Reuters is reporting that Con Edison, the city’s electric company, may shut down power to Lower Manhattan neighborhoods tonight to protect electrical systems and equipment. A final decision is expected at 8 p.m., when the tide is expected to reach its highest point, according to a company spokesman.
From the Reuters story, posted a short while ago:
Blackouts could affect streets as far north as 34th Street, in line with the Empire State building, a Con Edison spokesman said, though would likely be limited to those avenues closest to the East and Hudson rivers. The central avenues are not expected to be affected.
“We have contacted customers on the southern tip of Manhattan and on the lower sections of the Hudson and East River,” Con Edison spokesman Alfonso Quiroz told Reuters, saying the firm’s automated calling system had placed calls to homeowners and businesses in the affected area.
The company said all streets in New York City’s evacuation zone around Battery Park City on Manhattan’s southern tip would be affected by the potential blackout, as well as some on the east and west of the island serviced by the same electrical networks.
for how long?
Working on getting the answer to that.