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Yonkers currently has suffered an estimated $3.2 million in damages, 14,694 power outages, 170 fallen trees, 32 displaced residents, 17 non-operational street lights and five schools remain without power, according to city officials.
In the past few days, power has been restored to more than 6,000 customers, and the Department of Public Works has removed more than 100 of the 170 fallen trees in Yonkers, according to city officials.
At the conference, Spano announced dry ice still is being distributed at Yonkers Raceway & Casino while supplies last. Also, Yonkers is opening charging centers for electronic devices at its local senior centers from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Sunday.
“While we work to restore our city, the city recognizes the needs of our residents as a result of their loss of power," Spano said. "These centers provide an opportunity for residents to get out of the house, warm up a bit and charge any mobile devices they may have.”
Residents can visit and charge their electronic devices at the following Yonkers senior centers: Scotti Community Center, 680 Bronx River Road, Coyne Park, 771 McLean Ave., Cola Community Center, 945 N. Broadway, Chema Center, 435 Riverdale Ave. and Nodine Hill Community Center, 140 Fillmore St.
Yonkers officials still are receiving many complaints they're working too slowly, but officials said Con Edison is setting the pace, said Department of Public Works Commissioner Tomas Meier.
"We can’t cut down trees with live wires," he said. "And just because a tree is cut and removed doesn't mean that you'll get power back. That's just the cleaning period, next comes the restoration period. Just use caution, and if you see sparking wires or any down wires just stay away from them."
"Over the last few years we have had a few one in one hundred year storms," Spano said. "The climate has changed and our government has caught on to things and were prepared because of it. But I don't think Con Ed has caught on. It's something that will have to be handled after we're cleaning things up."
There aren't a lot of moments where we come together as a community, but Hurricane Sandy is one of those moments, Spano said.
"I know I've been repeating this over the past couple of days but residents are just going to have to wait and be patient,” he said. We really are doing the best we can and hope to have things back to normal as soon as possible."
Any Yonkers resident who wants to help, can call the mayor's help line at (914) 377-4357.
Keep checking back with The Yonkers Daily Voice for updates on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
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