Con Edison: some power restored to parts of NYC - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Con Edison: some power restored to parts of NYC

UPDATE WEDNESDAY: Con Edison restored power Wednesday afternoon to customers in two underground electrical networks that were taken out of service Monday night as the floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy were surging.

One network is in lower Manhattan and serves 2,000 customers. The customers are in an area roughly bounded by Vesey Street on the north; West Street on the west; Broadway and State Street on the east; and the southern tip of Manhattan to the south.

The second area is in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn and serves about 28,200 customers. The area includes these neighborhoods: Coney Island, Seagate, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Sheepshead Bay.

The utility noted that though it has restored power to the networks, some buildings may still be without electricity due to basement flooding or damage to local equipment.

Company crews continue to work to restore power to customers who are served by underground and overhead electrical equipment.

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A Con Ed spokesman said the company was caught off-guard by a 14-foot storm surge, which was much greater than forecast.

At 9 p.m. Monday, Con Edison issued a statement: "Con Edison is reporting power outages to a large section of Manhattan stretching from East 39th Street to the lower tip of Manhattan. The outage was caused by flooding in company substations and engineers are working to correct the problem. The Company said approximately 250,000 customers in Manhattan are without power."

Earlier, Con Edison had preemptively cut steam service and the power on a grid in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn to prevent potentially severe damage to equipment.

NYU Hospital's backup generator failed, according to Mayor Mike Bloomberg. He said the city was working with the hospital to move patients.