FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 13, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Queens offi cials demand Con Ed give rebate to customers
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
With thousands of Con Edison customers
in Queens still without power a week
aft er Tropical Storm Isaias ripped through
New York, Acting Borough President
Sharon Lee blasted the power company
on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Finding fault in Con Edison’s level of
preparation and their “inequitable and
disproportionate pace of power restoration,”
Lee, a handful of elected offi cials at
various levels of government, community
board members and Queens residents
aff ected by the outages called for a full
rebate in August for the 73,000 customers
who lost power as a result of the storm on
Tuesday, Aug. 4.
“Con Edison has the power now to
choose to do right by its Queens customers
for the prolonged trauma and danger
imposed upon them,” Lee said. “I urge
Con Edison to off er immediate and full
rebates to the 73,000 Queens customers
on this month’s bill to remedy this disproportionate
and inequitable restoration. It
is the very least Con Edison can do.”
According to Lee, there is precedent
for Con Edison clearing customers’ energy
bill following widespread outages. In
2006, a Con Edison power outage left
174,000 people in the borough in the
dark. It was later determined that the
power company had failed to address
issues with power equipment which, in
turn, caused the outages.
Th e power company agreed to a settlement
that provided $17 million to customers
aff ected by the outages, half of
which went toward bill credits.
By Tuesday, Aug. 11, over2,740 customers
in Queens were experiencing outages,
Acting Borough President Sharon Lee called for Con Edison to provide a rebate to customers in Queens who lost power during Tropical Storm Isaias on
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.
although not all outages were a direct
result of the storm, according to Con
Edison.
Tropical Storm Isaias brought with it the
second-largest outage event in the company’s
history. At its peak, more than 73,000
customers were without power in Queens
— the record for storm-related outages is
1.1 million caused by Hurricane Sandy in
October 2012. It also brought down a high
number of trees, with over 9,000 complaints
of downed trees in Queens made
to the New York City Parks Department
24 hours aft er the storm. It also brought
down a high number of trees, with over
9,000 complaints of downed trees in
Queens made to the New York City Parks
Department 24 hours aft er the storm.
While Lee and her colleagues took issue
with the number of outages, they also
want answers for what they see as a
slow response to restore power from Con
Edison.
By Saturday, Aug. 8, around 14,000
customers in Queens were still without
power, accounting for over half of the
outages remaining in the city, according
to Lee. A higher percentage of customers
had their power restored by the company
in all four other boroughs.
According to Con Edison, the company
assess which repairs will restore power for
the highest number of customers and prioritizes
those repairs.
Even Queens residents who didn’t lose
their power feel as though they’ve been let
down by Con Edison.
Yalena Figueroa, a photographer in
Astoria, has been without internet for a
week.Figueroa, who relies on the internet
Photo courtesy of Lee’s offi ce
for work and has two children, said that
her internet connection cut out around
3 p.m. on the day of the storm. Although
she never lost power, a downed Con
Edison wire on her block has prevented
her internet provider from being able to
restoring service.
“Con Edison keeps telling us, ‘tomorrow
it will be fi xed,’ but we’re going on
a week now,” Figueroa said. “We’ve been
told every day that someone is coming.
But no one ever comes.”
According to Figueroa, Con Edison
has been sending a worker to sit by the
downed wire in 12-hour shift s, warning
people to stay away from it. However,
no one has attempted to make the fi nal
repair.
“It’s just negligence at this point,”
Figueroa said.
Richmond Hill priest raises $20K for food pantry
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Father Christopher Heanue, an administrator
at Holy Child Jesus Roman
Catholic Church in Richmond Hill, completed
the “100 Miles of Hope” fundraiser
bike ride to Long Island, raising over
$20,000to support the parish food pantry.
Heanue was joined by parishioners Paul
Cerni and Tom Chiafolo last week for the
spiritual and physical 10-hour journey
biking 100 miles from the parish at 111-
11 86th Ave. to Most Holy Trinity Church
at 79 Buell Lane, East Hampton, LI.
(From l. to r.) Father Christopher
Heanue, Tom Chiafolo, and Paul Cerni,
outside of Holy Child Jesus Roman
Catholic Church in Richmond Hill, prior
to the start of the of their “100 Miles for
Hope” bike ride.
Th e day started with a special 5 a.m.
Mass celebrated by Heanue. Th e total bike
time for the journey was 7 hours and 45
minutes, and the entire trip was completed
over the course of more than 10 hours.
Heanue decided in conjunction with the
bike ride to raise people’s hopes and spirits
and raise funds for the parish’s outreach
initiatives, which includes the food pantry
that provides meals to families in need
twice a week.
(From l. to r.) Tom Chiafolo, Paul Cerni,
and Father Christopher Heanue posed
for a photo upon their arrival in East
Hampton.
“Th ese have been diffi cult months. It
is vital that the food pantry continues to
serve those in need, and I am committed
to doing all I can to keep bringing hope to
our people through its service,” Heanue
told QNS in an interview.
Heanue said the prayers and generous
support of all helped to motivate and
make “100 Miles of Hope” a true success.
“If this served as an inspiration for any,
then all glory be to God. Th is is needed
now, more than ever,” Heanue said.
“With this help, we can continue the
good work of our food pantry and other
initiatives.”
Donations are still being accepted
through the Go Fund Me Page “100 Miles
of Hope”or by texting ‘miles’ to 718-550-
6525.
Courtesy of Father Christopher Heanue
Father Christopher Heanue is greeted upon his arrival at Most Holy Trinity Church in East Hampton,
Long Island.
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