A Queen family of five – including a 6-year-old cancer survivor – ripped Con Edison off for leaving her in a ‘dangerous’ situation by failing to restore power for a full week after Tropical Storm Isaias.
The Singhs in Queens Village are among some 5,300 New Yorkers who were stuck in their powerless homes after Isaiah turned off electricity last Tuesday.
“We’ve been getting the detour since Tuesday,” said mother Shameeza Singh, 31, from the day of the power to the family home on 216th Street at 1:30 p.m. – the height of Isaiah.
She said Con Ed changed her story about restoration of power three times, with the benefit that last promised it would be back Monday morning.
“All those three times, nothing happened,” she said. ‘Monday I called her in the morning to ask her what had happened, because at that point it would be seven days [without power]. And I’m like, I have three young children – [ages] 6, 5 and 2 – I need the power. ”
All three of Shameeza and Michael’s children are suffering from a rare genetic disorder called G6PD – including King, who suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and will celebrate his 7th birthday cancer- and chemotherapy-free on August 18th.
The steamy temperatures, along with the compromised immune system of the children, have made the days difficult while performing, especially when coronavirus is raging.
“It’s been pretty hot and it’s just been really hard to have kids with special needs,” said Michael, 35.
“All we did was try to stay out until the mosquitoes started biting. Basically, we just go outside, we play. May [King] with immuno-compromise we do not go to the playgrounds. We go to the park and just walk in the open, trying to take social distance. ”
The parents even used to put King, Messiah, 5, and Faith, 2, in the car to cool off and relied on arts and crafts during a trying time without WiFi.
“It is understandable to lose power, but not acceptable to lose it for six days,” Shameeza said. “It’s dangerous, frustrating and challenging for parents and boys.”
Away and frustrated, they called for interim Queens Borough President Sharon Lee for help.
“Con Ed failed Queens completely and spectacularly,” Lee said at a press conference with the Singhs on Tuesday. “After repeated failed recovery auctions, the public’s patience has long passed. The only thing reliable about Con Ed post-Isaias was a constant failure to communicate accurately and effectively with the public. ”
The beep top leads demands of many elected officials that Con Ed give their 73,000 Queens customers discounts on their August tickets. They note that utility utilities’ electricity figures have risen 13.5 percent over the past three years.
In 2008, Con Ed agreed to pay a $ 46 million benefit to its customers, including those in Queens, in the wake of a disastrous blackout the year before, Lee said.
Michael suggested Con Ed invest in improving his infrastructure – before another storm hits.
“We pay our bills on time. Just give us our money’s worth, “he said. “It’s just a matter of time before this happens again, because history repeats itself and we do not want another family to be in a lesser position.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, 5,300 New Yorkers were still without power – including 4,100 in Westchester County, 950 in Queens and the rest in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Con Ed said its crews are also working on 5,300 outages unrelated to Isaiah.
Lee’s push for accountability comes after New York City Public Defender Jumaane Williams’ idea of a municipal takeover of the utility float.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, said the Public Service Commission would investigate Con Ed and PSE & G’s responses to the storm.
“Con Edison is fully committed to restoring power as safely and quickly as possible for every customer. There were more than 76,000 customers of Queens experienced by Isaiah; 900 of those customers are currently without power. The vast majority of customers were restored by Sunday night. We continue to work 24/7 to recover remaining customers, “the power company said in a statement.
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