Dear John,

On Sunday, manhole fires caused a power outage that left more than 2,000 of our neighbors without electricity––some for multiple days.

Families lost heat as temperatures plummeted into the teens. Food and medication spoiled. Seniors and residents with disabilities were stranded in buildings without elevators, lights, heat, or hot water. Small businesses were forced to close, losing critical income. 

From the moment the outage began, my office worked around the clock to push for answers, press Con Edison for restoration timelines, and make sure affected residents had access to emergency services and accurate information, especially when communication from agencies was slow or unclear.

What we did during the outage

My team and I worked quickly to coordinate emergency response and support, including:

• Opening up warming centers with NYC Emergency Management––first at PS 133, then at Wyckoff Gardens Community Center

• Bringing a warming bus to the neighborhood

• Conducting a neighborhood canvass to distribute food, supplies, and information, with sandwiches provided by Rethink Food

• Coordinating with NYPD Traffic to staff intersections with downed traffic signals

• Working with DSNY to shovel snow and create safe access so Con Edison could access underground infrastructure to locate the source of the problem

• Creating an email list to share real-time outage updates

If you were affected and want to receive future updates, you can sign up using our Power Outage Updates Google Form.

A small but important win: when we learned the warming bus wasn’t accessible due to piled-up snow—an obvious safety issue that had been left unaddressed—we contacted DSNY and got it shoveled immediately.

Why this keeps happening 

New York City’s electric grid is largely underground, which protects us from many weather-related outages. But every winter, snow mixed with road salt melts and seeps into the underground electric infrastructure. Salt water corrodes electric wires, and that corrosion can spark fires––like the manhole fires that caused this outage. 

These failures are not inevitable. They are the result of long-term disinvestment in critical infrastructure. 

Rolling blackout, exploding manholes, and a crumbling energy grid are dangerous, and avoidable! But our current system treats electricity as a commodity, not a public good.

Con Edison is a private, for-profit monopoly. New Yorkers cannot choose another provider. We are captive customers, required to buy an essential service from a corporation whose legal obligation is to shareholders, not the public.

In recent years, Con Edison’s CEO earned more than $16 million in a single year, while the company’s parent reported $1.82 billion in profit—at the same time that infrastructure continues to age and fail. This reflects a system that prioritizes executive compensation and shareholder profit over reliable service. Meanwhile, customers face repeated rate hikes, with electric bills rising more than 10% over just a few years. New Yorkers already pay some of the highest utility rates in the country—about 40% higher than the national average. We all feel this every month when we pay our electric and gas bills—especially during the coldest winter months and hottest summer months, when costs are most burdensome.

The long-term solution: Public Power

We need to radically rethink how power and gas are operated in New York State. That means moving toward true Public Power, a system that prioritizes reliability, safety, and affordability over shareholder profit. This would require significant state legislation.

To keep up the momentum for systemic change, we are closely monitoring implementation of the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA). This law empowers the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build and own renewable energy projects. By transitioning our energy supply into public hands, we can ensure that infrastructure decisions prioritize neighborhood reliability, such as preventing manhole fires, rather than corporate dividends. 

District 39 residents can take action by joining the Public Power NY coalition. This group leads the fight to ensure the state fully funds NYPA’s 2026 expansion projects. 

Support and reimbursement for impacted residents

Reimbursement for spoiled food and medication
Residents can file a claim with Con Edison for reimbursement for spoiled food or medication using Con Edison’s reimbursement claim form. Claims must be submitted within 30 days of the date of the outage—by March 2. 

• File online using Con Edison’s reimbursement claim form 

• You can also get help by calling Con Edison Customer Service at (800) 752-6633.

If you are having trouble filing a claim, need help navigating Con Edison’s process, or want to report ongoing issues related to the outage, please contact my office, we are here to help. Email [email protected] or call (718) 499-1090. 

Even if you don’t need help, please let us know if you submitted a claim. Sending us your claim number and any additional information to [email protected]. We will continue fighting for expedient and generous claim fulfilment.

Additional expenses
I have urged Con Edison to reimburse residents for additional costs caused by this outage, including travel expenses and temporary accommodations. I sent a letter to Con Edison CEO Timothy Cawley calling for this relief. You can read our full letter to Con Edison CEO Timothy Cawley calling for reimbursement of outage-related expenses. To date, Con Edison has refused to reimburse these additional expenses. We will continue pushing the company on this issue.

Billing during the outage
Customers are not charged for electricity they do not use during outages. I also called on Con Edison to automatically suspend billing and issue full credits for impacted residents, including days without power, heat, and hot water. 

Please know: my office is here for you––both to help right now and to push for the systemic changes needed to prevent this from happening again.

Winter Weather Updates

Trash and compost collection have returned to the regular schedule and will be picked up on your normal collection day, though pickup times may vary. Recycling collection is running about one day behind—please still place recycling out on your usual day. Pickup may take an extra day, and no one will receive a summons for material left out. DSNY thanks you for your patience.

Our office also coordinated with DSNY to clear curb cuts at pedestrian crossings, bike lanes, and other areas that needed snow removal across the district. If you see areas that need to be cleared for safety and accessibility, let us know.