By Elizabeth O’Brien
Gouging hotline
Governor Pataki announced that the state will operate a toll-free hotline to take reports of any possible price gouging related to the regional power outage.
The New York State Consumer Protection Board has established a toll-free hotline that will be open this weekend at 1-800-NYS-4234 (1-800-697-4234) to take reports and begin the investigation of any unreasonable price increases on products and services that may have been affected by the blackout.
Fundraiser forged ahead on Pier 25
The Tribeca Organization/Manhattan Youth fundraiser on Pier 25 Thursday night took on much greater proportions than event organizers ever could have foreseen. With the steel band already in place Thursday afternoon and the spicy BBQ from A & M Roadhouse ready for delivery when the blackout occurred, organizers decided to go ahead.
Many local residents were glad they did. In addition to supporting a good cause, residents enjoyed some of the only prepared food available that night. Hamburgers, hotdogs and more were offered at the pier’s Snack Shack.
Part of the evening’s entertainment, included star-gazing. Kathryn Freed, the former city councilmember, had everyone looking for Mars. The red-tinged planet is the closest its been to earth in 73,000 years she said, and, what with no lights from Connecticut to Michigan, it was easy to spot.
Hand-powered radios could be handy
During the blackout, the best — and in most cases, only way to get news was through a battery-operated radio. Cathy Glasson, a Grand St. resident, was out of town during the crisis, but afterwards made a purchase to be prepared for the future. Radio Shack offers a $40 Grundig “recycled power” radio, which has a hand crank. “You crank it for 90 seconds and you get an hour of use,” Glasson noted. “We decided we had to get one. We just think it’s a good thing to have.” The radio is small, 6” x 6” x 2” and lightweight with built-in light that can illuminate a keyhole.
Local politicians call on Bush to help the city
Local elected officials have called on President Bush to deliver federal aid to help New York recover from last week’s blackout.
New York City officials have estimated that the power outage cost the city and its businesses $1.05 billion, Newsday reported. On Tuesday, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Rep. Charles Rangel and others asked Bush to speed aid to the parts of the country most affected by the blackout.
“New Yorkers have been asked to foot the bill and absorb the cost of this blackout, but I believe federal assistance is both necessary and appropriate in this case because of the magnitude of the disaster response effort,” Miller said.
Gus Theodoro, owner of Gus’ Place on Waverly Pl., agreed.
“This was an emergency,” Theodoro said. “Rent is the same, the staff has to get paid. It’s just what I don’t take in. It’s also the fact that it caused discontinuity.”
Theodoro estimated that the blackout cost his business about $6,500 in lost business and food, including ice cream and fish that had to be thrown away. In addition, the restaurant didn’t get its regular deliveries on Friday and Saturday, so it had to spend more buying supplies locally.
Assemblymember Deborah Glick, whose district includes the West Village, said that any aid that comes from the federal government must be made more streamlined than 9/11-related assistance, which often required extensive paperwork.
“Whatever aid is available has to be far more accessible than it has been in the past,” Glick said. “For most of the businesses, their priority is not on filing [paperwork] at this juncture but to get up and running.”
N.Y.U. lodges students in Bobst Library overnight during outage
Using an emergency plan honed after Sept. 11, 2001, New York University pulled through last week’s blackout with minimal problems, a spokesperson said.
It helped that there were only about 700 students on campus last Thursday, compared with up to 12,000 during the school year, said Richard Pierce, an N.Y.U. spokesperson.
“If this had to happen, it was a good time,” Pierce said.
When the power went out at 4:11 p.m., the university put its emergency plan into place. Generators fueled select buildings including the medical and dental centers, at E. 31st and 24th Sts., respectively, and Bobst Library, on Washington Sq. S., where an emergency team of key staff members met.
About 300 students bedded down for the night on cots set up on two levels of the air-conditioned library. Workers distributed bottled water to students in the library and the dorms.
University officials were worried that concerned parents would be unable to contact their children on campus to see how they were doing, Pierce said. They posted a notice on the university Web site and a message on the university phone system, which was powered by backup batteries until they gave out Friday morning.
The power returned to most of New York University around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, according to Pierce. After the terror attack of 9/11 and a brief power outage last July, the university had improved its emergency response by beefing up its internal communications, he added.
“We had an emergency plan and it worked very well,” Pierce said.
As of Tuesday, the university did not have an estimate of total losses incurred as a result of the blackout. No injuries among students were reported, Pierce said. In addition, there were no accounts of medical experiments ruined during the power outage.
Long wait at bus stops
At 23rd St. and First Ave., as at other bus stops throughout Downtown, people waited on lines three or four deep as buses filled to capacity just sped by in the early hours after the blackout. Buses offered free fare immediately following the outage. Subway service was not restored until Saturday morning. (Villager photo by Elisabeth Robert)
Silver calls for investigation on repowering lag
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said delays in restoring power to some residents of New York City “raise questions that deserve thorough examination.”
Silver said among the topics to be investigated in legislative hearings would be reports that residents in New York City, particularly in the Lower Manhattan community he represents, were among the last to be restored — further delaying for many the restoration of water systems that had been knocked out.
Silver last week asked Assembly Energy Committee Chairperson Paul Tonko to commence a complete examination into what happened, why it happened and what is necessary to avoid similar outages in the future.
“As residents of Lower Manhattan continue the rebuilding process after the September 11 terrorist attacks, it is disappointing that this community was among the last to regain electricity,” said Silver. “There are questions about the process for restoring power to a neighborhood struggling to renew itself and with a heavy concentration of senior citizens.”
Silver also asked Tonko to examine published reports that some communities were asked to forgo their electricity so power could be restored elsewhere first. Silver noted these accounts had prompted New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to consider legal action against Con Edison.
The Assembly hearing schedule is expected to be announced this week.
Float bridge ribbon-cutting is delayed
Because of the blackout, Governor Pataki has postponed the formal ribbon-cutting for the old railroad float bridge at 25th St. in Chelsea in the Hudson River Park, which was scheduled for Aug. 20. The event will take place in the next several weeks. However the renovated float bridge is open and one can go out on it now.
The governor was to be joined by a cow, sheep and at least one cowboy at the float bridge, which once received barges with railroad cars floated over from railyards in New Jersey.
“I guess, I gather historically livestock were sent across and herded to the abattoir and slaughtered,” said Chelsea waterfront activist Bob Trentlyon.
read our other fine publicatoins:Reader Services
Join our forums | Email our editor | Report Distribution Problems
Read our previous issues
Read our other fine publications:
