September 1, 2011, Cover Stories, Merrick Life
Legislator Denenberg: LIPA, let there be light!
Legislator shines light on LIPA, seeks answers.
THE GOVERNOR’S EAR: County Legislator Dave Denenberg held a press conference outside his office on Merrick Road with the Teich family, at left, Derek Donnelly and Jeffrey Hollander of Merrick, at right, saying he has a promise from Governor Andrew Cuomo that the Bellmore-Merrick-Wantagh areas south of Merrick Road will be made a top priority in getting power back to the residents. Mr. Denenberg has charged that LIPA is too slow in responding to customers in those areas. Merrick LIfe photo by Douglas Finlay
County Legislator Dave Denenberg implored the Long Island Power Authority to “turn on the lights and get us out of the dark” during an impromptu press conference Tuesday in front of his district office on Merrick Road.
He was referring to the slow response time from LIPA to clean up the streets and get power back to residents of south Merrick and south Bellmore, which has resulted in losses of thousands of dollars worth of foods, medical supplies and other inconveniences.
Jeffrey Hollander of Merrick said he has not seen “a LIPA truck since the storm,” referring to two large trees blocking Florence Street in south Merrick.
A woman on Denton Drive and Camden Place in Merrick, who asked to remain anonymous, also said she hadn’t seen a LIPA truck since a tree fell across the road onto a fire hydrant.
“I’m losing all my foods because I have no electricity,” she complained, and she can’t reach LIPA by phone either.
“Will LIPA reimburse us for the costs of all these foods and other inconveniences?” asked Susan Teich of Susan Road in south Bellmore.
Her son Michael told Merrick Life their home had electricity until Monday morning, when flood waters from the street seeped into a ground transformer. “They may have shut the power off themselves, but they said they would be back and they haven’t been,” Mr. Teich said.
Mr. Denenberg said that he has gotten the attention of Governor Andrew Cuomo, and that “Governor Cuomo agreed that the Merrick-Bellmore-Wantagh area south of Merrick Road has to be a priority.”
Mr. Denenberg said he and the president of LIPA would walk the affected areas on yesterday morning.
Shortly before the press conference, the traffic light at the corner of Bellmore Avenue and Merrick Road began working again after being out since Saturday night.
Central to the ability to clean the streets of downed trees is getting LIPA’s permission for the county Deparment of Public Works – and the Town of Hempstead – to work on those trees that have downed telephone and electrical wires wrapped around or caught up in the branches.
One county DPW worker at the conference noted the frustration crews are experiencing because they are not allowed to touch trees that are wrapped up in LIPA wires.
But LIPA said in a prepared statement that it has marshalled hundreds of line and tree crews from around the Eastern U.S. to help in restoring 523,000 outages.
LIPA’s website said that of 13,245 customers in the Bellmores, 1,752 were still without power on Wednesday afternoon. Of 12,324 customers in the Merricks, 724 were still without power on Wednesday afternoon.
