SUNDAY, JULY 16: Parts of western Queens including Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Hunters Point, and Astoria have reduced voltage from Con Edison.
MONDAY, JULY 17: Several dozen customers lose power about 3 p.m., as reported to Con Edison by the residents.
TUESDAY, JULY 18: The utility giant announces that about 500 customers are without electricity after 6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19: Con Ed counts the total Queens residents without power in the range of 1,500 to 2,000, translating to about 10,000 people affected in the borough.
THURSDAY, JULY 20: Workers from Con Ed canvas the area to get an accurate count of customers without power.
FRIDAY, JULY 21: Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke announces that the company revised their count of customers without power to 25,000, which translated to an estimated 100,000 affected by the blackout. Andres Rodriguez dies of a heart attack in his car, which relatives blame on heat and lack of access to air conditioning.
SATURDAY, JULY 22: Burke apologizes for the “inconvenience” to Queens residents and said that he did not know what caused the blackout.
SUNDAY, JULY 23: During day seven of the blackout, power returns for over 20,000 customers, but many residents said that their voltage remains low – they can not run washing machines and other energy-intensive appliances. Mayor Michael Bloomberg praises Con Ed’s action under pressure, while Queens lawmakers call for Burke to resign and say that the Mayor’s defense of Burke is “an amazing head-in-the-sand moment.”
MONDAY, JULY 24: Three to four thousand – translating to about 16,000 affected people – remain without power in western Queens.
TUESDAY, JULY 25: By 2 p.m., Con Ed estimates that only 332 customers remain without power in western Queens.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26: The power is restored but the suffering lingers on.
The Outage Day-By-Day
By Christina Santucci
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