Trees Scattered Across Staten Island Following Strong Summer Storm
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Staten Island homeowners were picking up the pieces Saturday after powerful storms passed through our area Friday afternoon.
"We want our power back," New Dorp resident Marie Riveccio told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
Electric company workers, city parks department crews and private contractors did a sweaty dance Saturday, ducking out of each other's way for their grueling jobs on hard-hit Bancroft Avenue.
"There are a lot of people that live without air conditioning," said Riveccio. "But I can't."
But losing your power wasn't the worst that could happen – try having your bedroom ceiling vented with tree limbs poking in.
George Menduina said he's stuck, unable to get the tree off his home more than a day after it fell, despite making call after call.
"You gotta get the tree off the house," he said. "You gotta get a tree cutting company. Dilemma here now -- I call them, they say, 'well, we can't cut the tree it belongs to the parks department.'"
He was glad when the parks department arrived in the afternoon. But then, he got bad news.
Parks department workers told Carlin that complicating the cleanup was that a crucial piece of equipment was not working properly.
"That loader is not working right now. It has to reach in and grab it and pull it up and out," one man said. "There's another one, but there's not this weekend."
The workers left, saying there may be no budging the tree for several more days.
Menduina wasn't the only resident complaining about getting the run-around.
"The tree across the street fell right on top of it," said Susie Sotomayor.
Winds caused a tree to crush her husband's motorcycle. She said she immediately called 311, then waited and waited.
"I called again 311, I spoke to the operator there. She transferred me over to Con Edison, and they said that neither the police nor the fire department had notified Con Edison," she said.
Sotomayor said she's learning the physical mess of the storm is only the half of it. It's also the mess of reporting damage, filing insurance claims and scanning weather reports, thinking, 'please, no more storms.'
Suffering a power outage or have an issue to report to your local utility company? Here's a list of the usual suspects from around our area to reach for help.
- ConEdison: 1-800-752-6633
- Central Hudson: 845-452-2700
- NYSEG: 1-800-572-1111
- National Grid: 1-800-930-5003 (Long Island & the Rockaways) or 1-800-642-4272 (Upstate New York)
- PSE&G New Jersey: 1-800-436-7734
- PSEG Long Island: 1-800-490-0025 or 631-755-6000
- Rochester Gas & Electric: 1-800-743-2110
- National Fuel: 1-800-365-3234
For more about dealing with the summer heat, check out our Guide to Summer Safety.
