It was a hot weekend, to say the least.
The heatwave left New York City engulfed in stifling humidity of more than 90 degrees fahrenheit on July 21. And to add fuel to the flame, the Con Edison energy company cut power to around 30,000 Brooklyn homes and businesses, leaving them without electricity throughout the night.
This eerie video shows Brooklyn in darkness as NYC dealt with massive blackout amid intense heat: https://t.co/fAv9e9Z4kV pic.twitter.com/sbPlKLGwnx
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) July 22, 2019
Unlike the Manhattan blackout on July 14, this one was intentional. And as of 7 p.m. on July 22, more than 8,000 customers are still without power.
Con Edison told NTD News that they shut down the power because the equipment was baking under the heat—heat amplified by a record-high demand for electricity.
“The equipment in that area of Brooklyn was under great stress from three days of intense heat,” Allen Drury, the company’s spokesperson, said. “We already had customers out of service.
“If we had not taken the action we did, then those customers would have been out longer … potentially.”
Mayor and Governor Respond
He said that they updated elected officials before the decision was made, but Mayor Bill de Blasio was not happy.
“I am extremely disappointed with Con Ed,” de Blasio said at a press conference, according to ABC 7. “They have been giving us consistently inconsistent information over the last few days.”
.@ConEdison has let New Yorkers down once again.
This was a predictable situation — and therefore preventable. Everyone saw the heat coming.
They’ve been giving us consistently inconsistent information. There needs to be a full investigation into what happened. pic.twitter.com/t25qyjU26i
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2019
The mayor also said that he no longer trusts the power company and took it a step further: “It’s very clear there needs to be a full investigation into what happened.”
Drury told NTD that the company would comply with the investigation.
Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Twitter on the evening of July 21 that he would deploy “200 State Police, 100 generators & 50 Light Towers” to assist with the power outages.
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
Throughout today, Con Ed has been returning power to homes in Brooklyn.
