State Senator John Liu hosts a virtual town hall with his colleagues gathering feedback from constituents who were impacted by Tropical Storm Isaias.
Queens residents demand accountability from Con Edison after
slow response to outages caused by Tropical Storm Isaias
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Northeast Queens politicians
and residents voiced
their frustrations and offered
suggestions Wednesday, Aug.
19, during a virtual town hall
meeting about Con Edison’s
lack of response and preparedness
following the aftermath
of Tropical Storm Isaias that
caused widespread power outages
and downed trees in the
borough two weeks ago.
State Senator John Liu hosted
the Zoom forum with his
colleagues during which they
gathered testimonies from constituents
of Whitestone, Douglaston,
Bayside, Hillcrest, Floral
Park and Bellerose ahead
of a state legislative hearing on
Thursday to address the emergency
storm response and customer
communication by utility
companies.
“This is a situation where
we do believe that Con Ed
should’ve done better in the
days leading up to this storm,”
Liu said. “They had days to
prepare, but not only that, they
had years to prepare because it
seems like many of the lessons
that the utilities companies
should’ve learned from Superstorm
Sandy eight years ago,
was still not learned.”
The lawmakers’ goal is to
propose new laws that will
hold utility companies like Con
Edison accountable, according
to Liu, and provide relief to
families that have suffered immensely
during tropical storm
Isaias that ripped through New
York City on Aug. 4.
Tree pruning is an issue
that many participants in the
forum discussed, as they’re
still dealing with downed trees
— some of which were deceased
and needed to be pruned.
Marie Marsina, who has resided
in Douglaston for over 25
years, said there are still trees
blocking a quarter of the street
as cars drive by.
“Not having power for six
days jeopardized my health,
safety and livelihood,” Marsina
said. “If there was a need for
me to have an ambulance or
fire truck come to my house
or block, that would’ve been a
problem.”
Though Con Edison is reimbursing
customers for loss
of spoiled food and medication
during the power outage,
Marsina said buying food was
an added expense.
“We had to order-in three
meals a day and go to a restaurant
or had it delivered,” Marsina
said. “We’re in a pandemic
and I don’t choose to go out. I
don’t want to have to go out to
eat and worry about jeopardizing
me and my family’s health
by contracting coronavirus.”
Another Douglaston resident,
TIMESLEDGER | 26 QNS.COM | AUG. 28-SEPT. 3, 2020
Joseph Centrone, said he
has two refrigerators — one
that stores about $2,000 worth
of fish and meat, and another
with wine and food.
“I was told Con Ed would
accept losses up to $250 with
documentation; I don’t do that,”
Centrone said. “Why do we
have to prove that everything
we had was lost … I didn’t lose
much, but if I was told that it
would’ve been more than a
day, I would’ve gotten a generator.
The delay in telling us the
truth is my biggest complaint
that is echoed by us and my
neighbors.”
In Hillcrest, Beverly Sanders
said her 102-year-old neighbor
and aide had lost power and
she was unable to call for assistance.
“I first called Con Ed and
they were not communicating
at all,” said Sanders, who
instead received help from
Liu’s office. “We felt like our
story was being ignored and a
few days later, the power was
turned on. Just with communication,
we have to change that.
We are people. Our stories are
very important, and we want
to feel that someone is hearing
us.”
Kim Cody, president of the
Greater Whitestone Tax Payer’s
Association, said they were
also unable to check on community
members who might have
been in danger.
“I have never spoken to a
human person at Con Ed; it’s
always a machine that says,
‘We’re busy now, call back
later,'” Cody said. “We were
without power for six days and
hooked up to a generator. When
Con Ed came, they drove by
and went elsewhere. The city is
also at fault for not pruning and
removing dead trees and that
should’ve been taken care of.”
Fortunately, for Lourdes
Villanueva Hartrick of the Bellerose
Commonwealth Civic
Association, their neighbors
didn’t lose any power, but there
were several fallen and uprooted
trees, she said.
“I was very fortunate that
my car wasn’t in my driveway,
or else the tree would’ve
completely destroyed my car,”
said Hartrick, whose tree was
healthy and pruned a few years
ago, but became deceased.
“We had many trees come
down that were on the streets
and there is still a lot of debris.
I think the city has to invest
in going around looking at
trees and making sure they’re
in good condition,” Hartrick
added.
According to Councilman
Peter Koo, there have been
recent budget cuts to city tree
pruning and maintenance, a
resource that he says is critical
and key to make trees stronger
Photo by Carlotta Mohamed
and more resistant to storm
damage.
The lawmakers echoed Liu’s
sentiments regarding Con Edison’s
pace of restoring power to
residents citing lack of “communication
and transparency.”
While constituents said
Con Ed’s monopoly should be
ruptured, Assemblyman Ron
Kim said there are some major
private equity firms and hedge
funds that are driving the agenda
behind Con Edison.
“New Yorkers are paying
20 percent more than the national
gas price that everyone
else is paying around the
country. While smaller towns’
and states’ rates are decreasing,
our rates are increasing
and the customer service and
response time is getting worse
every year,” Kim said.
Meanwhile, Acting Queens
Borough President Sharon
Lee, who has also received
complaints through Constituent
Services, said they were
reminded during the pandemic
that power is an essential service
to everyone’s livelihood.
“I’ve heard from constituents
who felt trapped in their
own homes due to exposed
wires hanging mid-air and
over driveways,” said Lee, who
is calling on Con Ed to issue a
full rebate in August to 73,000
customers in Queens who lost
power as a result of the storm.
/QNS.COM
