Thursday, October 1, 2026
Rockville Centre experienced a widespread power outage when a transformer went out Tuesday afternoon.
According to Rockville Centre Police Commissioner Charles Gennario, approximately three-quarters of the village lost power when a transformer failed around 10:30 a.m., and most had regained power by 1:15 p.m.
Larry Siegel, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said that the outage affected much of the downtown retail area of the village. It also affected areas including Centre Avenue, Village Avenue, Sunrise Highway, Maple Avenue and parts of Long Beach Road. Both the King Kullen supermarket on Sunrise Highway and the Associated grocery store on North Long Beach Road were affected.
Nassau County’s Community Emergency Response Team director, Michael Arcari, sent an email to CERT members informing them that the village had requested immediate assistance and was opening up a cooling center at the Anderson Recreation Center.
CERT members receive special training that enhances their ability to recognize, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies or disasters.
The outage reached up north toward Mercy Medical Center, which did not lose power, according to its spokesman, Mel Granick, but it did affect South Nassau Communities Hospital, which was running on its backup generator, according to spokesman Damian Becker.
The village sent emergency texts, emails and phone calls using its Swift 911 program. “There is a village wide power outage. The Rockville Centre Electric Department is working to restore power as quickly as possible,” the email read.“We will update with further information. Thank your for your patience and cooperation.”
According to Liz Dion, president of the Board of Education, the only school to be affected by the power outage was Riverside Elementary School.
“We’ve been down there, just checking in,” said Dion,. “Water is running properly and everything’s fine. We’re not dismissing early. The buildings are cool inside and everything is working as it’s supposed to.”
According to weather.com, the temperature in the village around the time of the outage was 85 degrees with humidity of 75 percent.
“Right now we have officers out directing traffic, and some traffic lights have lost power,” said RVCPD Lt. Christopher Romance. “We’re responding to emergency calls as normal.”
One of those calls involved the Rockville Centre Fire Department, as well as firefighters from East Rockaway, Lynbrook and Oceanside who responded to a house fire at 23 Lincoln Court around noon on Tuesday. The house, whose owners had left for work around 8 a.m. was empty, except for the family dog, Bailey, who was rescued. The fire was thought to have started in the kitchen.
