Port Washington Mayors Co-Sign Letter To PSEG, Demand Resources

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — Port Washington peninsula mayors co-wrote a letter to PSEG Long Island this week demanding that more resources be immediately sent to their communities.

Thousands of homes and businesses across Long Island were still without power a week after Tropical Storm Isaias wreaked havoc in the region. The utility has delayed customers' restoration date throughout the week, leaving many uncertain when their power will return.

"We are now almost a week removed from the initial outage and, frankly, for some there is still no meaningful estimates by PSEG," Village of Port Washington North Mayor Bob Weitzner wrote to his community Monday. "While I am told there are crews working on Radcliff, Soundview and Driftwood, we cannot confirm that power will be restored tonight. We can only hope."

In a Monday letter co-signed by all the Port Washington peninsula mayors that was addressed to Long Island Power Authority CEO Thomas Falcone and PSEG LI President and CEO Daniel Eichorn, the mayors wrote that "the continued delaying of restoration times and lack or operational support is unacceptable."

"Our Villages have cleared the roads and done all the things we needed to do to assist LIPA and PSEG with recovery, but we are not seeing the same support from your operational teams," the mayors said. "The frontline workers are doing their best to get the job done but it is clear to us that more help is needed to immediately address the safety and electrical restoration needs of our communities and all of Long Island."

The mayors said that local representatives from PSEG and Port Washington's crews on the ground were "operating professionally under the harshest conditions including systemic failures," but that PSEG's operational and communication shortfalls prolonged the area's recovery.

Additionally, billions of dollars were spent to improve the system since Superstorm Sandy struck in 2012. The mayors said the response and system failures from Isaias are the same as those experienced eight years ago.

In the letter, the mayors also demanded additional resources be deployed into Port Washington communities, saying that while crews were brought in from out-of-state, there was clearly "not enough boots on the ground."

"Residents could have instituted evacuation plans days ago but instead they, and our teams, were repeatedly told restoration times would be within 24-48 hours of each passing day," the mayors said. "This is all compounded by COVID-19 and the desire for our residents to not put themselves in harm’s way."

Patch has reached out to a PSEG-LI spokesperson for comment on the mayors' letter and will update this story when we hear back.

Weitzner gave additional updates to Port Washington North residents. The village sent out tree crews to clear roads and remove fallen or unstable trees as soon as the power went out and it was deemed safe to do so Tuesday, Aug. 4, when Isaias hit. While the streets were navigable within hours, he wrote, power outages remain unresolved one week later.

"Given the forecasts and restoration timeline projection provided by PSEG, we initially did not feel this would be a sustained power loss for our Village," Weitzner wrote. "Obviously we were very wrong."

Addressing some residents' concerns that they were unable to connect with PSEG in the wake of the storm, Weitzner wrote that the village is "confident that PSEG is aware of the outages in Port North."

"It is unconscionable that the information provided by PSEG would suggest that they do not have your house number in the system, or you will be put into new status with longer estimates of repair," he said. "It is also unacceptable that many of us receive wrong estimates for restoration, or even worse tell us that we have power when we don’t, or don’t have power when we do. In sum, the communication effort by PSEG to all of our residents, as well as all of Long Island, was atrocious."

Weitzner said that the village has been in "constant contact" with PSEG and has established direct communication with the PSEG municipal hotline, which was supposed to provide village-specific updates and estimates on when local electricity would be restored.

Still, he said, "it has been almost impossible to receive any useful or accurate data to provide our residents regarding timelines for power restoration."

After the estimates for some streets continued to be delayed, the village has asked PSEG for an "honest, realistic timeframe for restoration," specifically for Radcliff Avenue, Sandy Court, parts of Soundview Drive, Angler Lane, Fishermans Drive and Driftwood Drive. Any verified information the Village receives will be passed on to residents through email, telephone or individual messages.

PSEG said they would also notify residents of restoration times, Weitzner said.

"This was something they were supposed to be doing once the power went out," he wrote. "Let us not forget that PSEG came in to take over our grid from LIPA, who themselves did a horrendous job communicating following Superstorm Sandy in 2012. We deserve more and we will hold them accountable."

"Power restoration is progressing faster than can be displayed on the map. While we have experienced issues with our communications systems, they never had any impact on our restoration efforts," PSEG-LI stated in a Tuesday morning storm update. "We understand any frustration you feel and thank you for your patience."

PSEG-LI added that it has been able to "assess the full extent of the damage and dispatch crews to damage locations. Crews continue to work around the clock to restore power as quickly as possible. ... We understand how critical it is to share accurate and timely information with our customers and are working diligently to improve all of our systems to fully resolve all communications issues."

In light of the system failures in the wake of Isaias, the village will also re-convene its infrastructure committee, which was formed before Superstorm Sandy to address the many outages the village experienced prior to 2012. Residents who are interested in participating in the meetings should reach out to the mayor's office.

In addition, the village will hold a virtual "power forum" over Zoom, where residents may voice their concerns. PSEG representatives will be invited to attend.

Weitzner said the village intends to learn more details about the Port Washington North's electrical grid, details that were "not readily provided to us after Superstorm Sandy despite numerous requests."

"Port North, we live in a wonderful community and should not have to endure this discomfort, nor have to fear it might repeat itself every time inclement weather occurs," Weitzner wrote. "The Board and I will do everything in our power to strive to address the issues before us and give us the reliable power we deserve."