24 The Queens Courier • OCTOBER 17, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com
24 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 17, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
Governor Cuomo not fi nished with National Grid
For more than six months, National
Grid refused natural gas service to more
than 1,100 new and returning customers
STORY: Glendale’s long-standing Zum Stammtisch restaurant
off ers a delicious taste of traditional German cuisine
SUMMARY: Serving up delicious Bavarian cuisine in Glendale
for almost 50 years, Zum Stammtisch has certainly lived up to
its German translation: the regulars’ table.
REACH: 19,634 people reached (as of 10/15/19)
as part of a moratorium the company
imposed in response to continued opposition
to the $1 billion Williams pipeline
project, which was denied a permit by
the state’s Department of Environmental
Prevention over concerns it would contaminate
Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo drew a
line in the sand, ordering the utility company
to comply with the Public Service
Law or face millions of dollars in fi nes. It
was a line National Grid did not cross, as
it reversed course and lift ed its moratorium
hours aft er Cuomo laid down the law.
Th e company took immediate steps
to re-connect customers in Queens,
Brooklyn and Long Island who had inactive
accounts, or who applied for gas service
and were denied during the “connection
restrictions policy” that went into
eff ect last May.
“We care and are concerned for all customers
impacted by this issue, and it’s
clear we could have done a better job
communicating to this particular segment
of customers,” National Grid New York
President John Bruckner said.
He added that the company objective
was to contact all 1,157 customers outlined
in the order by the end of the week
to schedule a re-connection appointment
based on their needs, with the goal of
reconnecting the majority of the customers
by mid-November.
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible given
the current constraints on gas supply,”
Bruckner said.
Th e governor took umbrage with
Buckner’s claim and National Grid’s basic
premise for the moratorium in the fi rst
place — that without the Williams pipeline
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bringing fracked natural gas from
Pennsylvania to a terminus a few miles off
the coast of Rockaway Beach, the company
would not have adequate supply for
any new customers.
When he issued his order, Cuomo
pointed out that the Williams pipeline, if
permitted, would not be in service until
December 2020 at the earliest.
“It’s a little coincidental that all of a
sudden National Grid ran out of gas at
the same time that they’re trying to create
political pressure to approve the pipeline,”
Cuomo said during a radio interview
on Oct. 15.
He said the Department of Public
Service would expand its investigation
into National Grid’s potential negligence
given that New York is entering the
cold-weather period.
Th ere could be penalties as well, the
governor warned. “And by the way, they
can have their franchise revoked,” Cuomo
added authoritatively.
Perhaps, National Grid went a bridge
too far with its moratorium considering
Cuomo already broke ground on his $1.18
billion Belmont Park redevelopment project
that was designed to be heated by natural
gas.
As new commercial customers, the
19,000-seat hockey arena that will be the
new home of the New York Islanders, and
a 250-room hotel would be denied connection
by National Grid.
Th e alternative was huge underground
propane tanks and that was something
that didn’t sit well with the surrounding
community.
“Th at’s what you came up with?
Propane?” Tammie Williams, of the
Belmont Park Community Coalition
asked recently. “You want to put a bomb
in a black neighborhood? I don’t think so.”
Courtesy of Governor Cuomo’s offi ce
Governor Cuomo ordered National Grid to end its moratorium on gas service to customers.
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