Residents Could be Without Power for Days in Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

Con Edison truck in the Lower East Side Tuesday. Photo via Associated Press

Con Edison Power Outage Map

More than 230,000 residents in Lower Manhattan are without power and may continue to be in darkness for days.

“Our two biggest challenges going forward will be getting our transit system and power grid up and running,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a briefing this morning. He estimated that it could take ”3 or 4″ days or “4 or 5″ days, indicating the current uncertainty of when power would be restored.

As of now many Chinatown and Lower East Side residents are without power since Con Edison shut parts of it off last night to protect company equipment and customers and allow quicker restoration after the storm.

Community-based organizations are currently accessing the situation and asking for assistance. At 50 Rutgers St, Two Bridges Neighborhood Council is on the scene assisting the 50 seniors who are without power, without phone service, or cannot walk downstairs to buy food and other resources. They are asking for help from local officials, Red Cross, and any available assistance.

Because of power outages, Two Bridges’ phone lines are down. They recommend contacting them via email, twitter, or Facebook.

Bloomberg also announced that New York City public will remain closed today and tomorrow. Limited bus service will return at 5pm and will be free of charge for today and tomorrow. Cab drivers are told to pick up multiple passengers while livery can temporarily pick up street hails. Tap water is safe to drink.

Known large buildings experiencing problems with water and pumps in addition to 80 Rutgers Slip Senior Housing include Smith Houses, La Guardia Houses, Seward Park Extension, Confucius Plaza, and Seward Park Co-Op.

Short URL: http://www.ourchinatown.org/?p=12860

Posted by Wen Hao Wang on Oct 30 2012. Filed under NEWS, News Left. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry