WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. From the Mayor’s Office, Saturday November 3, 2012 12:45 P.M.:

Mayor Thomas Roach issued a Saturday Hurricane Sandy Update to residents of the city via telephone as of 12:30 P.M.

He said “approximately 1,000  (White Plains) customers were restored last night (Friday),” that “multiple out of state crews have been assigned to White Plains outages today (Saturday). according to Con Edison at this time between 8,000 and 9,000  of our 23,000 customers remain without power in the city” at this hour. He said he has been talking with Con Edison consistently demanding more crews for White Plains.

On the gasoline shortage in the city, he said ” the chain of supply is functioning” “please be patient we are being told that there will be normal availability  within 24 to 48 hours, but gas is being delivered. If you are aware of price gouging, because we have had some reports of this, please call County Consumer Protection at 995-2155.”

He praised city work crews saying they have been working non-stop, “sometimes bravely” attempting to clear streets.

He said sheltering remains available at the city Armory on 65 Mitchell Place.

The mayor said:

“I sympathize with those who are without power and I recognize you are cold, in the dark and in a terrible condition. We have been working non-stop to bring additional Con Ed crews into our city, and those efforts are beginning to bear fruit.

As you know, city services have remained intact throughout and our DPW crews have cleared 84 blocked streets, and at least 50 remain blocked because of the limited Con Ed crew provided to us for that purpose.

We are all frustrated with Con Ed. If my voice seems a bit hoarse it’s because I have been speaking to them a great deal at various levels of volume. You should know that your city employees have performed admirably, in many cases bravely, and with great spirit, despite long hours and adverse conditions. With all the problems this storm has brought us, our personnel have exceeded my highest expectations.

And,  although they will say they are just doing their job, we should all be proud of them.

Bring your complaints to me and your thanks to them.

Thank you for your patience, we are on the way back.”

WPCNR has hobserved, driving through Highlands Friday evening, traffic lights are still out with stop signs in place. Motorists should be advised.

Also, WPCNR observed that the Gedney neighborhood has heavy limbs dangling from wires, limbs block through streeets impeding access. This is a very dangerous situation that Con Ed should make a priority and motorists should avoid driving into Gedney from Ridgeway south. Considering the way weight of some of the limbs hanging on the wires, pedestrians in the area should take extreme caution.

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WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. WPCNR Observations, Reports From Consolidated Edison. November 3, 2012:

Con Edison shows 7,554 White Plains customers primarily in the hard-hit Highlands area are without power this morning of 23,954 customers according to Con Edison figures as of 10:15 A.M.Long gaslines may be expected around the city if you can find one with gasoline to sell. This reporter spent one hour in a line picking up gas late Friday afternoon.

On the television program White Plains Week last night, viewable at www.whiteplainsweek.com  Assemblyman Robert Castelli and his opponent in Tuesday’s election, David Buchwald confirmed that Consolidated Edison had only one Con Edison truck assigned White Plains.

The Mayor’s Office finally confirmed the one-truck rumor in its daily Mayor Roach recorded announcement to residents Friday afternoon, even though the question had been asked by WPCNR earlier in the week.

Con Edison crews have restored electricity to more than 645,000 customers, or approximately 70 percent of all those who lost power since Hurricane Sandy slammed through New York.

The hurricane is the worst natural disaster to strike Con Edison’s customers in the company’s history.

Safety remains the No. 1 priority for customers, Con Edison employees, and contractors. Crews are facing thousands of downed wires in New York City and Westchester County. The company is working closely with emergency services personnel to open blocked roads and streets.

Weekend goals for Con Edison and out-of-town crews are to restore electricity to schools for Monday, and polling places for Tuesday. Those restorations are nearing 100 percent for accessible buildings. Some cannot be re-energized since they are in flood zones with damage that bars the safe re-introduction of electricity.

The company expects to make significant progress restoring electricity over the next seven days by planning work and sharing it with hundreds of overhead crews from around the country.

Also restored on Friday night and early today are the majority of Manhattan areas knocked out when the East River swept through Con Edison’s East 13th Street substation.

The utility said although it has restored power to some areas of Manhattan, more than 100 buildings may still be without electricity due to basement flooding or damage to local equipment.

As of 7 a.m. today, Con Edison reported approximately 280,000 customers out of service. That included 5,800 in Manhattan, 81,000 in Queens, 31,000 in Brooklyn, 31,000 in Staten Island and 25,000 in the Bronx.

In Westchester County, the company reported 107,000 customers out of service. Originally, 206,000 were affected by the hurricane.

Customers can report downed power lines, outages, and check service restoration status by computer or mobile device at www.conEd.com. They also can call 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). When reporting an outage, it is helpful if customers have their Con Edison account number available, if possible, and report whether their neighbors also have lost power. Customers who report outages will be called by Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available.

The company is advising its customers to pay close attention to reports from city and municipal officials. Con Edison will continue to provide updates through the media as the storm moves closer. Important information will be posted on the company’s website, www.conEd.com.

For instructions on how to report an outage, click here: http://bcove.me/6sx1yox5

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WPCNR BUMPER TO BUMBER. November 2, 2012:

Paul Piekos reports to WPCNR that the gas stations on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains have no gasoline and two stations on Post Road do not have gasoline, and the one that does has a very long line.

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WPCNR TRANSIT TIMES. From the Governor’s Office. November 1, 2012:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Thursday  announced  Full Service will be running on the Harlem (White Plains line) of Metro North between Southeast and Grand Central Terminal Friday morning.

Several other  major advances in the restoration of the region’s public transportation systems in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

The following restorations will be in effect for tomorrow’s commute:

Long Island Rail Road:

· Babylon Branch: Hourly service to Penn Station
· Huntington Branch: Hourly service to Penn Station

· Hudson Line: Service between Croton-Harmon and Grand Central Terminal on the Hudson Line will operate on a regular weekday schedule.
· New Haven Line: Service will resume between New Haven and Stamford/Grand Central Terminal by midday.
· Harlem Line: Full service between Southeast and Grand Central Terminal will be restored Friday morning.

· #7 Service between Flushing Main Street and 74^th St. in Queens, will begin by midnight tonight.
· In addition, Limited M service from Jamaica Center along Queens Boulevard, through the 63^rd St. tunnel to 34^th Street/Herald Square in Manhattan, began this afternoon.

· LIRR has been running hourly service from Jamaica to Atlantic Terminal, hourly service from Jamaica to Penn Station, hourly service from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station, and hourly service from Great Neck to Penn Station.

· Service on the Harlem Line was extended from Mount Kisco through to Southeast Station, beginning Thursday  afternoon. Trains operated on a very limited schedule this afternoon.

· More extensive restoration of normal service depends upon Con Edison’s restoration of feeds for Joralemon and Rutgers tubes, plus networks from those tubes up to 36^th St. This would enable the New York City Transit to restore service on the 4, 5 and F lines, as well as to re-establish some service over the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. Restoration of these feeds would allow for robust Sixth Avenue service. Once power is restored, since the tracks are dry and signal testing has been completed done, the only thing that would remain would be to run a few test trains. Service could be restored within two hours. In addition, NYCT was prepared to establish a #5 shuttle train between Dyre Avenue and East 180^th Street in the Bronx, but is unable to do so because there is no station power.

· Buses operated near normal service this morning with routes diverted as conditions required. In addition to weekday school closed requirements, buses operated the Atlantic, Jay Street and Hewes Street subway replacement shuttles and augmented M5 and M20 service in Manhattan where displaced subway customers were riding.
· Bus service will be curtailed at dusk in the areas of the city where power is still out as was done yesterday, for the safety of pedestrians and passengers. The Brooklyn bus bridge will continue to run past midnight.
· Access-A-Ride began fulfilling scheduled appointments as of noon today. Thirteen of the 14 carriers are providing vehicles to assist in the evacuation effort.
· Bus service will continue to operate the same service levels, as will the subway support service. Normal routes will be restored as soon as conditions allow, including routes supporting the Staten Island Ferry when ferry service resumes.

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WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. From Consolidated Edison. November 1, 2012, 1 PM:

Con Edison said today that based on an assessment of the unprecedented damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, it expects to restore the vast majority of customers who lost power by the weekend of Nov. 10 and 11.

The remaining customer restorations could take an additional week or more.

About 900,000 customers served by underground and overhead electrical distribution equipment in New York City and Westchester County lost power due to the superstorm that walloped the area.

Con Edison crews have restored power to about 250,000 customers who were affected by the storm. As of 11 a.m., the company was working to restore power to about 650,000 customers still out of service.

Customers served by underground networks in Mid- to Lower Manhattan who lost power during the storm will have service by this Saturday.

Crews restoring service in those underground areas have pumped massive amounts of water out of the facilities. They must also clean all components of the seawater from the equipment. Equipment must be dried, repaired or replaced, and inspected before it can be safely put back into service.

In areas served by overhead electrical distribution equipment, crews have had to contend with more than 100,000 downed wires, as well as blocked roads and flooding.

But Con Edison is marshalling resources from near and far to conduct the largest customer restoration in its history. The company has commitments from more than 1,600 external contractors and mutual aid workers from as far west as California.

Most of these contractor and mutual aid crews have already arrived and the rest are expected to arrive in the next few days. Crews specialize in tree cutting, repairing overhead lines and underground equipment, as well damage assessments.

Customers should use extreme caution before going into a flooded basement. Know whether there are electrified services or unsanitary conditions and wear high rubber boots. Also, know how deep the water is and probe it with a wooden stick, if necessary, to gauge the depth. Keep children out of flooded basements.

Con Edison has assigned 1,000 site safety workers to monitor areas where there may be hazards.

Customers can report downed power lines, outages, and check service restoration status by computer or mobile device at www.conEd.com. They also can call 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). When reporting an outage, it is helpful if customers have their Con Edison account number available, if possible, and report whether their neighbors also have lost power. Customers who report outages will be called by Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available.

The company is advising its customers to pay close attention to reports from city and municipal officials. Con Edison will continue to provide updates through the media as the storm moves closer. Important information will be posted on the company’s website, www.conEd.com.

For instructions on how to report an outage, click here: http://bcove.me/6sx1yox5

Con Edison offers the following safety tips:

• Do not go near downed wires. Treat all downed wires as if they are live. Never attempt to move or touch them with any object. Be mindful that downed wires can be hidden from view by tree limbs, leaves or water. Report downed wires to Con Edison and your local police department immediately.
  
• If a power line falls on your car while you’re in it, stay inside the vehicle and wait for emergency personnel.
  
• Weather updates and news on power outages can be heard on most local radio and television stations.

The company is in constant communication with the New York City Office of Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services and company personnel are working closely with city and municipal emergency officials.