Thousands of Cosolidated Edison customers lost power in parts of Brooklyn on Sunday and Monday, as snow-related issues affect the electrical wiring below ground.
As of Monday afternoon, there were about 1,700 accounts that were affected in Park Slope and Boerum Hill, mostly around 3rd and 4th Avenues from Dean to Douglass Streets.
As the snow melts and mixes with road salt, the mix seeps into the underground system, making contact with the electric delivery system and sometimes reaching the copper conductor in the cable, a spokesman from ConEd said. That can cause smoking and result in customers losing service.
A challenge for the utility is that compacted snow and ice remain on the manholes that crews need to enter to access equipment and make repairs. In some cases, snowed-in cars are parked on top of them, he added.
Traffic jams were building on the surrounding Brooklyn streets in the afternoon, as parts of 3rd Avenue were shut down so crews could work. Traffic lights were also down on 4th Avenue between Warren and Bergen Streets.
Sharon Browne, who was on 3rd Avenue and Warren Street as she walked home from work, said she was shocked to see all the utility trucks once she stepped out of the subway. She didn't know whether the electricity was out in her home, but she wasn't looking forward to finding out.
"It's always cold there anyway," she said. "But at least I have a home to go to."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday said 16 New Yorkers have died since the snow and colder weather started, and preliminary findings indicate that 13 people perished due to hypothermia.
New York City Emergency Management directed residents to P.S. 133, at 610 Baltic St., to shelter from the cold. A warming bus was also available on Baltic Street, between 4th and 5th Avenues.
There have been sporadic outages in Brooklyn since the snow storm, including in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick and Park Slope.
Jordan Simpson, who said he lived with his sister on Warren Street, said he was glad utility workers were out fixing the issue.
"They're working fast, this outage must be huge for all of these guys to be out here," he said, as he took in the scene.
