STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Dozens of Staten Island streets have been in the dark for months, and elected officials are calling upon the New York City Department of Transportation to fix the problem.
“This is an unacceptable status quo,” noted City Council Minority Leader David Carr, who called a press conference on Friday in Dongan Hills to highlight what he calls a borough-wide issue. “The DOT is falling so far behind in fixing and repairing streetlamps throughout our neighborhoods and communities. We’re calling on the agency to expedite matters.”
Carr, a Republican who represents Mid-Island, hosted the presser at the corner of Cromwell Avenue and Jefferson Street, where his constituents report that a streetlight has been out since August.
“Typically, in the past, it would have taken about two to four weeks, probably a month at most, for the agency to come and fix it,” Carr said. “But this has been out for two months now, and we have cases across the city where streetlamps have not been repaired or fixed for months, even close to a year.”
Carr said that the DOT has blamed the backlog on an outside contractor gaffe and has noted that a new company was recently hired to maintain the streetlights throughout the city. Still, his office alone has received some 70 complaints about outstanding repairs.
He was joined at the press conference by Assemblymember Michael Tannousis, Assemblymember Michael Reilly, and Assemblymember Sam Pirozzolo, as well as representatives from Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ office and Councilmember Frank Morano’s office — all of whom say they are hearing similar complaints.
“Our message today is to the New York City Department of Transportation and to City Hall: Why don’t you stop worrying about where the next speed camera or red-light camera is going to go … and why don’t you concentrate on the basics?” said Tannousis, a Republican who represents the East Shore and South Brooklyn. “This is a basic necessity that we pay our tax dollars for that the City of New York clearly cannot handle. Whether it’s a contractor, whether it’s DOT itself, it doesn’t matter. It lies square on the feet of the New York City Department of Transportation and City Hall to ensure that our constituents get the basics.”
Streetlights illuminate portions of Fairfield Street in Great Kills while other sections remain dark. Residents across Staten Island have reported ongoing streetlight outages and delays in repairs.(Advance/SILive.com | Jessica Jones-Gorman)
Reilly, a Republican who represents the South Shore, called the city out on its own Vision Zero plan — a comprehensive, multi-agency initiative launched in 2014 to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries on public streets.
“If you really have a Vision Zero, then you will fix those lights and you will ensure that you protect those pedestrians crossing those streets,” Reilly said.
He also brought up concerns of quality of life and public safety.
“When you don’t have those street lights illuminated, you bring in the car hoppers who act under the cover of darkness,” Reilly said, referring to an issue of car theft currently plaguing the South Shore. “When we don’t have those streets lit up, we are just giving them more opportunity.”
Pirozzolo a Republican who represents Mid-Island, used his time at the podium to speak directly to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“Mayor Mamdani, Staten Island is in the dark,” he said. “We’re last, just like everything else. Here’s your chance to step up to the plate, shine a little bit of light on the situation.”
The Advance/SILive recently published an analysis of 311 data which found 210 streetlight-related complaints were filed within a seven-day period last month.
In the report, the DOT disputed claims of a contractor shortage, saying there had not been a lapse in streetlight maintenance coverage in any of the five boroughs.
“New Yorkers deserve safe, well-lit streets, and NYC DOT takes streetlight outages seriously,” a DOT spokesperson told an Advance/SILive reporter. “Every reported outage is assessed within 10 days, and our crews work to restore service as quickly as possible.”
The spokesperson said the average time this year to close out a repair request has been closer to 15 days but admitted that the closure period can take longer if some outages require extensive electrical or infrastructure repairs.