Hurricane Sandy Updates – November 6 Statement from Mayor Paul Aronsohn

Hurricane Sandy Updates – November 6 Statement from Mayor Paul Aronsohn

Good morning. This is Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn

Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to join about 10 other mayors for a meeting with the President and Chief Operating Officer at PSEG.

The meeting was informative. It was useful. But unfortunately, for our purposes here in Ridgewood, it was insufficient.

The good news is that power continues to be restored in different areas throughout the Village. And thanks to an augmentation of PSEG’s staff with about 3,000 out-of-state linesmen, the work is moving forward at a faster pace than last week.

The bad news, however, is that faster is not fast enough, and PSEG is now projecting that full restoration of power throughout all of Ridgewood will not occur until Saturday.

So what does this mean?

It means that we in Village government will continue to press PSEG, holding its feet to the fire, and continue working to facilitate progress by the linesmen.

It means that many of you will start seeing your power restored today, but many of you will not until later this week.

It means that with temperatures dropping and another possible storm on its way, we – as a community – need to plan accordingly and we need to act with charity.

Now, more than ever, we need to work together – to make sure that our neighbors have the warmth they need, the food and shelter they need, the comfort they need.

Mount Carmel Church has been serving as a warming center and shelter since last weekend. I’d strongly urge people to go there – to have a good, hot meal, to recharge your phones, to sleep in a warm place.

Similarly, other houses of worship — whose power have been restored — are also providing refuge during the day.

And finally, now – more than ever – this is a time when neighbor must help neighbor.

Again, we will be working throughout the day to help restore power and a sense of normalcy. And if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at paronsohn@ridgewoodnj.net or call me on my cell phone at 201.213.1811.

Thank you. Be safe. And please remember – we will get through this together.

Oh, and one final, important thought: Please don’t forget that today is election. Please vote. Every single vote matters. Thank you