Feiner Wants to Call in the National Guard

Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner is calling on the National Guard to assist Greenburgh during future crises. The recent storm and resulting power outages have caused thousands of Greenburgh and Westchester residents to lose power for days. In response, Feiner has written to Brigadier General Patrick Murphy of the New York National Guard. Feiner is urging the New York National Guard to take steps so that the next time there is a serious storm that leaves homeowners without power the National Guard could be activated to help.

According to Feiner, the New York National Guard could be used to direct traffic at intersections where lights are out, to help cut down trees or stand guard near downed wires.

In a letter to Scarsdale10583.com, Feiner says, “Con Ed and local governments are trying hard to restore power but the amount of damage has made it impossible to get to everyone immediately. Some people will be out of power for six or seven days—which is unacceptable. Even after a power outage, there is significant work to do. It will take the town weeks to clean up the mess. We could use the help of the Guard. If the Guard becomes part of power outage emergency planning , Guard members will get terrific practical training and can help localities restore power quickly.”

Here is the current status of the restoration in Greenburgh from Con Edison: Of the more than 11,000 Greenburgh customers affected by the storm 5,400 remain without service as of 6:50 AM Tuesday morning. Today, Con Edison is cutting trees off wires, and removing fallen wires and broken poles so that state crews can restore the power.