Residents of an East Hampton community report repeated power outages and that these outages pose a health and safety risk.
“It’s just unbearable and I’m at my wits’ end right now, I can’t take it anymore,” said Neisha Brown.
Brown lives in East Hampton Village, a community along Oakview Highway. She and other residents told News 12 they have experienced several power outages over the years.
“I’m really worried about the health risk, my husband has type 1 diabetes and I keep his insulin (in the refrigerator),” said Nancy Quinn.
Residents of East Hampton Village told News 12 they have complained to their management company, RHP, PSEG, and the Town and City of East Hampton, complaining they are being stalled.
“When you go to the office and raise your concerns, they point the finger at us … the office tells us it’s PSEG’s fault, and when you call PSEG, they say no, it’s internal, it’s their fault,” Carlene McCoy said.
OLA of Eastern Long Island, a predominantly Latino-focused organization, has stepped in to find a solution and held a meeting with residents Wednesday evening at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to address their concerns.
“We see that something is wrong here and we believe that community power is the answer,” said Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA.
In a statement to News 12, Joel Brown, President of East Hampton Village Management, said, “The comfort and safety of East Hampton Village residents is our top priority. LIPA is responsible for the main line that provides power to the community and all maintenance and repairs to that line. LIPA has acknowledged that improvements need to be made to their system and expects the necessary work to begin within 30 days. Additionally, our management team had a productive meeting with Town officials today and agrees that the next step is for LIPA to make the necessary improvements. We will continue to work closely with the Town on any future repairs that may be needed. In the meantime, as a gesture of goodwill to alleviate any inconvenience East Hampton Village residents may have experienced due to the interruption of service from the LIPA line, we have offered residents a rent credit. We vehemently deny that any resident is being retaliated against for raising concerns about electrical issues. Rule reminders are important for the safety of all residents. Although some residents have received reminders for non-compliance with lease rules and regulations, no lease terminations are currently pending.”
A PSEG spokesperson said in a statement: “PSEG Long Island has been working with the property owner to resolve the electrical issues in this neighborhood. We recently received the necessary documentation from the owner that will now allow us to replace the old equipment and provide power to new PSEG Long Island equipment throughout the neighborhood, which should address future reliability and outage issues. Work is expected to begin in the next few weeks.”
And East Hampton Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said in a statement, “When the Town learned of the power outages at Oakview Highway Manufactured Home Park, we took immediate action to investigate the matter and do our part to resolve the problem. During these extreme conditions, our Human Services Department reached out to seniors in the community and offered them a free lunch and a place to cool off at our senior center. Now that power has been restored, we have begun working with the park’s management to promptly and effectively address and resolve these issues.”
