More than 30,000 without power in southeast Brooklyn

Service isn't expected to be restored until morning

July 22, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

The Con Edison outage map shows the hardest hit areas in the July 21, 2019, outage.

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Just as temperatures of 2019’s first major heat wave broke, so did Brooklyn’s electrical infrastructure.

More than 30,000 households in southeast Brooklyn lost power Sunday evening, as Con Edison reportedly severed service in order to “protect the integrity of the energy system,” a spokesperson for the company told the Daily News.

Con Edison’s outage map reports that 31,959 households in Brooklyn are without service as of 11 p.m. The areas most affected include Bergen Beach, Mill Basin, Flatlands, Canarsie and Flatlands — a swath of the borough bounded by Kings Highway and Ditmas Avenue, the Belt Parkway, East 108th Street and Flatbush Avenue, according to a company press release.

The company said that New York City and Westchester set a new record for peak power usage when readings hit 12,063 megawatts at 6 p.m. Temperatures on Sunday hit 98 degrees — the third consecutive day with temperatures above 90 degrees.

The unprecedented usage spurred the company to make a “preemptive move to take those customers in southeast Brooklyn out of service in order to protect vital equipment.”

The utility company is estimating a full restoration of power by 11 a.m., according to the map. They are urging residents to switch off or unplug electrical appliances to prevent damage.

Crews are responding to approximately 33,000 outages in the southeast #Brooklyn neighborhoods of Canarsie, Flatlands, Mill Basin, Old Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, and Georgetown due to continued heat and high usage. https://t.co/jq25kLSqKa pic.twitter.com/fn5GdVRJOv

— Con Edison (@ConEdison) July 22, 2019

Mayor Bill de Blasio said via Twitter that Con Edison will begin restoring power as of midnight, turning the lights back on for 500 customers at a time.

Latest from Con Ed for the 30K customers without power in Flatlands, Canarsie, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach: Con Ed will start bringing customers back 500 at a time around midnight.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2019

Residents affected by the outage said power went out around 7:30 p.m.

I live In the Canarsie section of Brooklyn where the power has been out since after 7:30 tonight and my son has asthma so waiting for the power to come back on is just dam ridiculous.

— Candace Floyd (@MizzMinnie85) July 22, 2019

Councilmember Farah Louis, who represents the northern section of the affected area, tweeted that her office will “monitor the situation.”

There’s a major power outage in BK, which includes several parts of D45, due to excessive heat that damaged the power grid. I met w/@ConEdison officials onsite for an update & was informed power would be restored by the morning. My office will continue to monitor the situation. https://t.co/rbqBngUv9q pic.twitter.com/H9ZtslQlvv

— Farah N. Louis (@FarahNLouis) July 22, 2019

Other Brooklyn neighborhoods were also hit with outages, though were not part of the preemptive shutdown. Several hundred households in Bath Beach and Gravesend lost power, and hundreds more in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Gowanus, Boerum Hill and Park Slope, according to the outage map.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo mobilized a state response to the Brooklyn outage.

We've been through this situation w ConEd time & again & they should have been better prepared—period. I am deploying 200 State Police, 100 generators & 50 Light Towers to assist with the 30K+ power outages in BK
I encourage NYers to check on neighbors- esp the elderly- tonight

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) July 22, 2019

New York City’s Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza announced that several schools in the affected area will not have summer classes on Monday due to the outages.

Due to power outages the following schools will not be in session tomorrow (Monday, 7/22/2019): K078, K207, K068, & K276.

— Chancellor Richard A. Carranza (@DOEChancellor) July 22, 2019

The outage comes just eight days after a Manhattan blackout, in which 70,000 customers lost power on the Upper West Side.

That outage spurred Cuomo to request the New York Public Service Commission investigate Con Ed and the causes of the Manhattan outage.

Brooklyn Councilmembers Justin Brannan and Mark Treyger demanded on Thursday that the Manhattan probe be expanded to investigate recent outages in Brooklyn.

Following today’s power failure, Treyger reiterated his call for an expanded investigation.

“No one should have a monopoly over our city’s energy supply. New York State grants Con Edison a license to operate in NYC and the state must step in to demand accountability, answers and changes,” Treyger told the Brooklyn Eagle. “Completely unacceptable and unsafe on many levels.”