28% of Rye is Still “Con-ED” and Without Power

Lights started going out in Rye on Tuesday. And they won’t all be back on until Sunday or Monday based on current expectations. As of 5:30pm Friday, Co Ed is reporting 1,769 customers or 28% of homes in Rye remain without power.

In an update, Rye Major Josh Cohn reports City Hall’s phone’s don’t work, so residents should use email. Don’t have reliable email because Altice and Verizon also stink? Send a carrier pigeon or just get a good book and read. At least until the sun goes down and you are in the dark…

Good think the water service still works so we can still all wash our hands!

Note the recharge/cooling centers at City Hall and Rye Rec have limited or no hours over the weekend.

The full City update from 5pm Friday follows:

“I am pleased to report that power restoration crews are now at work in Rye. They have set up along the Boston Post Road corridor. The rough game plan they report, subject always to change, is that they will move from there to Milton Point.

Thirty percent of Rye customers were without power this morning. Most of us are hearing Sunday or Monday estimated restoration times. Con Ed holds out the possibility (but by no means the promise) of faster recovery with the pending arrival of more mutual aid resources from other utilities.

Con Ed seems to be attributing its poor preparedness for Isaias to changes in the pre-storm weather forecasts and storm track. I am hopeful that the Governor, the PSC and our State legislators will recognize that this is now an over-used excuse and that real change has to be propelled through our public utility monopoly, despite its apparent institutional unwillingness to devote resources to storm contingencies.

We are aware of the Altice and Verizon problems that abound, either separately or twinned with Con Ed issues. Other municipalities report difficulties parallel to our own in getting Altice and Verizon assistance.

Consistently, City Hall’s phones are out of order. City departments are best reached by email.

Con Ed is promising some reimbursement for food spoilage. We are told that information will become available on the Con Ed website. We will post the information when we receive it.

Con Ed is distributing dry ice this afternoon from the back parking lot behind New Rochelle City Hall, 515 Hamilton Avenue. If you wish to pursue, bring your patience. The Yorktown Con Ed dry ice distribution point saw more than 1,000 cars yesterday.

Again, through its website, Con Ed has available means to register addresses where electrically-enabled life support is in use. It also offers means to register the addresses of the disabled, elderly or blind, though Con Ed states that registration does not mean that Con Ed will be able to expedite power restoration to the registered addresses. We will provide further information as we receive it.

Our own recharge/cooling center at City Hall will be open until 8:00 tonight (subject to COVID sign-in and temperature check). It will reopen at 8:00 Saturday morning, but remain open only until 6:30. It will be closed Sunday. Rye Rec’s location for seniors will be closed Saturday and Sunday. We will assess reopening on Monday as we see how power restoration proceeds over the weekend.

One Coronavirus note – Con Ed indicated that a health check (details unknown) is being required of the mutual aid from distant states.

Stay safe, please. Avoid downed wires and make sure that each and every household-one-of you has reported your outage to Con Ed.

Mayor Josh Cohn”