,” Astorino said. “After that, our priority is our voting places, which in many cases are in schools. Let me assure our residents they will have a place to vote on Tuesday. We are getting generators for some places. And if a poll does not have power by Monday evening, we will have an alternative, nearby place to vote.”
Dry ice is now being distributed at the County Center in White Plains.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/