by Jerry Burke
With temperatures stuck in the high 80s and humidity reaching maximum saturation, the harsh night got a lot more uncomfortable for the hundreds of celebrants ready to say goodbye to high school in style. Many of the students arrived in limousines, only to find darkness coupled with confusion.
According to Con Edison spokespeople, a set of underground cables in the area burnt out, causing the five-block-wide power outage at about 6 p.m., an hour before the prom was to commence at Russo's on the Bay, a catering hall on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach. The outage affected about 6,400 customers in the Howard Beach and Richmond Hill areas. Students waited out the blackout for about an hour before finally, and disappointedly, giving up.
"The power failure knocked out the lights, the air conditioning, everything; even the soda guns behind the bar weren't working," said Herald photographer James Escher, who was assigned to cover the event. "The place felt like a sauna."
Joe Pontecorvo, president of the Island Park Chamber of Commerce and father of West Hempstead senior Joseph, said his son and his group reacted as best they could. "The boys took it relatively well, but the girls were obviously disappointed," said Pontecorvo. "A lot of the kids were stuck at Russo's because their limos were set to pick them up much later. It was depressing."
Pontecorvo said that he and other parents are setting up a committee to look into holding a make-up event for the kids. "It probably won't be as fancy, but we want them to have a good time somewhere locally." He has promised to get the word out on the event as soon as they have a clear picture of what they can do.
Superintendent Carol Eisenberg said that the power outage in Queens was being reported on the news, but no one made the connection that there would be a problem at Russo's. "It was so unfortunate," said Eisenberg. "They are such a good class, and they handled the situation very well. There was no chaos at all. They were a class act all evening."
Eisenberg added that the owner of Russo's on the Bay has offered to reimburse the money that the class spent on the hall and dinner, with tickets priced at $75 each. Still, the students will lose the money they spent on gowns, tuxes and limos, with many of them estimating their losses anwhere from $300 to $700. "It's such a shame, because lots of the students worked to save up for this," said Eisenberg.
According to the management of Russo's, the students were not allowed into the restaurant as the sun went down because of safety concerns. Power was finally restored a little after 11 p.m., three hours after the evening was canceled. Eisenberg said there were no plans to make up the event, although many students did continue with their post-prom plans.
