Blackout in Franklin Square

Pockets of Franklin Square were left without power for as long as five days in the aftermath of the March 13 storm that battered Long Island. Originally, reports from the governor’s office said that as many as 250,000 people were without power on the Island, but that most power had been restored by the time the work week resumed on March 15.

For many families in Franklin Square, however, only 24 hours without power would have been considered a blessing. “LIPA had a power pole break, they had a tree fall on a transformer in our neighborhood, and they knew about all of it,” said Anthony Ciuffo, a Franklin Square doctor who lost power from Saturday until Wednesday evening, along with 40 other homes in his neighborhood. “They could have taken care of it. We felt like we were the forgotten people.”

Ciuffo said that he and his neighbors took turns calling Long Island Power Authority representatives to make sure they weren’t forgotten. He said that each time they called, either a supervisor or a representative of the company would tell them that the power was likely to come back “tomorrow.”

On Wednesday morning, Ciuffo said, he was told that his neighborhood was considered a low-priority target. “We were told we were not a priority and had not been assigned a work crew,” Ciuffo wrote in a letter about his situation, which he addressed to local legislators. “We were also told it would probably not be until Thursday, March 18 that a crew would be assigned the task of fixing the problem, and no telling how long it would take for them to arrive and correct the situation.”

Ciuffo added that while LIPA gave conflicting answers about when a crew was likely to be given the task of restoring power in town, families with crucial electricity needs were desperately trying to arrange other places to stay. “My wife has [multiple sclerosis] and some of the people in the neighborhood have kids,” he said. “The temperature in my house got down to 51 degrees some nights.” Power was not restored until Wednesday night, Ciuffo said, after he had placed a call to the office of County Legislator John Ciotti (R-Elmont).

Mark Gross, LIPA’s director of communications, said the company was doing the best it could given the circumstances, something residents took as cold comfort. “We certainly sympathize with those customers who were without power for multiple days,” Gross said. “LIPA worked around the clock, with over 2,000 linemen working 16-hour shifts to restore power to over 263,000 people across Long Island.”

Gross added that in the future, LIPA would work to improve its notification system to customers, so that even if people were forced to deal with a lack of power, they could plan accordingly.

The Franklin Square School District made the decision to stay open despite the closure of some schools in the area by other districts. Interim Superintendent Anthony Pecorale said that once it was clear that the three schools in the district had power, school could continue as normal.

“My position is that when the kids have those kinds of things happen, they are better off in school,” Pecorale said, adding that the district was aware that some residents did not have power, but that, overall, the community would function better with children in school.

Pecorale himself was still without electricity, and had been staying with his daughter.

After verifying with the schools’ head custodians that there were no safety issues, he made the decision to keep everything open. “I do know that there were residents of Franklin Square who did not have electricity, but our schools were fully operational, and I was in by 7:30 a.m., so I think everything worked out,” he said.

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