A Stressful Week for the Scarsdale Police
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Scarsdale Public Safety Headquarters took over 3,400 emergency calls during the storm – despite the failure of the new Lightpath communications system. Police and firefighters worked round-the-clock, many staying at headquarters and working overtime to deal with the extraordinary demands of a community in crisis. Most of the calls involved downed trees and wires. Police and firefighters secured the sites and taped off the affected areas to prevent people from stepping on live wires. In some instances, where trees fell on homes, the fire department assessed whether or not it was safe for the residents to remain inside. On the Post Road at 5:37 pm on Monday night, Detective Sherri Albano watched a tree take down wires and fall onto a car. She was able to assist the driver who got out of the car unharmed.
In the past few days there were scores of calls to the police about suspicious cars and people as it is difficult to tell who’s in town to do repairs and who’s up to no good. In addition, there were several reports of fights between frustrated residents and Con Edison workers.
As of Tuesday November 5, the communications system has been restored and police and firefighters are continuing to do everything they can to keep residents safe and secure our property. Police are patrolling dark streets to guard against burglars, checking homes and making welfare visits to the elderly who insist on staying in their unheated houses, many with no phone service.
For those without power, if the storm this week causes flooding in your home, Lieutenant Thomas Altizio advises you to call the emergency operation department for assistance with pumping at 722-1150.
Here’s more news from the Scarsdale Police:
Con Edison is reporting thefts of electrical wire from residential streets. Metal thieves have been cutting and stealing downed power lines as well as new wire spools left at outage site to facilitate repairs. Con Edison will prosecute anyone who steals equipment, and asks that residents report any suspicious persons in the area of downed electric cables or spools of cables at outage sites.
There have also been reports of Con Ed impostors trying to scam customers. Anyone suspicious of the actions or requests of someone claiming to be a Con Edison employee should ask to see the employees Con Edison employee identification card or call the police to verify they are authorized Con Edison personnel. Legitimate Con Edison employees will have company identification cards.
Burst Pipe at SMS: On Tuesday November 6, the day the Middle School reopened after being closed for a week, a pipe burst in the ceiling above the Fountain House Counselor's office and quickly filled the Fountain office with water and steam, tripping the fire alarm system. The school was evacuated and students went to the field where attendance was taken. Within fifteen minutes, Scarsdale fire personnel allowed everyone to return to the building except for the first floor of Fountain House.
Generator Theft: At 1 am on November 3, residents of Ferncliff Road caught two men trying to steal their generator from the front of their home. They heard a car idling, looked outside and saw two men attempting to steal the $3,000 unit. When the homeowners stepped outside, the two men jumped into their SUV and drove away.
Oops: A 76 year-old Garth Road man drove through police barricades and yellow tape on Boulevard on the morning of 11/1 and collided with downed trees and power lines at the intersection of Boulevard and Clarence Road.
Debris: A Berkeley Road woman called police on October 31 when neighbors dumped a large amount of tree debris in her yard. Police advised that this was a civil matter.
Several tree branches fell on police and emergency vehicles during the storm on Monday night October 29 – and one damaged the roof of a police car.
No gas: On November 2, police got a call from the driver of an SUV who had run out of gas on Church Lane. Police were unable to obtain any gas for the car so they towed it off the road.
All Polls Open and Powered Up in Scarsdale
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Great News: All eight Scarsdale voting locations for the 2012 Presidential Election now have power and electronic voting machines. As of 6:30 pm on Monday, power was restored to the Edgewood School, the last polling place to be restored.
The eight polls will be open from 6 am to 9 pm on Tuesday – and here are the sites:
- Edgewood Elementary School
- Fox Meadow Elementary School
- Greenacres Elementary School
- Heathcote Elementary School
- Quaker Ridge Elementary School
- Crossway Firehouse
- Scarsdale Public Library
- Scarsdale Village Hall
For people who are registered in Scarsdale but unable to return home to vote, Governor Andrew Cuomo just announced that people will be able to file an affidavit ballot at any polling place in the state, allowing them to vote for President and U.S. Senate even if they have been displaced by Hurricane Sandy. However, unless a voter picks an election site within the same district for the state Senate, Assembly and House of Representatives, they will be unable to select candidates in those down-ballot races.
So get out and vote tomorrow. The 2012 election is finally here and the voting machines are ready to register your vote!
Storm Notes - Gas Shortage, Early Decision and Photos
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Is a gas crisis looming? Today many local stations ran out of gas and the line to buy gas at the Mobil station in Hartsdale extended all the way to Central Avenue! And this is at one of the highest priced stations around. In addition to fueling up the car, people are using gasoline to power home generators. Take a look at this photo of people filling up extra gas cans at the station to tide them over in case of rationing or to feed their generators. Scary times! (photo by Diana Glantz)
For high school seniors, Hurricane Sandy coincided with the due date for early decision college applications. And since many were without power, how could they complete their applications online? Here is a note about that issue from local college advisors, Collegistics:
College applications due November 1? No Internet?
How will the power outage affect early application deadlines to college? Many schools have offered extensions due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. For an up-to-date listing of revised deadlines and other application-related information visit info@nacacnet.org or follow us on Twitter: @collegistics. If an extended deadline date is not specified, be sure to notify the school of your individual storm-related circumstances.
SAT Tests: The SAT will not be administered at Scarsdale High School this Saturday, November 3 due to ongoing power outages. The College Board has indicated that information regarding make-up dates will be emailed to students registered for the November 3 exam. Students who have a Waitlist Ticket for Saturday's test must re-register for a waitlist spot prior to the next test date, a Waitlist Ticket for the November 3 exam will not be honored. Please click here for further information.
Live Video: Tree falls on carThe Scarsdale Police department shared a frightening video of a tree falling on a car on the Post Road during the storm on October 29: - watch it here :
Storm Photos: Last, so many of you shared stunning photos of the aftermath of the Hurricane. Check out the photo gallery here:
Photos by Elisabeth Brew, Charlotte Carr, Michael Chayes and Sunny Feinstein
Paulin Goes to Bat for Storm Relief for Constituents
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We chatted with State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin today about the upcoming election and restoration of power. She spent the day on conference calls with Con Edison and elected officials advocating for her district and here is what she learned:
- The election will definitely be held on Tuesday. Con Edison’s top priority for the next two days is to restore power to the polling places so that the new digital voting machines can be plugged in. If all polling spots are not restored, voters may be redirected to another Scarsdale location.
- If you happen to live near one of the polling spots – Village Hall or the Edgewood, Fox Meadow, Greenacres and Quaker Ridge elementary schools -- you may have your power back sooner than you think.
- There are currently four line and tree crews from Con Edison in Scarsdale – up from one this morning. Also – Scarsdale10583 just learned that a few customers at the north end of Greenacres reported that they got their power back around 4:30 on Saturday.
- Con Edison reports that 209,000 Con Edison customers in Westchester lost power in the storm. To date, power has been restored to 100,000 customers – none of those in Scarsdale. The utilities first priority was restoring power to hospitals and nursing homes – and now they are focusing on schools.
Paulin alerted Con Edison to the plight of residents blocked into streets by fallen trees. There are 12 such locations and she was able to get Con Edison to clear trees and wires from Drake Road and Lenox Place and perhaps several more locations.
Get more storm updates from Paulin at https://www.facebook.com/amy.paulin and call her staff at 914-723-1115.
Official Count is In: 4,100 Without Power in Scarsdale
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As we all can see, the storm has decimated the Village's power lines. In fact, 4100, of the approximately 5,900 homes in Scarsdale are now without power. In addition, the State of Emergency is still in effect, prohibiting driving and even walking in Scarsdale. Here is an email from Deputy Village Manager Steve Pappalardo received Tuesday afternoon October 30th: The most damaging effects of the storm occurred yesterday in the Village starting at 5:00pm and continuing overnight as sustained winds were 40-50 mph gusting at 75-80 mph swept through Scarsdale. Village Police, Fire, Building and Engineering personnel are still assessing and documenting the damage caused by the storm. Roughly 150 locations were impacted by fallen trees, 70% of which involved downed power lines. These numbers will increase as field assessments continue.
Numerous roads are closed to traffic and all major north/south and east /west traffic corridors are effectively closed and
impassable. Village Public Works crews have been working to clear trees on main roads where power lines are not present in order to provide safe travel routes for emergency personnel. Tree removals where electric lines are present cannot occur until Con-Ed crews have de-energized the power to the lines. Residents are reminded that the Village-wide State of Emergency is still in effect, limiting all vehicular and pedestrian travel to emergency vehicles and personnel. For your own personal safety please stay in your homes and off the streets and sidewalks as there are live electric power lines laying across roadways throughout the Village. This increased traffic also hinders the ability of public works crews to efficiently perform their cleaning work.
Con Edison is reporting that electric power loss as a result of Hurricane Sandy is the largest in their history; roughly 4,100 Village of Scarsdale customers are currently without power as a result of the storm. It is too early for Con-Ed to provide a restoration timetable, however based on the regional impact and severity of the outages, restoration is expected to take longer than usual.
Residents can continue to call the Emergency Operations Center at 722-1150 or the Police Department business line at 722-1200 to report non-emergency storm related issues. Based on storm damage incurred last night, these lines are limited so if you receive a busy signal, please call again. Continue to dial 911 to report all emergencies.
In addition, sanitation collection services were suspended today and will remain so until Village roadways are sufficiently cleaned for sanitation crews to traverse their collection routes. We will provide further information in this regard as the clean-up work progresses.
Manos Makrikas sent in these two photos: One of a downed tree on the Post Road in Scarsdale that trapped a blue BMW.
The second photo was taken on Secor Road where a tree snapped an electricity pole and left a number of homes on without power.
