A power outage in Brooklyn is impacting nearly 1,500 customers on Sunday morning amid New York City’s coldest weather in years.
Con Edison said it was working to restore electricity in Bushwick, where the power has been out since 11 p.m. Saturday and an extreme cold warning is in place until this afternoon.
Power could be restored by 3 p.m., according to the utility’s latest estimate. Until then, a warming center is open at Evergreen Middle School for Exploration, the utility said.
Con Edison blames snow and road salt
Con Ed said it’s experiencing problems caused by snow and road salt mixing together and seeping into its ground equipment.
Roads around Schaefer Street and Central Avenue have been blocked off as the utility said crews were working as quickly and safely as possible to fix the problem.
Concern for New Yorkers amid extreme cold
The combination of bitterly cold temperatures and subzero wind chills has caused great concern among New York City leaders, especially since the entire city is under an extreme cold warning until 1 p.m.
In response, Mayor Zohran Mamdani expanded shelter options throughout the entire weekend.
Nearly 65 warming facilities are open this weekend, including dozens of warming buses.
“This weather, frankly, is dangerous and the consequences of being outside could be fatal,” the mayor said.
According to the Coalition for the Homeless, 17 New Yorkers have died over the last two weeks due to the freezing weather.
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