Astoria Weekend Edition 21.07.06

Well, it's been quite a week...and potentially quite a weekend. No power or very little power throughout Astoria/LIC (and Woodside/Sunnyside) had made many people's lives a wreck. There's a lot of frustration and anger, but there are some things you can do to make yourself feel a little bit better. Check out about.com for a number of links and tips on dealing with the results of ConEd's nonsense. Especially notable is the link to the downloadable .pdf form to submit to ConEd regarding reimbursement of food spoilage. Residents can claim up to $350 and up to $7,000 for businesses. There's a lot of talk on astorians.com, here, here, and here. It's been a great resource for sharing observations and news about the power outage. Assemblyman Giannaris's statement in the Daily News just about summs up the general feeling out here in western Queens:

We need to get the power on. This is New York City, for God's sake. This is not a Third World country.... A lot of us feel abandoned....Two days of heat and the whole thing collapses out here? It's a real problem. It's like a disaster zone."

Word on the street is that there may be a City Council meeting to address this issue. More details to come in future days. And thanks to the Gothamist for the picture, which is right on target.

Temperatures should be in the low 80s this weekend, which is good news for those of us without power. Keep cool with these tips, and also perhaps check out Astoria Pool for some cooling down, or even just hanging out in one of the other local parks (Rainey, Socrates, Whitey Ford, Queensbridge, Gantry). You can check out the offerings at the LIC Boathouse, too - being on the water is often a place to stay cool. Friday night is the Chill Paddle and Sunday is the Hallet's Cove Paddle, the details of both can be found here.

Hoping that the power will be restored BEFORE the weekend arrives. Good luck everyone.