Sandy Recovery Update: Utilities Under Fire

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Credit Westchester County

At an earlier press event late Thursday, Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke apologized to customers. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino appered with Burke and other officials in White Plains at the opening of a multi-purpose Superstorm Sandy recovery center.

A nor'easter that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of new people — mostly in New York and New Jersey — also has erased some of the progress made by utility crews. Some people, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have lost patience and are demanding investigations of utilities they say aren't working fast enough. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.



Almost 200,000 utility customers in New York City, Westchester and on Long Island still don't have their power restored in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and this week's nor'easter.

Clergy and community leaders gathered today in Queens, urging federal, state and city officials, along with utilities, to provide essential services in the wake of Sandy.

The utility companies have been on the hot seat: Governor Cuomo has repeatedly criticized them for what he has called a lack of preparation and slow performance in restoring electric service.

Congressmen Peter King and Steve Israel, as well as other Long Island officials, called Friday for the federal government to dispatch more resources to help the Long Island Power Authority restore electricity.

At a news conference Friday, they called LIPA's response to the power outage on Day 12 a failure. Around 165,000 outages are being reported Friday by LIPA.

Con Edison reports more than 17,000 homes and businesses still lack power in New York City, including more than 8,000 in Queens. The utility says almost 15,000 of its customers in Westchester County still don't have electricity.

At an earlier press event late Thursday, Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke apologized to customers. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino appered with Burke in White Plains at the opening of a multi-purpose Superstorm Sandy recovery center

Postal workers across upstate New York will be collecting contributions of food on Saturday for the Superstorm Sandy relief effort. The U.S. Postal Service says its letter carriers will gather canned goods and non-perishable food left in mailboxes on their routes. Food in glass containers can't be accepted.

Sandy rattled parts of New York City and New Jersey with a storm surge reaching 14 feet, killing more than 100 people and leaving millions without power.