Power Restoration Could Take Until Nov. 11: Con Ed
On Thursday afternoon, it was hard to believe that it was a midweek work day on Chappaqua’s South Greeley Avenue.
It would have been if not for Hurricane Sandy.
For the few merchants who remained open barely 72 hours after the onset of the ferocious storm knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, including most of downtown Chappaqua, it was the waiting and lack of news regarding possible restoration that was the most frustrating of all.
Patrick Filacchione, owner of Gail Patrick’s Cafe, was operating in dim light powered by a generator to provide a bare bones offering of coffee, soup and sandwiches with the product he was able to save for the few customers who came into his store.
“The commercial district should probably be prioritized as I guess it should be in any town, and then they move to the outlying areas but I haven’t been able to get from Con Edison whether this commercial district is a priority or not,” said Filacchione, who estimated that he threw out at least 100 pounds of food. “They really didn’t answer that.”
As positive as the scores of merchants and thousands of residents tried to be in the face of growing gas lines and nights that are growing colder, there was the harsh news Thursday from Con Edison that some areas could be without power until at least Nov. 11.
A release from the utility stated that “based on an assessment of the unprecedented damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, it expects to restore the vast majority of customers who lost power by the weekend of Nov. 10 and 11. The remaining customer restorations could take an additional week or more.”
There was no indication from Con Edison which areas might take the longest to restore.
Late Thursday afternoon, there were still about 183,000 Westchester customers without service, down about 23,000 from the day before, County Executive Rob Astorino said. Nearly 155,000 of those were Con Edison customers with the remainder New York State Electric & Gas customers.
Astorino said he had spoken directly with Con Edison President Craig Ivey and urged him to improve communications with local officials and customers, particularly about the challenges that face the company.
“We certainly understand that Con Edison is dealing with an unprecedented amount of storm damage and power outages in our county and in the region,” Astorino said. “The county is offering whatever help it can, but we are also pushing to make sure Con Edison is doing everything possible on its end to restore power in Westchester as quickly as possible.”
That doesn’t help storeowners like Juan Rosas, owner of Villarina’s, a deli on Chappaqua’s South Greeley Avenue, who also had to throw out most of his product. Even when the hamlet gets power back, it still won’t be the end of the nightmare for food store owners. Almost out of fresh product, Rosas won’t get a delivery until he is assured power returns.
“We’re not going to get any business until basically we see some sign of life again,” Rosas said. “Right now, we’ll see what we’re able to save and we’ll go from there pretty much.”
Louis Bastone, owner of Chappaqua Paint & Hardware, braved a chilly day with no heat and minimal light for the few customers he was able to get. Since news is out that most of New Castle is without power, they’re not even getting the odd contractor to stop by.
“It’s just a general assumption out there that Chappaqua’s out of power,” Bastone said. “So people are not going to Chappaqua, they’re going to the surrounding areas.”
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/
