Mixed Response to Woodhaven Power Line Fire

No Response from 911, but Hero Neighbor Steps Up

By Conor Greene

When a stretch of power lines went on fire during Saturday night’s storm, Woodhaven residents were alarmed and frustrated when they were not able to reach a 911 operator, but pleasantly surprised by the efforts of an off-duty Con-Edison worker who lives nearby and didn’t hesitate to react to the dangerous situation.

The action started at about 6:20 p.m. near the corner of 90th Street and 86th Road, when Richard Fogel’s daughter told him the upstairs lights were flickering. He opened his front door and was “greeted by a wall of rather intense smoke” that blocked his view of the street. When the winds shifted, he saw that the “whole block of power lines was smoking really intensely” before the approximately 300-foot stretch of lines “erupted into flames.”

The chaotic scene drew many residents from their homes, including some who rushed to move their cars from beneath the wires, despite the obvious risk. “Lots of people called 911 - it was kind of pandemonium for a while - but not one soul got through,” said an outraged Fogel. “No even a message to stay on the line, no recording, connection, anything – just dead.”

Fogal figured the fire would go out once the lines broke and fell to the ground, but he was concerned about prospect of live wires sitting in deep puddles of water. After his unsuccessful 911 calls, Fogel contacted the 102nd Precinct directly and was told officers were aware of the situation. Cops finally arrived on scene at 6:46 p.m., but the officers immediately retreated to their patrol car and left after quickly assessing the scene, said Fogel. It wasn’t until 7 p.m. that the police took control of the situation.

“It was a busy night, so I can forgive the cops and fire department [which never came to the scene] but I cannot forgive 911,” said Fogel. “If they’re not there in an emergency, what the hell good is it? Never mind the storm damage, what if I was having a heart attack or there was a bank robbery? The point is, it’s a technology problem.”

However, there was one bright spot to the situation involving a neighbor who works for Con-Ed, which is a company that doesn’t normally receive praise from Queens residents. After retreating back inside his house minutes after the fire broke out, Fogel looked out the window and noticed a man wearing a yellow Con-Ed rain jacket standing in the street.

It turns out Fogel’s neighbor Jose Aldana was taking the trash out at about the time the power lines caught fire. For more than 20 minutes, he oversaw the situation and helped keep residents away from the dangerous wires until authorities finally arrived on the scene. “The guy dropped what he was doing and tried to keep people away,” said Fogel.

The residents “were extremely lucky to have such a dedicated resident volunteer his own time and put his own safety at risk to keep his fellow residents safe,” wrote Fogel in a letter to Aldana’s boss at Con-Ed. “To reiterate, [he] took the initiative to put his own safety aside… alone and in the pouring rain when no one else was available.”

After Con-Ed’s poor handling of prior emergencies, including the 2006 blackout, Fogel said it felt strange to be praising the company. On top of Aldana’s efforts, Fogel was complementary of the company’s response to the area the next day. “An army of them were out here, and everyone was back on the next day. They did the right thing here, and I’m going to give the cops and firemen the benefit of the doubt, as I’m sure it was a mess. But we at least deserved a police cruiser, as 40 minutes is a little long to respond.”

The city received the second-most 911 calls within a 24-hour period during the storm, with the amount of calls for help didn’t return to normal levels until Sunday morning, according to reports. The NYPD receives about 38,000 calls over a 24-hour period on a typical Saturday.

Tree Totals Car in Howard Beach

By Olivia Dibs

Despite the damage done to their car, the Clancy’s of Howard Beach are thankful that no family members were anywhere near the vehicle they had parked just minutes before a tree came crashing down on it outside their home on 100th Street off 156th Avenue.

Helen, Jerry and Jennifer Clancy had been at a party and arrived home about 8 p.m. They settled in to watch TV in the living room and shortly after heard a crashing sound from outside. “Our neighbor rang the bell and said ‘I think we have trouble,’ said Helen Clancy. One glance outside the open door led to the shocking discovery. The tree in front of the Clancy house had been uprooted by the fierce winds, taking four cement flags off the sidewalk with it, crushing the rear end of Jennifer Clancy’s car.

“My daughter just parked the car five minutes before [the tree fell], so I just thank God she wasn’t in the car,” said Helen Clancy. Although the car has been totaled, she’s keeping a positive attitude about the situation. “It’s just a car, and the tree fell on the car, not the house. And nobody got hurt.”

Residents on the block were frustrated with the closure of their street but the Parks Department was unable to take immediate action to remove the toppled tree because of the electrical wires tangled in the branches.

Helen Clancy maintains that everyone she has dealt with at both the Parks Department and Con Edison has been “very helpful.” “I don’t know how helpful the city is going to be as far as the cement work in front of the house, but everyone’s ok and with a little help, this will all be over soon.”

Con Edison Launches Smart Meter Program

Also: Crowley Pushes to Ban Unsightly Meters in Front of Homes

By Conor Greene

Three years after blackouts crippled sections of western Queens, Con Edison has finally launched its smart meter program, which is intended to help head off future incidents. At the same time, a local council member is pushing legislation that would prohibit the installation of utility meters in front of residential buildings.

Con Ed is kicking off its smart meter installation in an 8.3-square-mile swath in the Long Island City area, one of the neighborhoods hit hardest during the 2006 blackout. Since the blackout, Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) has pushed the company to upgrade its infrastructure with technologies such as the smart grid system, which fully digitizes the power grid by expanding communication between the consumer, the regulator and the power plants.

“The 2006 blackout showed that Con Ed’s infrastructure was totally inadequate for the 21st Century, leaving residents to wonder if the lights will go off whenever the temperature creeps up,” said Gioia, who is running for public advocate after serving on the City Council since 2001. “We need an investment in new technology that can help prevent blackouts and make the system greener and more energy efficient – just like cities like Boulder and Austin have already done.”

The smart meter is part of the larger smart grid system, which utilizes digital communication to better regulate a station’s power output out based on need. The smart grid harnesses the latest in information technology while also helping to green the environment, noted Gioia. “New Yorkers were long due for an upgrade, and it’s right that Con Ed start this program in Long Island City,” he added.

According to a year-long study by the U.S Department of Energy, consumers in the smart meter program saved 10 percent on their power bills, and cut their power use by 15 percent during peak hours. Participants in the study were given electronic meters which got signals from their utility company when power prices were high, along with computer software allowing them to remotely change their power usage.

The blackout of 2006 primarily affected about 175,000 residents of the four neighborhoods included within the Long Island City network. It also caused losses of tens of millions of dollars for business owners, heavy airport delays and brutal conditions due to a heat wave sweeping over the area. Con Ed initially claimed that about 1,600 customers were affected, as the company counted multi-family buildings as one person. It later changed its estimate to reflect actual individuals after coming under heavy criticism.

According to Con Ed, the $6 million smart grid pilot program will test how various technologies support efforts to modernize the electric grid. About 1,500 customers will receive smart meters under the pilot program, and by the end of the month Con Ed will file proposals with the Department of Energy requesting $375 million in stimulus funds to expand the program. The money would help pay for more than 40,000 additional meters.

“New York City will be a model showing how smart grid technologies can work together in dense urban areas,” said Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke. “Smart grids will change the way we manage the grid, and can change the way customers manage their energy usage. Our vision is to identify grid innovations that can be reliable and cost effective, and provide increased flexibility for customers in the way they make energy choices.”

In other news involving electric meters, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) has introduced a City Council resolution calling on the state Public Services Commission to ban the installation of utility meters in front of residential buildings throughout the city.

“The placement of utility meters by corporations such as Con Edison in front of houses has been a serious concern with many residents and community organizations of Queens, and understandably so,” said Crowley. “Given that we have the technology to check utility meters from afar or digitally, it is no longer necessary to mandate the unsightly placement of these boxes in front of residential buildings. Making these utility meters less visible would be a benefit to the aesthetics and character of our neighborhoods.”

The state Public Service Commission has exclusive regulatory authority over gas and electric utility companies. Crowley argued that these meters would not be accepted in front of residential buildings in other boroughs. “Would you see dozens of these unattended and entangled wires and these big rusty meters on the front of a brownstone in Brooklyn or in Manhattan? No. The people of Queens deserve better,” she said.