Jamaica Avenue had blackout too

Western Queens was not the only region to suffer from a lengthy power outage in the borough as a section of Jamaica Avenue was blacked out for up to seven days at the same time.
Con Edison confirmed that 23 customers from approximately 161st Street to 90th Avenue along Jamaica Avenue were without power for up to seven days because of burning feeder cables in three manholes.
Though much smaller in scope than the massive power outage that plunged 100,000 people in sections of Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, Hunters Point and Long Island City into darkness for 10 days, some residents in the affected Jamaica region felt they were ignored by the media.
A resident of Yorkside Towers, an eight-story apartment complex at 90th Avenue and 161st Street who requested anonymity, didn't understand why she never saw any news coverage regarding their neighborhood's predicament, even though their apartment building went without lights and power for almost a week.
A fire at a store named EB Games, located at 159-27 Jamaica Avenue, was the first sign of trouble in that area. A small portion of the video retailer's side wall near the front of the store caught fire, shortly before electricity was lost in the area.
&#8220It was an electrical fire, at least that's what Con Edison told me,” said manager Justin Rosario.
Yvonne Reddick, District Manager of Community Board 12, located at 90-28 161st Street, heard a loud &#8220boom” accompanied by flickering lights. Investigating the noise, she saw smoke emanating from a nearby manhole and shortly thereafter Reddick said they were evacuated by the fire department.
In addition to EB Games, other businesses to lose power in the downtown Jamaica shopping district included the Farmers Market, Long Island Beauty Supply and Burger King.
According to Jerry Kremer, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance and former State Assemblymember, this nightmare could easily happen again in the future. &#8220The public has to be prepared to be inconvenienced,” he says. &#8220New York has 29 power plants and no new plants have been approved. We are at the mercy of an aging (electrical) system and there is nothing that we can do about it.”
Burger King employees continued to report to work and Manager Norhine Mar said, &#8220They were on the schedule; we still had to pay them.”
Con Edison will reimburse residents up to $350 for perishable goods, and businesses up to $7,000. Those seeking compensation can go to the Con Edison website at www.coned.com or call 1-800-75-CONED.