STAY UP TO DATE FULL-ACCESS STORM COVERAGE on LoHud.com and every mobile platform Find live storm coverage around-the-clock >> Emergency resources >> Video reports >> Share your stories BREAKING NEWS 24/7 AT LOHUD.COM THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012 SUPERSTORM SANDY >> 12 PAGES OF COVERAGE INSIDE SLOW START NEWS: School vacations at risk, 3A REISMAN: Storms a new reality, 9A SPORTS: Playoffs schedule in flux, 1C LIFE: How to keep kids busy, 1B Andy Lopez stands in his kitchen at Stony Point's Ba Mar Mobile Home Park, where many homes were damaged by Superstorm Sandy. RICKY FLORES/THE JOURNAL NEWS POWER OUTAGES BLOCKED ROADS Utilities maxed out in suburbs Drivers face 'nightmare' By Shawn Cohen and Erik Shilling By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon eshilling@lohud.com jfitzgib@lohud.com The work to restore power to nearly 200,000 Westchester County utility customers who were blacked out by Sandy's gale-force winds faces one significant obstacle -- New York City. Facing outages to more than 750,000 customers -- more than a half-million of them in the five boroughs -- Consolidated Edison crews are focusing most of their resources on the larger outages in the Big Apple, leaving some Westchester County towns with just one truck and crew doing repairs. "We have crews everywhere," utility spokesman Allan Drury said. "But the way a restoration works, See POWER, Page 4A Tony Balassone, a track supervisor for Metro-North Railroad, checks the rails in Cortlandt. Many tracks are covered with debris washed up by the surge from Superstorm Sandy. On Wednesday, Balassone was walking the western track, which is primarily used for freight. JOE LARESE/THE JOURNAL NEWS Limited Metro-North rail service restored By Theresa Juva-Brown tjuva@lohud.com Metro-North Railroad plans to restore its regular weekday schedule on the Harlem and New Haven lines for today's morning rush, as the region slowly gets moving again in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Trains are to run in both directions from Mount Kisco to Grand Central Terminal on the Harlem Line and from Stamford to Grand Central on the New Haven Line, officials announced. In addition, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to launch limited subway and Long Island Rail Road service. There also is good news for air travelers: La Guardia Airport is to reopen its runways at 7 a.m. today. Metro-North began rolling out service Wednesday afternoon, when it ran hourly trains on the Harlem Line between North White Plains and Grand Central. The See TRAINS, Page 7A INDEX >> BUSINESS 16A >> CLASSIFIED 5C >> COMICS 2B >> LOTTERIES 2A >> OBITUARIES 14A >> OPINION 17A>> SCOREBOARD 4C A WEATHER >> 2A Today: Showers HIGH: 56 LOW: 38 Tomorrow: Breezy HIGH: 58 LOW: 36 new york's lower hudson valley $1.00 FOR HOME DELIVERY PRICING, PAGE 2A Home delivery 800-942-1010 Main Number 914-694-9300 (C) 2012 The Journal News For a third consecutive day, the roads in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties resembled a slalom course, with downed trees and wires making for adventurous commutes and turning short trips into Homeric odysseys. Even more frustrating for many residents was the apparent lack of work crews trying to remove trees, power lines and other debris, forcing drivers to take circuitous routes and getting longtime residents lost on streets they thought they knew. See ROADS, Page 8A 2A Thursday, November 1, 2012 The Journal News lohud.com A 5 Things You Should Know Palestinians vie for U.N. recognition Feds: Smugglers try to scale border fence Suspected smugglers tried to use ramps to drive an SUV over a 14foot fence along the U.S.Mexico border, but they abandoned the effort when it got stuck on top. U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Spencer Tippets saaid agents spotted the SUV perched atop the fence early Tuesday near the border between Ari- zona and California. Two people on the Mexican side were trying to free the Jeep when the agents approached. They ran. LOWER HUDSON VALLEY 5-DAY FORECAST Today Tomorrow Saturday Sunday Monday Sandusky in a prison that has death row Leaders push for Iran sanctions Girl: Brother, 10, planned to kill dad Palestinians are launching a diplomatic offensive to a series of European countries to vote in favor of their partial statehood bid at the United Nations, a senior official said Wednesday. Palestinian envoys went to Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, hoping to persuade those countries to vote in favor of giving Palestinians observer status at the U.N. Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, 68, was sent Wednesday to serve his child molestation prison sentence at an institution in southwestern Pennsylvania that includes most of the state's death row inmates. The Corrections Department said Sandusky was transferred to Greene State Prison. Prison officials said he will be housed in protective custody. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won pledges Wednesday from France's president to push harder for new sanctions against Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons -- but no sympathy for any possible Israeli military strike against Iran. In a visit to Paris, Netanyahu praised French pressure on Iran and called for "even tougher sanctions" than the ones currently in place. A girl testified Wednesday that her 10year-old brother, the son of neo-Nazi leader Jeff Hall, planned for four days to kill their father before he shot him. The boy, now 12, is charged with the May 2011 killing in juvenile court. Prosecutors say the boy told his sister about his plan while they were playing on a swing set. Celebrities in the News Wendt in hospital after chest pains Mostly cloudy with a shower Partly sunny and breezy Partly sunny and windy Sunshine Rain and drizzle possible Highs: 52 to 56 Highs: 52 to 58 Highs: 48 to 54 Highs: 48 to 54 Highs: 45 to 51 Lows: 38 to 45 Lows: 36 to 42 Lows: 34 to 40 Lows: 31 to 37 Lows: 38 to 44 NATIONAL FORECAST TODAY Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Fronts Cold Precipitation Warm Stationary Showers T-storms Rain Flurries Snow Ice National summary: In the wake of Sandy, chilly air, cold winds, rain and snow showers will affect the Northeast today. Rain and mountain snow will spread inland over the Northwest. Thunderstorms will dot central Florida. SHORE FORECAST Today, winds southwest 8 to 16 knots, waves 1 to 3 feet, partly sunny. Tonight, winds west 8 to 16 knots, waves 1 to 3 feet, partly cloudy. Tomorrow, winds west 8 to 16 knots, waves 1 to 3 feet. Last New 7:26 a.m. 5:50 p.m. 7:43 p.m. 9:58 a.m. First Today first second Tomorrow first second New Rochelle High 1:16 a.m. 12:54 p.m. 1:39 a.m. 1:24 p.m. Low 6:48 a.m. 7:41 p.m. 7:18 a.m. 7:57 p.m. Yonkers High 11:19 a.m. ----- 12:02 a.m. 11:53 a.m. Low 5:17 a.m. 6:02 p.m. 5:51 a.m. 6:41 p.m. SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset today Moonrise today Moonset today TIDE TABLE Full Dobbs Ferry High 11:47 a.m. ----- 12:30 a.m. 12:21 p.m. Low 5:58 a.m. 6:43 p.m. 6:32 a.m. 7:22 p.m. Tarrytown High 12:02 a.m. 12:03 p.m. 12:46 a.m. 12:37 p.m. Low 6:12 a.m. 6:57 p.m. 6:46 a.m. 7:36 p.m. Haverstraw High 12:28 a.m. 12:29 p.m. 1:12 a.m. 1:03 p.m. Low 6:57 a.m. 7:42 p.m. 7:31 a.m. 8:21 p.m. Peekskill Nov 6 Nov 13 Nov 20 Nov 28 ALMANAC LaGuardia Airport through 5 p.m. yesterday Temperature High Low Average temperature Normal high Normal low Record high Record low 55? 49? 52.0? 60? 46? 80? (1950) 33? (1975) Humidity High Low 74% 52% Precipitation (in inches) 24 hours through 5 p.m. yest. Trace Month to date 2.31" Year to date 30.98" Normal year to date 37.87" AccuWeather.com (C)2012 High 12:41 a.m. 12:42 p.m. 1:25 a.m. 1:16 p.m. Low 7:18 a.m. 8:03 p.m. 7:52 a.m. 8:42 p.m. AIR QUALITY Today Yesterday Ozone Particulates Compiled from wire reports by Toni Maconi. SKOKIE, Ill. -- Chest pains will keep actor George Wendt from performing as Oscar Madison in a Chicagoarea production of "The Odd Couple." Northlight Theatre announced Tuesday that the actor famous for playing Norm Peterson on the TV show George "Cheers" Wendt checked into a hospital Sunday and is receiving medical attention. Northlight Theatre Executive Director Timothy Evans says Wendt "will eventually make a full recovery." The 64-year-old Wendt was to perform in the show from Nov. 2 through Dec. 9 in the Chicago suburb of Skokie. He will be replaced by actor Marc Grapey, who previously performed in "The Odd Couple" on Broadway with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. Pitt to give $100G for gay marriage WASHINGTON -- Brad Pitt agreed to donate $100,000 to help the Human Rights Campaign raise money for its efforts to support same-sex marriage initiatives in several states. The nation's largest gay rights group announced Wednesday that Pitt agreed to match contributions from the group's members up to $100,000. In an email to members of the Human Rights Campaign, Pitt wrote that it's "unbelievable" that people's relationships will be put to a Brad Pitt vote on Election Day. Same-sex marriage will be on the ballot in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington state. The Washingtonbased Human Rights Campaign says it has spent $8 million to push for marriage equality for gays and lesbians over the past two years, including $5 million in the four ballot measures this year. 'Jersey' stars tout Sandy relief effort "Jersey Shore" stars are expressing sympathy for Seaside Heights, N.J., residents, who were among the hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy. Jenni "JWoww" Farley appeared on the "Tonight Show," and host Jay Leno asked about the house she owns with her fiance, Roger Mathews, in Toms River. "It's really kind of devastating," Farley said. "But as long as, like, my dogs, Roger's safe, my friends are safe, we're just all without power." Vinny Guadagnino told MTV that Seaside Heights had become his second home, while Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio sent thanks to Jenni Farley the "heroes" who were working to help. Sammi Giancola called the impact "devastating." Guadagnino tweeted that Staten Island, where he lives, "looks like war zone." He, Farley and DelVecchio asked their Twitter followers to donate $10 to the American Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999. "My prayers go out to everyone affected by the storm," Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi told MTV in a statement. Polizzi also said she would donate, but was more true to form: "Ugh trying to change my son's diaper while holding a flash light is not easy," she wrote from East Hanover, using the hashtag "nopower." Compiled from wire reports. VOLUME 15, NUMBER 21 EXECUTIVES President/Publisher Janet Hasson jhasson@lohud.com Editor & V.P./News CynDee Royle croyle@lohud.com V.P./Sales George Troyano >> gtroyano@lohud.com V.P./Marketing Michelle Zern >> mzern@lohud.com Circulation Operations Director Elaine Kirsch >> ekirsch@lohud.com ADVERTISING Retail: 914-694-5381 Preprints: 914-694-5345 Classified: 888-300-7653 Obituary: 914-694-5147 Legal Notice: 914-694-5123 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES >> Customer Service 1-800-942-1010 or customerservice@lohud.com >> Hours of operation: 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday Monthly Subscription Rates - all subscriptions include Full Digital Access. Special Monday-Sunday, including Full Digital Access, EZ Pay Rate: $25 Monday-Sunday, including Full Digital Access, billed rate: $28 Thursday-Sunday, including Full Digital Access, EZ Pay Rate: $18 Thursday-Sunday, including Full Digital Access, billed rate: $20 Saturday/Sunday*, including Full Digital Access, EZ Pay Rate: $14 Saturday/Sunday*, including Full Digital Access, billed rate: $16 Mail Subscription rates, call 1-800-9421010. *Saturday/Sunday rates include delivery of the Thanksgiving newspaper. Each Digital Access Subscription includes access to Lohud.com, tablet, mobile and e-Newspaper. The publisher reserves the right to change subscription rates during the term of a subscription. Rate changes may be implemented by changing the duration of the subscription. ACCURACY Accuracy, fairness and balance are important to us. It is the policy of The Journal News to promptly correct errors. To report an error or clarify a story, please direct your call to one of the section editors listed on Page 3A. The Journal News Westchester, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network Inc., is published daily. Periodical postage paid at White Plains, NY (USPS 017-009). Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Journal News, Suite N110, 1133 Westchester Avenue, White Plains NY 10604. Good Good 0-50, Good; 51-100, Moderate; 101150, Unhealthy for sensitive groups; 151-200, Unhealthy; 201-300, Very unhealthy; 301-500, Hazardous Source: NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation WEATHER HISTORY On Nov. 1, 1861, a hurricane battered the Union fleet as it tried to attack ports in the Carolinas. On Nov. 1, 1946, a tropical storm drenched Naples, Fla., with almost 8 inches of rain. Lotteries New York Midday Daily: 6 0 2 Lucky Sum: 8 Midday WinFour: 3 6 7 5 Lucky Sum: 21 Daily: 1 7 8 Lucky Sum: 16 WinFour: 0 7 7 2 Lucky Sum: 16 Pick-10: 1 9 13 19 27 32 35 36 38 39 50 56 59 60 63 65 74 77 78 79 Take Five: unavailable Lotto: unavailable Bonus Number: unavailable Powerball: unavailable Powerball Number: unavailable New Jersey Midday Pick 3: unavailable Midday Pick 4: unavailable Pick 3: unavailable Pick 4: unavailable Cash 5: unavailable Connecticut Play 3 Day: 3 4 6 Play 4 Day: 2 8 9 4 Play 3: unavailable Play 4: unavailable Cash 5: unavailable TUESDAY New York Midday Daily: 5 6 4 Lucky Sum: 15 Midday WinFour: 9 1 6 0 Lucky Sum: 16 Daily: 8 1 1 Lucky Sum: 10 WinFour: 4 7 4 2 Lucky Sum: 17 Pick-10: 7 11 12 14 15 17 24 34 36 38 40 44 45 46 49 57 58 59 63 70 Take Five: 2 6 10 13 18 Mega Millions: 5 12 18 29 56 Mega Ball: 38 Connecticut Play 3 Day: 3 0 8 Play 4 Day: 3 8 9 5 Play 3: 5 1 5 Play 4: 9 4 0 3 Cash 5: 3 4 6 8 18 Classic Lotto: 8 19 21 30 39 44 Counties assess election plans Officials consider tents, generators, new poll sites By Laura Incalcaterra lincalca@lohud.com Sandy has election boards in the Lower Hudson Valley working to determine which poll sites are usable and what contingency plans can be made to ensure every registered voter gets to cast a ballot in Tuesday's national election. Rockland County Elections Commissioner Ann Marie Kelly said her office had a conference call Wednesday with the state Elections Board to discuss next week's elections. She said Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent an email to the state board seeking information about the status and needs of local boards, including whether polling sites were underwater, damaged by flooding or without power. He has offered the use of generators, power cords, fuel and even tents, Kelly said. "We're going to request as many generators as possible, and we're going to need lamps," Kelly said. The trucks that pick up the voting machines from the Dr. Robert L. Yeager Health Center in Ramapo and deliver them to polling sites around Rockland were unable as of midday Wednesday to get out of their parking areas near the waterfront in Haverstraw and in Yonkers, where flooding and other damage has occurred and roads are blocked. She said even if the machines couldn't be delivered until Monday, there will still be enough time to set up the polling sites. In Westchester, election officials were trying to get out to polling places around the county and said it was too soon to say whether any would have to be moved. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said the voting machines were not damaged, though the Ardsley warehouse where they are held is running on generator power. "Now it's a matter of making sure polling places are open," he said. In Putnam County, the storm has slowed election preparation time but will not be an overwhelming problem, board staff said Wednesday. "By Friday, we will know if polling places have power and what changes we might have to make," Elections Commissioner Anthony Scannapieco said. The county has 22 polling locations. Scannapieco said that if power is not totally restored, the board will consolidate or move polling stations. "It is not ideal, but we are not crazed about it," Scannapieco said. "We will work it out." Rockland has 80 polling locations, has requested 50 generators and plans to ask for 10 more, said Louis Babcock, the county's cocommissioner of elections. "I'd rather have more and send them back than not have enough," Babcock said. The commissioners said they were also discussing the possibility of erecting tents at polling sites that could not open due to power outages. The New York National Guard could set up the tents, along with lights, but they need to be alerted soon, Babcock said. Kelly said the board may look into the possibility of setting up a tent at Provident Bank ballpark in Ramapo to accommodate residents who normally vote at the nearby county Fire Training Center, now being used as the main Emergency Command Center. "We've never missed an Election Day yet and I've been here 23 years," Kelly said. "It's six days away. I feel very, very positive." Mary Elena Chase of Montebello is concerned about the storm's impact on the elections. "My main concern is that people get out and vote," Chase said. "I'm afraid that people aren't going to be able to get out or are going to be too busy with the aftermath that they don't go and vote." Staff writers Barbara Livingston Nackman and Elizabeth Ganga contributed to this report. lohud.com The Journal News SUPERSTORM SANDY A Thursday, November 1, 2012 3A Many schools shut for week, need state help if they exhaust 'snow days' By Gary Stern and Mareesa Nicosia gstern@lohud.com It would be up to the state Legislature to allow school districts that have exhausted their "snow days" to get a break from New York's requirement that districts be in session for at least 180 days, state Deputy Education Commissioner Ken Slentz said Wednesday. This means many districts likely will have to slash vacation time. Many districts already have used up their planned snow days due to Sandy's devastation and fear they may have to shut schools again because of normal winter storms. Yonkers schools spokeswoman Maura Lamoreaux said Superintendent of Schools Bernard Pierorazio spoke Wednesday to Slentz and came away hopeful the state might cut districts some slack. But Slentz said state education law is unforgiving -- unless the Legislature decides to act once schools reopen. "This is something that the Legislature will have to wrestle with," Slentz told The Journal News. "We don't try to predict what the Legislature will do." State education law requires that districts that have used up their snow days must exhaust vacation time before state Education Commissioner John King could consider giving a waiver of up to five days from the180-day requirement, Slentz said. Most districts build two to five snow days into their schedules. At some point, most districts that have been closed all or part of this week will look at cutting spring break and other vacation days. "We are encouraging everyone to focus on health and safety, on the kids and communities," Slentz said. "We will provide guidance once everything settles down a bit." A growing number of districts are deciding to close for the rest of the week because they simply don't know when they will have power or when roads will be passable for buses. All eight of Rockland County's districts and Eastchester, Byram Hills, Blind Brook, Valhalla, Chappaqua, Ossining, Pelham, Mahopac, New Rochelle and Scarsdale became among the first districts Wednesday to concede that schools will be closed for at least this week because of the unprecedented damage caused by Sandy. Donna Avdoyan, aka Hot Dog Donna, gave away 150 hot dogs from her truck in downtown Nyack on Wednesday. KHURRAM SAEED/THE JOURNAL NEWS In brief Hot Dog Donna brightens spirits NYACK -- "Hey, free hot dogs for everyone," Hot Dog Donna shouted from her truck. It was just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and Donna Avdoyan was parked across the street from Nyack Village Hall, drawing a crowd. As she topped hot dogs with ketchup and sauerkraut, Avdoyan, 48, explained she received a call at 8 a.m. from Village Clerk Mary White asking if she would come to Nyack to sell hot dogs. "They wanted me to come down and sell, but I'm not going to do that," said Avdoyan, a school bus driver. "And how you doing today?" Avdoyan asked one man who wanted mustard and relish on his dog. "Not too good," said the older fellow, who looked cold. "But you're here and that's great. We appreciate it." -- Khurram Saeed Generators trigger fire, CO alert From left, Jesse Andersen, David Nolan, Josh Andersen and Mitko West, all of Somers, surveyed tree damage Wednesday along Entrance Way in the Lake Purdys section of Somers after Superstorm Sandy. FRANK BECERRA JR./THE JOURNAL NEWS "Doing it day to day didn't seem to make sense," Valhalla Board of Education President LaVerne Clark said. "I have no sense of when the schools will reopen. Truthfully, that will be up to Con Ed. We don't have power, and most of our constituents don't have power. Hopefully, we'll be open Monday." Districts that lose four or five days of instruction this week fear what will happen if winter brings several snowstorms. Three or four additional snow days could push many districts way below the 180-day minimum. "We'll get to what this means long term later this week or early next week," New Rochelle schools spokesman Paul Costiglio said. "It's scary. Here we have already (used) three days, and it's not even winter." New Rochelle is among several districts that built only two snow days into their 2012-13 calendar, meaning those districts will have to cancel at least several vacation days to stay above the 180-day minimum. As of Wednesday, seven of New Rochelle's 10 schools lacked power and the middle school was being used as the city's main shelter. An alert from Linda Purvis, Scarsdale's assistant superintendent, said five of the district's seven schools lacked power. The district has been told that power won't be restored before Friday afternoon. "Many roads are still blocked off and communication systems are down," Purvis wrote. Only three of East Ramapo 14 schools had power Wednesday, Superintendent Joel Klein said. Falling trees and branches damaged windows, doors, roof vents and siding at several schools, he said. "As soon as we have power, as soon as the streets are safe, we will be opening," he said. In Ossining, an automated call to parents from Superintendent Phyllis Glassman said Ossining High School and Anne M. Dorner Middle School sustained roof damage, with the middle school having suffered significant damage. Elmsford and the Tarrytowns districts said they would reopen today. To make matters worse, power outages at schools set to be polling places Tuesday could create hassles for voters. Stephen Walker, assistant superintendent for human resources at Ramapo Central School District, said the district was working with the Rockland County Board of Elections to prepare for the election. Two out of seven Ramapo Central schools had power Wednesday, he said. Blauvelt mom Julie Connor said her son Ryan, a Tappan Zee High School junior, wasn't happy she wanted him in the house because of dangling electric wires. "He's bored out of his brain, of course," Connor said with a laugh. Staff writer Randi Weiner contributed to this report. On the mend Verizon workers repair the damage along Hill and Dale Road in Carmel in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Thousands of work crews in the Lower Hudson Valley cleared trees and debris Wednesday to address the largest storm-related power outage in the region's history. FRANK BECERRA JR./THE JOURNAL NEWS N. Salem storm victims: Wake, funeral set Inseparable young friends will be remembered together By Rob Ryser rryser@lohud.com NORTH SALEM -- Two boys who were as inseparable as friends could be growing up in tightknit Peach Lake will be remembered together today at their wake and will be memorialized together Friday during a dual funeral Mass in Croton Falls. Next-door neighbors and best friends, North Salem middle-schoolers Michael Robson and Jack Baumler died during Monday night's storm when a huge tree crashed through the family room Michael where they Robson were playing. "Jack and Mike exemplified everything that was great about America," said Daniel Seymour, Jack Baumler's uncle, who lives just a few doors from the boys' homes on Bonnieview Street. "They were the two happiest-go- lucky kids. They did everything together." Viewing for Michael Robson, 13, and Jack Baumler, 11, is from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Beecher Funeral Home on Putnam Avenue in Southeast, outside downtown Brewster. "Our hearts are broken. The pain is raw," said Seymour, breaking into tears on a cold Halloween afternoon where no children were going door to door. "But North Salem is a wonderful community and Peach Lake is a small family unto itself. Our family is going to wrap our arms around these two families." Michael Robson had been at Jack Baumler's the night of the storm along with Jack's older brother and Michael's older sister, who were not seriously injured. "We are families of faith. We believe our faith will sustain us. But the pain is unbearable," Seymour said. "We are going to persevere with a hole in our heart that will never go away." It helps the grieving to keep the boys' memories close, he said. "They went to Yankees games together. They played baseball together. They played manhunt. They played whiffle ball," Seymour said. "They set up tollbooths on the road and charged us whatever they thought they could get away with." A funeral Mass is planned Friday at St. Joseph's Church, north of downtown Croton Falls. "We reveled in Jack's life and in Mike's life," Seymour said. "You just couldn't meet two more special kids. We were blessed to have them, but we're cursed because they are gone." A fire, which apparently started when a homeowner used welding equipment to supply electricity to his blacked-out home, destroyed the single-family house Tuesday night. Firefighters from four departments battled the blaze at 1361 Route 52. No one was hurt. Robert Johnson runs his tree-service business from there. Police and fire officials said it appeared that an arc welder was being used to "backfeed" the home, which was left without power. Port Chester firefighters closed off a block of North Main Street on Wednesday after an icecream store using a portable generator had high carbon-monoxide levels. Westchester County health officials were inspecting the store and alerted the Fire Department to the problem, Mayor Dennis Pilla said. Portable generators exhaust the odorless gas and should only be used outdoors. The U.S. Fire Administration warns that they should be operated away from doors, windows and vents, on a dry surface. Carbon-monoxide alarms should be installed. Generators should never be plugged into a wall outlet - a practice known as backfeeding, which can cause electrocution risk. A garage fire in Rye on Monday triggered an earlier safety alert to keep generators outdoors. "If you're going to use a generator, it should be safely installed by a licensed electrician, monitored and used with extreme caution," said Adam Stiebeling, deputy commissioner of emergency services for Putnam County. -- Terence Corcoran and Leah Rae Fire damaged a house Tuesday night at 1361 Route 52, Kent. TERENCE CORCORAN/THE JOURNAL NEWS 4A Thursday, November 1, 2012 A SUPERSTORM SANDY The Journal News lohud.com Ice, please Tim Waples and son Kristian, dressed as a gnome, wait in line as Nyack distributes ice Wednesday. JOHN MEORE/FOR THE JOURNAL NEWS In brief Help for children of storm victims PEARL RIVER -- Friends and relatives are making plans to help the Chanin family children after a tree crashed through their roof Monday, killing their father and injuring their Jeffrey mother. FuChanin neral arrangements were being prepared for Jeffrey Chanin, a real estate agent and retired New York City police sergeant. Friends and neighbors were gathering Wednesday night with family members to come up with plan to help care for the children while their mother recovered. Lise Chanin, 52, and her youngest daughter, Danielle, remained hospitalized. -- Steve Lieberman and Tim Henderson Get 'Sandy Seats' for '9 to 5' show IRVINGTON -- Cagle McDonald, producer of Irvington's Clocktower Players, won't let a little thing like a hurricane keep her from entertaining Lower Hudson Valley audiences. Superstorm Sandy forced McDonald to cancel the opening weekend of "9 to 5: The Musical" this weekend, but the showbiz side of McDonald's brain saw an opportunity: She's offering "Sandy Seats" for dressrehearsal previews Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Donations will be accepted at the door (no credit cards) and a 50/50 raffle will be held to help defray production losses brought by Sandy. To purchase tickets online for Nov. 9, 10 and 11, go to irvingtontheater.com. Tickets purchased for Nov. 3 and 4 can be exchanged for Nov. 9, 10 and 11 through the ITHT box office, 914-591-6602 or boxoffice@irvingtonny.gov. -- Peter D. Kramer 26 families are left homeless after fire SPRING VALLEY -- A fire of questionable origin has left an estimated 26 families homeless as the village struggles without power from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. Fire and police investigators were looking at causes ranging from a candle setting off the blaze at 7 Secora Road to flames starting when electrical power was restored to portions of the complex, Police Chief Paul Modica said. "No one was injured, and the building is closed down due to smoke and fire damage," Modica said. "We're unsure of what caused the fire. Apparently, the power to the complex was somehow turned on, and it may not have been done properly or caused some electrical problem." The fire began at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the H-building of the Valley View Apartments co-ops. More than a dozen departments responded and battled the blaze for 2 1/2 hours before getting the flames under control, Spring Valley Fire Chief Lawrence Bolson said. -- Steve Lieberman NYSEG workers repair utility lines Wednesday along Route 118 in Somers after Superstorm Sandy. FRANK BECERRA JR./THE JOURNAL NEWS POWER: Outages squeeze area's gasoline supplies Continued from Page 1A you get to areas where you can restore the largest number of customers first. "We'll get to everybody," he said. "It takes awhile. We're putting together all the resources we can." More than 300,000 utility customers in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties remained without power Wednesday night, as thousands of work crews for the area's four utility companies cleared trees and debris to address the largest storm-related power outage in the region's history. It was not off to a smooth start. At Yonkers Raceway, the only distribution point for dry ice provided Wednesday by Con Edison, a long line of people waited for a promised noon delivery that did not arrive until after 3 p.m. Once it did, the line moved extremely slowly; one person reported waiting more than two hours to get his allotment. Ice was being given out in loose cubes, not blocks. Throughout the region, gasoline shortages were becoming evident, thanks to the combination of high demand for cars and generators and limited supply due to storm damage that left many gas stations closed without power and others quickly running out of fuel. Lebrini's Service Station in Mamaroneck got a 20,000-gallon delivery Wednesday morning and was down to 3,400 gallons by 4:15 p.m. Owner John About 300 Nyack residents gathered in front of Village Hall on Wednesday morning to receive an update from Mayor Jen Laird-White and other local officials. KHURRAM SAEED/THE JOURNAL NEWS Lebrini said he expects to run out by late morning today and won't have another delivery until Saturday. Terminals in Linden, N.J., were shut due to power outages or flooding, and refineries shut as a result of the storm. Lebrini said his distributor told him that only one fuel barge managed to deliver oil in the region, limiting how much distributors could pump until there's a fresh supply. Asked whether 20,000 gallons usually lasts longer, he said, "on a normal day, yeah. But today's not normal." A return to normalcy will take some time, officials said. Utility companies estimated that most customers would have to wait at least a week before having power restored. And for some, repairs would take weeks to complete. More than 170,000 customers of Orange and Rockland Utilities were without power Wednesday night, with more than 23,000 of those in hard-hit Clarkstown. New York State Electric and Gas Corp. reported that more than 90 percent of its customers in Westchester and Putnam were without power, with 31,555 and 32,045, respectively, waiting for repairs. An additional 1,050 Central Hudson Gas & Electric customers in Putnam also were without power. Utility companies said repairs are prioritized based on several factors, including the number of customers affected. O&R officials said the first priority is to restore the "system's backbone by repairing transmission circuits and substations." Crews also focus on critical facilities that include health-care and government operations. In Sandy's case, the damage was unprecedented. Winds from the storm gusted to 60 mph or more, said Eric Leister, a meteorologist with AccuWeather. Though Sandy brought no more than an inch of rain, 14 tidal surges caused massive flooding in coastal areas, including lower Manhattan. The resulting millions of outages caused by Sandy represent the "biggest single task our industry has ever undertaken," said Tom Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, an association of shareholder-owned electric companies. Kuhn said in a statement that more than 53,000 utility workers from as far as Washing- ton state and Canada were working to restore power. But some local communities had only a minuscule share of that workforce. New Castle Supervisor Susan Carpenter said in an email that "we have only one Con Ed crew working only one shift in town." Karen Pasquale, senior adviser to White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach, said Con Edison had only one bucket truck crew assigned to White Plains, the county's government center. Public safety officials said several other Con Edison trucks were working in the city to tape off dangerous live wires, but only one could actually be used to restore power. "We do have a Con Ed liaison as part of our Emergency Operations Center," said Pasquale. "What we're being told is that they're pretty swamped right now and stretched thin." In a statement Wednesday, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said he had spoken to officials at Con Edison and NYSEG -- the two companies that serve Westchester -- and was assured the county "is getting the full complement of resources from the utilities." "We have been assured that Con Edison is not diverting any resources from Westchester to New York City or other parts of the region," Astorino said. "We will hold the company to its promise." Staff writers Jonathan Bandler, Richard Liebson and Swapna Venugopal contributed to this report. Wi-Fi tops coffee as vital resource in storm Residents, governments use Twitter to get answers, share Sandy news By Anjanette Delgado adelgado@lohud.com As Sandy struck the Lower Hudson Valley late Monday, people grabbed their cellphones to tweet and post what was happening here and to witness New York City's immense flooding, blackouts and late-night hospital evacuations. When the suburbs woke Tuesday morning to the aftermath, Twitter and Facebook proved most valuable as power outages left many to just our cellular devices and even some websites felt slow. The first social wave Tuesday was remarkable for the many, many photographs of fallen trees, and then came questions about school closures and power outages as the afternoon wore on. By evening Tuesday, people were asking where to get ice or dry ice and telling us where they'd found a hot cup of coffee. "@jtrin81: The tree that was brought down and cut off our power in Mohegan Lake @LoHud #sandy" The free Wi-Fi was more popular than the coffee at some shops, and people stood outside at least one shuttered shop because the Wi-Fi there still worked from the sidewalk. From reporter Alex Weisler: "@alexweisler: Crowd gathers in #MountKisco to use @Starbucks WiFi, working even though store is closed. #sandy" Many people didn't go to work Tuesday morning, so those who ventured out Wednesday asked and answered questions about road conditions. "@mini152: Very confused how to get to work. No metro north. No Bronx river. Can I do sprain to Bronx? How do you take 87 to @nybg?" By late Wednesday afternoon, the most social stories on LoHud.com were about Metro-North Railroad resuming some Residents who don't have power charge their cellphones and laptops at Starbucks in Rye Brook on Wednesday. CARUCHA L. MEUSE/THE JOURNAL NEWS service and an update on road conditions, according to analytics. Another popular question on Twitter starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing Wednesday -- Halloween -- was trickor-treating. While it's not new that Twitter is a legitimate real-time news source, more noteworthy is how many public officials, agencies and utilities wrote 140-character posts straight to the public. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority tweeted transit news, de- bunked rumors and shared photographs of damage along MetroNorth rail lines through Twitter and Flickr, a photo-sharing website. An especially popular tweet included a photograph of a boat sitting on the tracks at Ossining. lohud.com The Journal News SUPERSTORM SANDY A Thursday, November 1, 2012 5A Naomi Gettinger finishes her knitting at the Heritage Hills Activity Center, a shelter for Somers residents during the storm. She was glad to get out of cold house for the day. BARBARA LIVINGSTON NACKMAN/TJN In brief Resident: Deal with it, and help others From left, Nicky Haywood, 10, Kyle DeSantis, 10, Cristian Morales and Jennifer DeSantis, 10, all of Brewster, trick-or-treating on Prospect Street in the Village of Brewster on Wednesday. FRANK BECERRA JR./THE JOURNAL NEWS Storm makes creative Halloween Kids found alternatives to their usual trick, treats HERE'S WHERE HALLOWEEN HAS, OR WILL BE, RESCHEDULED: WESTCHESTER Bronxville: To be determined. By Randi Weiner Eastchester: Moved to Saturday if conditions allow; if not, another date will be chosen. rcweiner@lohud.com Stephanie Mendoza of Putnam Lake had planned to take her 15-month-old daughter trick-or-treating Wednesday night, but decided against it because of storm damage. Instead, she dressed her child in her ladybug costume and took pictures at home for the memories, but avoided the dangers of fallen trees, live wires and a landscape that looks like the backdrop for a zombie apocalypse. "We usually have a whole bunch of kids just come for trick-or-treat and I haven't had one," she said. "I was planning to take (my daughter) and her cousin out, but it doesn't seem like there's anybody outside. It seems like a lot of people are staying in." Her usually busy Halloween candy handout was largely devoid of traffic and the house across the street remained dark. Her home had its power back early, she said. Communities in Putnam, Westchester and Rockland counties tried to keep kids off the street on Halloween for safety's sake. Yonkers and Nyack were among the municipalities that put a curfew in place to prevent random trick-or-treating. Somers Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy told the community that trickor-treating in the town was prohibited. "Somers has been blessed so far in this storm with no injuries or Harrison: Moved to Nov. 9. New Rochelle: The Toddler Halloween event was canceled, but no makeup date has been set. Children collect candy during the "Trunk and Treat" event held by the Rockland Mommies at the Palisades Center mall commuter parking lot. The children went trick-or-treating car to car Wednesday instead of house to house. PETER CARR/THE JOURNAL NEWS fatalities," she said in an email blast to the community. "We cannot risk injury to a child. Thank you for your understanding." Last year, Murphy was one of the first supervisors to essentially cancel the holiday in the community after the Halloween nor'easter. Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart had a similar outlook on the holiday Wednesday. "If I had the power to cancel it, I would," Stewart said. "It's not safe to have kids running around." Despite the dangers, a handful of communities did not ask children to postpone or eliminate their trick-or-treating Wednesday night. North Castle, for instance, directed children to downtown Main Street, where merchants -- despite many being without power -- agreed to hand out candy to keep the children off the streets later. In Clarkstown, streets were busy with trick-ortreaters, many of whom dodged downed trees and wires and navigated closed roads to fill their pillowcases with candy. Bill Hingle of New City said he and other parents in his Lake Road neighborhood took it upon themselves to gather and keep a close eye on their children. Neighbors and their young trick-or-treaters historically travel in groups for added safety on Halloween, and taking that step this year seemed particularly obvious, Hingle said while standing near Omley Place, where a large tree had taken down several utility wires when it fell Monday. Hingle, 49, said he and his 12-year-old son, Peter, spent several hours on the streets Wednesday evening and experienced few issues. "Many people within the neighborhood have marked where there are wires down," he said. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, more than 23,000 in Clarkstown remained without electricity because of downed wires and other storm damage, according to Orange and Rockland Utilities' poweroutage map. Many families, despite official warnings and darkened neighborhoods, celebrated the holiday by taking their children out during daylight hours and sticking to neighborhoods only lightly affected by the storm. Others attended one of several parties that had been scheduled. In West Nyack, the Rockland Mommies, a group of mothers who communicate on Facebook, gathered their children in the parking lot of the Palisades Center for a "Trunk and Treat" event. The DARE program sponsored its annual evening of games and a parade at Joseph G. Caputo Community Center in Ossining. This year, the event drew a much larger crowd. The Valencias, who attended the DARE event, said they enjoyed having a place to celebrate Halloween free from the ravages of the storm. "We lost electricity and Pelham/Pelham Manor: Moved to Saturday before 7 p.m. White Plains: Official city celebration moved to 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at Gillie Park. Yonkers: Saturday. ROCKLAND Nyack: To be determined. Orangetown: Moved to Saturday. knew others did, too. People didn't want to have trick-or-treaters," said Angelica Valencia, 9, who dressed as a vampire from Monster High with net stockings and a pink satin vest. She and her mother went walking near their Ossiningvillageneighborhood Wednesday afternoon but stopped quickly. "A lot of streets had branches and the houses were dark," said Angelica's mother, Catalina Valencia. "This is a nice place for Halloween." Staff writers James O'Rourke, Barbara Livingston Nackman, Khurram Saeed and Mareesa Nicosia contributed to this report. Hospitals strive to help elderly, newborns By Jane Lerner jlerner@lohud.com Doctors and hospitals throughout the Lower Hudson Valley struggled to care for the region's most vulnerable as the cleanup from Sandy continued Wednesday. Newborns and elderly patients had longer-thanexpected stays at some hospitals because the homes or nursing facilities they were to be discharged to had no power Some hospitals accepted patients from New York City institutions that were evacuated because of power loss and flooding. Policies vary from hospital to hospital. Some are giving new parents the choice of leaving the hospital with their newborn, even if they have no power at home. Some aren't giving them that option. Sound Shore Medical Center's policy is not to discharge patients to an unsafe environment. "No power is deemed unsafe, spokeswoman Trish Feathers said. Others are keeping nursing-home patients if the facility they were due to be released into has no power. Power was slowly restored to many local hospitals. Nyack Hospital had its power back at 4 p.m. Wednesday after operating on generators for two days. Some local hospitals opened their facilities to patients displaced by flooding and power losses elsewhere. St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers accepted 13 patients from Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn. In addition, the Yonkers hospital was awaiting the arrival of nine patients from Bellevue Hospital in New York City, which decided Wednesday to evacuate more than 500 patients. Nursing-home patients also were being shuffled throughout the area. Malotz Skilled Nursing Pavilion in Yonkers accepted two patients from Dumont Center in New Rochelle. And the Dobbs Ferry Pavilion of St. John's took in two patients from Atria in Dobbs Ferry. Many hospitals say they are getting requests for help from patients with crucial medical needs who are normally treated at home. Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow admitted one hospice patient and one oxygendependent patient as inpatients because they could not get treatment at home. Phelps also opened its emergency department waiting area to older residents who did not want to be home alone during the storm, spokeswoman Tina Dorfman said. At Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, a few people were admitted as inpatients because they did not have adequate supplemental oxygen supplies at home. Meanwhile, doctors' offices were slowly opening again throughout the region. Dr. Ezriel Kornel of White Plains was seeing patients at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco instead of at his powerless offices on Westchester Avenue. Rockland Pulmonary in West Nyack, Rockland County's largest medical group, had power and was seeing patients Wednesday. Doctors at Hudson Valley Medical Associates in Pomona were seeing patients as well -- with the help of flashlights and lanterns as they waited for power to be restored. The Lapodieci family spent the night at the Cortlandt town emergency shelter, the Morabito Community Center on Westbrook Drive. After a breakfast of cereal, the Putnam Valley family took stock of its situation. The aggravation and stress of leaving home was a hardship, especially since family members have medical issues. But on the other side, they said, there was a supportive community helping out and a determination not to give in to despair. "You can moan and groan and be miserable. Or deal with it and try to help other people, too," said Gini Capodieci, a breast-cancer survivor who is active in civic causes in Putnam, "You gotta just do it." -- Robert Marchant Gas gets precious as pumps empty The yellow light appeared on my dashboard this morning as I made my way north on the Major Deegan. No problem, there's the Gulf station along the highway and then half-a-dozen as soon as I hit Yonkers. No luck at the Gulf. The screens on the pump were blank and a small note on the door said they were closed due to power outage. At the Luxoil on Central Avenue just past the Cross County, the signs on the pumps said Premium Only but when I got out of the car, the attendant said they were out of all gas. Across the Thruway, a Shell station had small signs on each pump apologizing that there was no gas. A Getty station and another Shell had their gas pumps covered with bags. I crossed under the Thruway and found a Citgo behind the Cross County Shopping Center. They had super left, and charged14 cents more per gallon for credit, but at least I got something that made that light go off. Thank you, Hugo Chavez! -- Jonathan Bandler Shelter becomes Somers social hub The Somers shelter, with its cushy club chairs and food and drink buffet courtesy of the Salvation Army, has become a place to be this fall season. Nearly 200 to 300 people have arrived each day since Monday to get warm, have coffee and recharge their electronics. "This is great," said Heritage Hills' Naomi Gettinger, who was knitting. "They have food and warm, friendly people." -- Barbara Livingston Nackman Joe Maffettone of Putnam Valley fills buckets with water from a well at Floradan Estates in Putnam Valley. Most of the town lacks power. JOE LARESE/THE JOURNAL NEWS 6A Thursday, November 1, 2012 WP SUPERSTORM SANDY The Journal News lohud.com Recovery daunting for stores in Nyack Floods, blackout keep many shut By Alex Taylor artaylor@lohud.com NYACK -- There was no electronic cash register to ring up transactions or calculate change at Koblin's Pharmacy on Main Street in Nyack. No lights, either, and the store was set to close around sundown. But the drugstore, independently owned and operated since 1934, was humming Wednesday morning, one of a handful of downtown businesses that remained open in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Half a dozen customers were lined up at the counter, buying nonperishables, waiting for their prescriptions to be filled and commiserating over the multiple inconveniences of the blackout. Business had been steady all morning. "We're open 365 days a year, no matter what," said manager Chuck Travers, 53. "We're a community drugstore. We have to be here for the needs of the community." In fits and starts, small businesses in Rockland County's river villages struggled to recover. At Confetti Ristorante & Vinoteca on Piermont's historic waterfront, chef and owner Arturo Lepore oversaw a reduced staff cooking a free lunch for village firefighters working to remove water from basements and clear debris. Lepore, 60, said his restaurant, which escaped the flooding, lost about $75,000 in seafood, steaks, chops, cheeses and homemade pasta sauce. Without power, Confetti will remain shuttered for days. He has yet to submit insurance claims. "It's just devastating," Lepore said. "People in business for 40 years don't know if they're going to reopen." Others predicted a similarly dire long-term impact. Christopher Han, 24, worked the cash register at his family's D&D Community Market on Main Street where a surging Hudson River flooded his basement with five feet of water, knocking out the refrigeration system and causing $20,000 in damage. "In my opinion, this downtown district is pretty much shot," Han said. "I don't think anyone even has the insurance to cover the flood damage." The scope of the challenge could be seen across the street where dark storefronts wore "Sorry, we're closed" signs in the windows and sandbags were piled at their entrances. Hundreds of cars line up along Route 6N and Baldwin Place Road on Wednesday as New York State Electric & Gas Corp. gave out bottles of water and dry ice to residents without power. PHOTOS BY FRANK BECERRA JR./THE JOURNAL NEWS Giveaway runs out of dry ice in 2 hours Majority in Putnam still without power By Marcela Rojas mrojas@lohud.com A line of cars snaked from Mahopac Middle School through to Mahopac Falls Elementary School for dry ice and water on Wednesday afternoon. At least 600 cars came by for the goods that were provided by New York State Electric & Gas Corp., said Carmel Town Councilman Jonathan Schneider. Distribution began at 1 p.m. and by 3 p.m., there was no more dry ice. Each car received one serving of dry ice and six bottles of water, Schneider said. "Everyone has got to make the best of it," said Volunteers distribute the supplies Wednesday. At least 600 cars waited in line, and the dry ice supply was gone after two hours. Joe DePinho, a graphic designer from Mahopac after picking up water. Stephanie Berardo of Mahopac came by for dry ice, but by the time she ar- rived after 3 p.m. she said there was none left. Either way, she said she needed a little water. Wednesday was a day without power for about 80 percent of Putnam's residents, or 34,087 people, County Executive Mary Ellen Odell said just after 2 p.m. As of Wednesday afternoon, the breakdown of the communities included Kent and Putnam Valley at 100 percent; Patterson, 93 percent; Carmel, 89 percent, village of Brewster, 80 percent; Southeast, 56 percent and Philipstown, 31 percent. NYSEG said Wednesday that within 24 hours there should be a high level of restoration for power transmission. Distribution of restoring power to homes then follows, Odell said. Also, about115 roads remained closed. County offices will not be open for business today and possibly Friday. Stony Point evacuees see homes devastated Ba Mar residents return to collect their belongings By Akiko Matsuda amatsuda@lohud.com STONY POINT -- Andy Lopez choked back tears Wednesday as he stood inside his mobile home at the Ba Mar Mobile Home Park. The home that Lopez, 29, and his wife Yesenia, 30, recently bought in the waterfront community was totaled by strong winds and floodwaters. "We lost everything," Lopez said as he looked up at the sky above him. High winds had ripped the roof off the three-bedroom home in which the couple and their three children -- Krystian, 11, Yadiel, 2, and Edwin De La Hoz hugs his wife Kristin as they look at their heavily damaged community at the Ba Mar Mobile Home Park in Stony Point Wednesday. RICKY FLORES/THE JOURNAL NEWS Dariel, 5 months -- lived until Sunday. "I didn't expect this," he said. They were one of the many families in the 128unit community who went back to their homes Wednesday morning. For the first time since Sun- day, the town of Stony Point briefly lifted a mandatory evacuation order for Ba Mar and Grassy Point so people could collect their belongings. From young children to seniors, residents were at a loss as they surveyed the damage. Henry and Lidia Gonzalez said their home was also flooded. The couple and their two children had lived there nearly four years, Henry Gonzalez said. "Look. All floors are wet," said Henry Gonzalez, 32, while trying to stuff his children's clothes in a plastic bag. "The whole thing is wet." Oscar Mazariego, 42, who lived in the park with his mother, wife and the couple's three children, said his home was submerged in water. Many of evacuees from Ba Mar and other waterfront communities, including Beach Road and Grassy Point, have been spending nights at a shelter at the Stony Point Ambulance Corps building on Route 9W since Sunday. Adding further stress was a rumor circulating among Ba Mar residents: They were worried that the shelter might be closed after Friday. Town Supervisor Geoffrey Finn denied the rumor and said he was trying to find better accommodations by working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "Nobody is throwing anybody out on the street. Trust me," Finn said. "We're trying to get them something more comfortable." Hundreds line up for hose after apartments lose running water By Ned P. Rauch erauch@lohud.com MOUNT VERNON -- For two days the 2,000 residents of Levister Towers filled buckets and bottles with water from a garden hose across the street and hauled them upstairs -- 10 stories for some people -- to apartments with partial, intermittent power. No trees landed on any of the complex's five buildings; no water flooded any basements. Still, Sandy left her mark, knocking out power to most apartments, limiting elevator service and crippling the pump responsible for delivering water to some 500 apartments. Emily Montgomery, 75, said she's well-stocked with bottled water. Her son has been bringing her water for washing. She said her apartment -- "Second floor, thank God" -- had been without heat since the storm. Until Wednesday evening, when power was restored, residents had been getting their water from a hose running from a nearby firehouse through a chain-link fence to the sidewalk. When they were finished filling their containers, they'd kink the hose and jam it in the fence for the next person in need of water. Among them was Louis Stevens, a nurse from Eastchester who was caring for his 64-year-old mother, who has a lung disease. Several times a day, he'd fill a pair of 5gallon buckets and carry them up five flights. Then he'd boil the water, let it cool and help her wash. The whole process took at Larrena Fortune, foreground, and Marjorie Carty are among thousands of residents of Levister Towers in Mount Vernon who were without water for two days following Superstorm Sandy. On Wednesday afternoon, they and other residents filled jugs from a hose attached to a nearby fire station. NED P. RAUCH/THE JOURNAL NEWS least two hours. "It's a complete inconvenience, but it's my mom, so I do anything for her," Stevens said. Restoring power to the water pump was Consolidated Edison's responsibility, and it took until Wednesday evening for them to do it, said Elvira Castillo, the complex's property manager. For now, Castillo said the management compa- ny would look into buying a generator. "You can learn from these experiences," she said. lohud.com The Journal News SUPERSTORM SANDY WP Thursday, November 1, 2012 7A TRAINS: Service is slowly returning Continued from Page 1A Hudson Line and west-ofHudson lines remain suspended until further notice, though tickets from those routes can be used on the Harlem Line. October monthly and weekly tickets will be valid through Monday, MetroNorth officials said. After fretting for days over how they would get to work, commuters said Wednesday that they were relieved and grateful that service was slowly coming back. Mario DiPreta, 46, raced from his home in LaGrange to catch the 3:09 p.m. train from White Plains to Grand Central. As an information technology specialist for a bank, he was eager to get to his office in Manhattan, where storm-related technology problems had piled up, DiPreta said. "I'm the type of person that wants to be involved and help out. For me to be at home was driving me crazy," he said. Eleanor Contrino, 53, of Harrison was also eager catch a train and get back to her job. Contrino, who manages a cardiologist's office on Madison Avenue, said she was expecting a long list of medication requests from patients. "I haven't been there since Friday, and I'm sure there are 100 phone calls to make," she said. When Dave Engleman heard Metro-North resumed service from White Plains on Wednesday, he took a bus there from his home in Port Chester. Engleman wanted to handle business at the Park Avenue facility he manages. "I don't own a car, so this is the only way I can get into the city," the 42year-old said. "Having time off from work is nice, but there are other times you just want to get into work. This is one of those times." For details on the MTA's restored train and subway service, see www.mta.info. Dave Engleman of Port Chester charges his Blackberry while catching Wednesday's train out of White Plains to Manhattan. MATTHEW BROWN/THE JOURNAL NEWS MTA workers make repairs near the Mamaroneck Metro-North station. Metro-North began rolling out service Wednesday afternoon, when it ran hourly trains on the Harlem Line between North White Plains and Grand Central. CARUCHA L. MEUSE/ THE JOURNAL NEWS A Harlem Line conductor takes a ticket on a train heading into Manhattan after departing from White Plains on Wednesday. MATTHEW BROWN/THE JOURNAL NEWS 8A Thursday, November 1, 2012 WP SUPERSTORM SANDY ROADS: Drivers face obstacle courses Continued from Page 1A "Frankly, it's a version of a nightmare," said Deborah Purcell, 59, a literary editor from Bedford who, without power, was so desperate Wednesday that she chose to drive to her ex-husband's house so she could use his shower. But that trip got complicated after she was forced to turn around on King Street in New Castle and find another way to Mount Kisco. "I have no idea how to get there," she said. "I'm driving under trees, over and under tons of power lines that are draped just above the pavement," Purcell said. "One doesn't know whether one is taking one's life in one's hands to get around. I thought the National Guard and Army Corps of Engineers were here. I'm looking for action!" Part of the problem, town officials said, was that cleanup crews had to wait for power companies to clear downed wires before public works employees could even begin to get trees off the roads. In many cases, that means having to stand by while complaints pile up, creating an unhappy situation for town officials and residents alike. "It's a mess," said Lee Roberts, the town supervisor in Bedford, where most of the roads except for the North Bedford and South Bedford roads were blocked or closed. "People are frustrated." "We have plenty of crews to help, but we can't" until the wires are cleaned up, Roberts said. The town is waiting on New York State Electric and Gas, which has been overwhelmed in northern Westchester and Putnam, where 91 percent of the utility's customers were without power Wednesday afternoon. A spokesman for the utility did not immediately return a call for comment. In New Rochelle, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works John Clemente said that city workers are working hand in hand with Consolidated Edison to clear fallen wires and trees simultaneously. Because of liability and other issues, the city has not hired temporary crews to help with the cleanup effort, all of which meant that the current employees -- many of whom were around for Tropical Storm Irene -- are putting in a "lot of hours," Clemente said. "Yes, it's pretty bad," Clemente said, adding that all trees in public roadways fall under the department's purview. "We take care of it because nobody else is." With no power also comes no traffic lights at numerous intersections, creating a dangerous situation for drivers. "It's crazy," Onald Auguste of Nyack said. "People don't stop when they're supposed to, and with the power lines, you really have to be careful." Many normally busy thoroughfares in Rock- The Journal News lohud.com land County, including sections of Route 59 in parts of Clarkstown and Ramapo and Route 304 in Clarkstown, have few or no working traffic lights. As of late Wednesday, Rockland County listed 63 road closures countywide, though unofficial estimates put the number much higher. Clarkstown alone was reporting 67 local road closures and 27 partial closures, while Orangetown was reporting 62 closures. In Westchester, some of the worst roads are in the north. Drivers heading north on Route 120 from Mount Pleasant had to dodge debris every couple hundred yards, only to be stopped completely by a cluster of pines just across the New Castle border. That blockage forced Nick Larizza, 48, of New Castle to turn around his Jeep Laredo and look for an alternate route to find a place to eat with his wife and two daughters. They've been without power since the storm. "We've been driving around all day, trying to get from point A to point B," said Larizza, a mason contractor. "There's a lot of confusion. This is obviously a big, major storm, so it's nothing we can control. But I think there should be signs at the beginning of blocked roads saying 'No through traffic.' It would save us a lot of time." Dave Berlin, a 22-yearold from Yorktown who was paying house calls to service people's aquariums, was encountering the same problem in Irvington, where another tree and wire blocked Cyrus Field Road. Driving around in a Toyota Yaris covered with pictures of tropical fish, Berlin said his concern was for all the customers who were still without power. He had already postponed several appointments because of the storm. "If aquariums don't get any power," Berlin said, "fish are going to die." Staff writers Laura Incalcaterra and Lee Higgins contributed to this report. Clarkstown police investigate Wednesday's accident at Route 304 and Goebels Road in New City. The traffic light at the intersection was not working because of the storm. PETER CARR/THE JOURNAL NEWS lohud.com The Journal News SUPERSTORM SANDY WP Thursday, November 1, 2012 9A These annual storms are a new, long-term problem Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls it "the new reality." Bad storms are happening with increasing frequency and each one is more lethal than the last. On Wednesday, Cuomo basically repeated what he said on Tuesday -- that the so-called 100-year storm has become a quaint anachronism. We're getting socked almost annually now. People now expect the worst -- flooding, downed electrical wires, power outages, falling trees, shattered homes and death. As of this writing, Sandy has officially claimed four lives in Westchester and Rockland counties, 26 in New York state and some 50 lives in the U.S. "Anyone who says there is not a change in weather patterns is denying reality," the governor said at one of his many press conferences. "We have a new reality when it comes to these weather patterns; we have an old infrastructure, we have old systems." Had Sandy struck, say, a month ago, and not a week before Election Day, it's more than likely that climate change, global warming or whatever you wish to call the atmospheric havoc that has lately dominated our lives would've been raised in the presidential debates. This is a New York-centric conceit, I know, but when the greatest city in the world is virtually shut down because of the weather, it's obvious that we have a serious, longterm problem on our hands. The truth is we've been aware of the new norm for a while -- at least as far back as that unforgettable day in July of 2006 when a tornado picked up an occupied state police car on Saw Mill River Road in Hawthorne and tossed it around like it was a child's Tonka toy. The trooper, Sgt. Ira Promisel, who was not injured, later said with understated surety, "I'll venture to guess that there's probably never been a state trooper lifted up by a tornado before." There are many ways to gauge the growing intensity of this weather crisis. Counting the num- Sandy at a glance The Associated Press NEW YORK -- Key information about the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in New York: POWER OUTAGES: About 1.9 million lack electricity statewide, down from 2.2 million Tuesday. Most outages,1.6 million, are in New York City, its northern suburbs and Long Island. EVACUATIONS: 375,000 people were ordered to leave flood-prone zones in New York City. SHELTERS: 6,465 people at 76 shelters Wednesday in New York City, which has 16,000 shelter beds. DEATHS: At least 30, including 22 in New York City. Two boys in North Salem, a man on Long Island, a man in Queens, a man in Pearl River and a couple in Brooklyn were killed by falling trees. One woman died when she stepped in a puddle that hid an electrical line; a man in Yonkers died when he crashed into a downed tree. Others either drowned or were found dead in a home or car. A woman in Ulster County was killed when a roof blew into her windshield. Phil Reisman ber of deaths is the most important way, but power outages also can tell part of the story. In terms of lost electricity to Con Edison customers in the utility's service area of Westchester and the city's five boroughs, the four worst storms have all occurred within the last three years, according to utility spokesman Allan Drury. In reverse order they are as follows: Oct. 29, 2011. The "Halloween Snowstorm," 135,913 customers lost power. March 13, 2011. This was a nor'easter, 174,800 customers. Aug. 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene, 203,821. Oct. 29, 2012. Superstorm Sandy, 975,000. (For the record, the fifth-worst storm was Hurricane Gloria on Sept. 9, 1985, when 110,500 customers lost power. The sixth-worst was Tropical Storm Ernesto, which knocked out 78,300 homes and businesses over the Labor Day weekend of 2006.) By this measure, Sandy was more than four times worse than any previous storm. It was the mother of all storms. It was as if Mother Nature was crazy on angel dust. Of course this doesn't even cover the recent history of long hot spells, the mild winters, violent thunderstorms and floods. Oh, the floods. The nor'easter of April 2007 was a home-wrecking beast that dropped more than eight inches of rain in one day; it caused so much property damage that the region was declared a federal disaster area. Perhaps the one saving grace of Superstorm Sandy was that it didn't bring the inland river flooding that many had expected. For instance, the Brooklands cooperative apartments in Yonkers -- the subject of Tuesday's column -- was free of the water damage that has plagued it in past years when heavy rains caused the Sprain Brook to overflow. Kerry Smith, the president of the co-op board, was ecstatic when I talked to him. "We were totally convinced that the absolute worst was going to come," he said. "We were prepared for the holocaust of holocausts." But the rain was relatively light and the brook did not rise. Smith said more than a few residents prayed in church on Sunday before the storm. "If that's what did it, I'll take it," he said of the happy outcome. By the way, Smith is a skeptic of global warming. Politicians, he says, use it as "leverage" to invade our lives with regulations. His culprit of choice is overdevelopment. But Cuomo said that he brought up climate change not as a matter of politics, but as a matter of fact. He won't get an argu- ment from Jerome Thaler, the weather observer for the National Weather Service who lives in Yorktown Heights. Thaler has told me that the winters are getting warmer -- and he has a century's worth of weather data to back his claim. I've been trying to reach him by phone for the past couple of days to get his latest take on global warming. All I got was a busy signal. I guess the power was out. Reach Phil Reisman at preisman@lohud.com or call 914-694-5008. Gov. Andrew Cuomo talks to reporters on Tuesday in Albany. AP 10A Thursday, November 1, 2012 WP SUPERSTORM SANDY The Journal News lohud.com Damage estimate at $6B, Cuomo seeks fed aid Gov. asks for 100% reimbursement from FEMA By Joseph Spector Albany Bureau Chief Gov. Andrew Cuomo adjusts his shoulder straps as he prepares to take a flight in a New York Air National Guard helicopter on Wednesday in New York. The governor was joined by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and local officials for the flight over the city and Westchester to assess damage from superstorm Sandy. AP HOT OFF THE PRESS! LOWER YOUR ELECTRIC BILL w/Free Solar System Pre qualifiy your building at www.netzerogroup.net 800-431-7037 for more info The best place to buy and sell stuff. Autos Wanted AUTO WANTED An exclusive listing of FIRST DAY classified ads. For more listings, check the Classifieds section. For rates & details, call 914-694-5111 love it CASH 4 ALL - Toyota's HONDAS, NISSANS, VW & ALL OTHER MAKES. RUNS OR NOT. DAMAGE OK. I COME TO YOU. 973-204-7869 Dining, movies, theater, hobbies and happenings -- from all over the Lower Hudson Valley. Find your passion and AKC GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPIES - OFA Cert. Cardi ac tested. Eye exams. Beautiful dogs, Champion bloodlines. $800. Call 518-853-1454 FALL BLOW OUT SALE Dark green Arborvitaes for beautiful privacy. Free delivery & planting only 6ft $60 or 9ft $100 each. Min 5. Call 860-712-5359 pursue it! Log on to lohud.com today! ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday requested that President Barack Obama provide up to 100 percent reimbursement to New York for the damage from Superstorm Sandy, saying the state may have sustained $6 billion in economic losses. The request capped another busy day of recovery efforts across New York City and its suburbs after the storm caused more than two million power outages, at least 26 deaths and billions of dollars in damage to public transportation systems. The federal aid, Cuomo wrote, "is critical to ensuring that our state and local governments are able to respond effectively to the emergent and continuing issues associated with the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy." Cuomo said the $6 billion is the lost economic revenue in the region "due to the severe disruption of business in the world's leading financial hub and the largest port on the northeastern seaboard." The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said subways would be running on a limited scheduled today. Commuter trains in the New York City suburbs resumed partial service Wednesday afternoon. Passenger cars are being limited into Manhattan because of severe traffic due to the lack of subways, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced. For the rest of the work week, vehicles would need to have at least three people to enter Manhattan from East and Hudson river crossings, except for the George Washington Bridge, Bloomberg said. The MTA said usually 2.3 million people take buses in the city each day, and another 5 million take the subways. "We are going to need some patience and some tolerance," Cuomo said at a midday briefing Wednesday. As of 3 p.m., New York had 1.9 million customers without power -- down from 2.1 million on Tuesday. There were still about 855,000 outages on Long Island and 784,000 in New York City. Consolidate Edison said 176,000 customers in Westchester County were without power. Orange & Rockland Utilities had 137,380 outages, and New York State Electric & Gas Corp. had 104,678, mainly in Westchester and Putnam counties. Sen. Greg Ball, R-Patterson, said the utilities weren't communicating well enough with customers. There are estimates of perhaps 10 days until power is returned. "Utilities are expecting power restoration to take over a week -- this is absolutely unacceptable; 10 days is too damn long," Ball said in a statement. Typically, FEMA provides 75 percent reimbursement for costs from natural disasters, and the state and local governments split the rest. New York, however, has its own fiscal troubles and faces a $1 billion budget gap next year. Local governments have their own major financial problems. "This is one of the biggest disasters to have ever hit this state and even this country," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "The federal response has to measure that scope and be equal to that scope." Obama toured hard-hit parts of New Jersey, and he pledged federal support for the state and neighboring New York. "The federal government will be working as closely as possible with state and local officials, and we will not quit until this is done," Obama said. Some state lawmakers said a special session of the Legislature might be necessary to provide aid to the New York City area. Last year, a special session in December included state aid to upstate areas hard hit by tropical storms Irene and Lee. "I think we should come back and take a close look at what the needs are and respond appropriately," said Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern. The cost of Irene and Lee in New York exceeded $1.2 billion, with the state paying for the local governments' share. Sandy had a bigger impact on a more populous area, state officials said. "This was an extraordinary event, much more than Hurricane Irene was in terms of damage and impact. Our local governments don't have the money," Cuomo's top aide, Larry Schwartz, said on Talk 1300-AM in Albany. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the costs to New York for the storm are still unknown, but DiNapoli warned that it would be a significant hit to the state's finances. Wall Street represents about 14 percent of the state's total revenue. "We're concerned, obviously, about the revenue impact coming to the state of New York," DiNapoli said Wednesday on CNBC. "Our budget has been a very fragile condition. So we're all trying to make assessments." lohud.com The Journal News SUPERSTORM SANDY "There've been many storms but nothing like this," says Kenneth Lenhart, who has lived on Spruce Drive in New City for more than 70 years. PHOTOS BY PETER CARR/THE JOURNAL NEWS Neighbors, ages 101 and 98, take storm in stride They've lived side by side for 70 years By Hema Easley heasley@lohud.com At 101, Kenneth Lenhart is hard of hearing. But he recalled the loud thump Monday night when Superstorm Sandy hit the region and brought down a tall pine tree on Spruce Drive, a small private road in New City where he lives. The winds also snapped a utility pole, cutting power and phone lines and downing wires across the street and on the properties of Lenhart and his 98-year-old neighbor, Josephine Nussbaum. "There've been many storms but nothing like this," said Lenhart, who has lived on Spruce Drive for more than 70 years. "The wind was so strong." The storm also cracked the trunk of another tall pine that is leaning precariously over a tree above Lenhart's roof. There is only one other home on Spruce, owned "Just go with the flow," says Josephine Nessbaum of being without power after Sandy. She says she doesn't miss having television and has been knitting in the candlelight. by a young couple. Power was restored to Lenhart's home late Tuesday but Nussbaum was still without power. She said her daughter was told it could take seven to 10 days to restore. "Just go with the flow," she said when asked how she was coping. Nussbaum said she doesn't miss television -- she asked, what's there to watch, anyway? She knits little hats and gloves for Catholic Charities in the candlelight to pass the time. Her daughter, Betty, who lives with her, cooks their meals and keeps her company. Tuesday afternoon the two neighbors met to talk about, what else, but the weather. They have lived side by side for 70 years. "The number one thing is the weather, what is in the forecast and when is it going to end," said Lenhart He was in good spirits Wednesday despite the devastation and lack of access to his street. "I'm a lot better off than millions who don't have power," said Lenhart cheerfully. "Electricity, everything depends on it." WP Thursday, November 1, 2012 11A A Thursday NOVEMBER 1, 2012 WWW.LOHUD.COM 12A Obama visits storm victims in NJ President tours the state with Gov. Christie By Steven R. Hurst Associated Press WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama joined one of his top Republican critics to visit victims of superstorm Sandy on Wednesday, giving Americans a high-profile display of presidential leadership while leaving rival Mitt Romney on the sidelines. Obama visited New Jersey, the state hit hardest by the storm that hammered much of the Northeast, accompanied by Gov. Chris Christie. The governor has been one of Romney's most prominent supporters, but he has been effusive in his praise of Obama's response to the storm. Christie greeted Obama as Air Force One landed on a sunny, breezy day in Atlantic City. The two men boarded the presidential helicopter for an hourlong aerial tour of the storm damage. "We are here for you, and we will not forget," President Barack Obama embraces Donna Vanzant during a tour in Brigantine, N.J. PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AP Obama told reporters in Atlantic City. Obama and Christie spoke with victims, and the governor said: "I cannot thank the president enough for his concern and compassion for the people of our state." Though Obama suspended campaigning for three days and New Jersey is safe Democratic territory, the tour with Christie offers him clear advantages. Obama can appear to be in command, directing U.S. aid and showing concern for the storm's victims. The appearance with Christie also makes him look bipartisan. Obama's campaign announced Wednesday that he planned to resume campaign travel Thursday with stops in Nevada, Colorado and Wisconsin. The president's actions have forced Romney to make tough choices. The Republican must show respect for the superstorm's casualties, but he can ill afford to waste a minute of campaign time. After tamping down his partisan tone Tuesday at an Ohio event that emphasized disaster relief, Romney returned to a robust campaign message in events in Florida, the largest competitive state. "We're going through trauma in a major part of the country, the kind of trauma you've experienced here in Florida more than once," Romney said, encouraging donations to the Red Cross. He then launched into a critique of Obama's leadership in tough economic times and said he would do better. To the independent and undecided voters sick of the political swampland of Washington, Obama appeared bipartisan by cooperating on storm work with prominent Romney supporter Christie. "The president has An aerial view shows people walking amid the destruction left in Sandy's wake in Seaside Heights, N.J. MIKE GROLL/AP been all over this, and he deserves great credit," Christie said in a TV interview Tuesday. By contrast, when Christie was asked whether Romney was coming to help, he said, "I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested." This aerial photo shows the Breezy Point neighborhood in New York, where dozens of homes burned to the ground Monday as a result of superstorm Sandy. MARK LENNIHAN/AP NY neighborhood once again hit by disaster Unlike 9/11, there were no lives lost after fire destroyed 100 homes By Rick Hampson USA Today BREEZY POINT, N.Y. -- Few neighborhoods lost more on 9/11 than this spit of land sticking into the ocean, home to generations of firefighters and police. On Monday night, when disaster returned to the city, Breezy Point again bore the brunt. Unlike Osama Bin Laden, Sandy apparently took no lives here. But the storm destroyed and damaged scores of homes, and a subsequent fire quickly consumed at least 100. "We all know each other, and we're all devastated. But we're so thankful that this time, no one was killed," said Marilyn Coady, a resident for 46 years who lives near the sixblock area that was destroyed. On Tuesday it was a hellish vista in a heavenly setting, blocks of smoldering ruins punctuated by a few chimneys. Shattered and dismantled decks, sidewalks and docks. Water where sand should be, and vice versa;. And scattered like trash, the relics of summer good times -- deck chairs, awnings, a half-filled bottle of Johnnie Walker Black. All set against the backdrop of a wide sandy beach and crashing ocean waves. John Nies, 55, a member of the volunteer fire department, stayed put here with his family despite an evacuation order. "We were told we shouldn't have been here, but people here don't leave in a storm," he said. "Some of them are old. They've seen storms pass by." Since Hurricane Donna five decades ago, the storms went elsewhere. Last year, before the arrival of Hurricane Irene, several families heeded warnings and moved to ski houses in upstate New York, only to be hit harder there than if they'd stayed put. As late as 6 p.m. Monday, Nies was feeling good about his decision to stay. He had not a drop of water in his basement. Then, "all of a sudden you heard it -- 'whoosh' -- the water coming down the road." By 6:40, he had four feet of water in the basement, heading to six. After dark came the call to a fire in an oceanfront bungalow belonging to a priest. Because Breezy Point was an evacuation zone, its volunteer companies had moved their fire trucks inland for safety. Nies said the volun- teers who'd had stayed in town tried to pump water from the Ocean, but lines quickly became clogged. "With the wind whipping like that, we never had a chance," he said. The fire spread from frame house to frame house, both the modest summer bungalows constructed by the neighborhood founders -- Irish firemen and policemen -- and the stockbrokers, lawyers and other professionals who followed. Scores of residents fled to the highest ground, the second floor of the Breezy Point Clubhouse. New York City firefighters had to use a boat to rescue them. Finally, when a storm loomed, the luck of the Irish eluded this enclave of 2,700 homes. "This is a first time for all of us," Nies said. He was pessimistic about the ability and willingness of many homeowners to rebuild. Not Shamus Barnes, 43, of Oradell, N.J., who has spent every summer here. His house was reduced to cinders. So was his father's, across the street. He stood in the wind, feet sinking in the mud, clenching the White House-shaped sign for No. 16 Fulton Way. "My father was here, so I bought here, and my sister bought here," he said. "I'm definitely going to rebuild here. There's no other place like it." Travel slowly resumes, but La Guardia still closed By Joshua Freed Associated Press In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, travel in the Northeast creaked back into motion on Wednesday. Two of the three major airports in the New York area re-opened with limited flights. Most Northeast rail service remained suspended. In New York City, some buses were running and subway service was expected to restart Thursday. The busy Northeast travel corridor ground to a halt when Sandy slammed into New Jersey Monday evening. FlightStats said the storm caused more than 19,000 cancellations, including 2,820 cancellations Wednesday. The loss of East Coast flights stranded tourists in New York and kept travelers stuck in Hong Kong. The lack of trains left suburban commuters without a way into work. On Wednesday, the first trickle of air travelers reached New York since the storm hit. John F. Kennedy International and Newark, N.J.'s Liberty Airport both opened, but flights were limited. The airlines that did operate were mostly positioning planes for a fuller schedule on Thursday. New York's third major airport, La Guardia, remained closed as officials assessed flood damage from the storm. La Guardia has just two runways that jut out into bays and are only a few feet above sea level. They were inundated by Sandy's huge surge. "There are a lot of contingencies before we can re-open at La Guardia," Southwest spokesman Paul Flaningan said. "It's still barricaded at the front entrance, which makes drop-offs from taxis and buses difficult." Amtrak said it plans to restore some service on Friday to and from New York City, which has been without intercity train service since it was walloped by Sandy. The railroad said the removal of water from flooded train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers is continuing so that repairs to tracks, signals and power systems can be made. A Friday schedule is expected to be released Thursday. lohud.com The Journal News SUPERSTORM SANDY WP Thursday, November 1, 2012 13A NJ Guard helps Hoboken's trapped residents Troops also are trying to drain flooded city By Doug Stanglin USA Today New Jersey National Guard troops began distributing ready-to-eat meals on Wednesday and rescuing thousands of Hoboken residents trapped in brownstones and condos for two days by the surging waters of the Hudson River. Troops in high-wheeled vehicles began arriving just before midnight Tuesday to the city of 50,000 located directly across from Manhattan. About half the city was flooded when the hurricane slammed the region Monday night, pushing water up the Hudson River and over its banks. The city asked people with generators and boats to bring them to City Hall, which is on dry ground and powered by a backup generator. Officials also appealed on Hoboken's Facebook page for bottled water and nonperishable food. In addition to evacuation duties, the Guard also was called in to help pump out the millions of gallons of water mixed with sewage that officials said was a growing health hazard. "We've got live wires in the waters, and the waters are completely contaminated and getting more contaminated," Mayor Dawn Zimmer told MSNBC. North Hudson Sewerage Authorities estimated there are 500 million gallons of water that need to be removed. The city said it would take 24 to 48 hours to get rid of the water through a combination of natural flow from low tides and pumps that can remove 75 million gallons per day. Although a curfew has been lifted, Zimmer urged residents not to go out until the water has subsided. Polina Pinkhasova, a 27-year-old engineering student, has been volunteering at a shelter in the city, where water is still 3 feet deep in spots and the power remains out. "Once the sun sets, complete darkness," she said. "You really can't see anything." Her house is on dry land, but she has seen evidence of price-gouging, saying she paid $14 at one store for three small bags of chips and a small bottle of cranberry juice. P.J. Molski, a 25-yearold graphic designer, said his place is dry but that his car, which he left parked on a flooded street, won't start. Almost every basement apartment he has seen in the small city, which makes the most of its housing stock, is flooded, he told the AP. "There are just pumps going all over the city of Water is pumped from a restaurant in the wake of Sandy on Wednesday in Hoboken, N.J. CRAIG RUTTLE/AP people trying to get the water out of their basement apartments," Molski said. Pasquale Caporrino on Tuesday was pumping out the basement of one of two buildings he owns on Willow Street that was slammed when the river's surge flooded streets from one end of town to the other. "We lost power and the water went up" as sump pumps stopped, he said, describing efforts to cope with the rising waters on Monday. "There was oil here too," he said. "This morning it smelled a lot." Vihaan Gadodia, 2, is handed from a National Guard truck after he and his family left a flooded building in the wake of superstorm Sandy on Wednesday in Hoboken, N.J. CRAIG RUTTLE/AP A Thursday NOVEMBER 1, 2012 WWW.LOHUD.COM 16A Storm went beyond Con Ed prep work Utility did not anticipate magnitude of surge By Jonathan Fahey Associated Press NEW YORK -- They planned big for Superstorm Sandy, but not big enough. Consolidated Edison figured any surge would not surpass the 11-foot record set nearly two centuries ago. Or the design limit of 12.5 feet for a key substation in lower Manhattan. But the wall of seawater reached 14 feet. The surge that swamped the substation cut power to about 250,000 customers. It was the signature event in a series of electrical failures from winds and floods that at one point left almost 1 million Con Ed customers in the dark -- a record storm outage for the utility. Con Edison planners knew by Monday evening that they would face an extraordinary mix of threats to their electrical network: a historically powerful storm, a very high tide driven by a full moon, critical electrical equipment buried under the streets, and full-force exposure to the intensity of the elements via New York Harbor, the Atlantic estuary known as the East River, and other waterways. So they prepared for a rough go. But events defied elaborate planning and expectations. The substation, near the East River in the DOW 13,096.46 S&P 500 1,412.16 q p NASDAQ 2,977.23 -10.75 CRUDE OIL $86.24 +.22 1,480 Close: 1,412.16 Change: 0.22 (flat) 1,400 q q 6-MO T-BILLS .15% -10.72 30-YR T-BONDS 2.86% -.04 NYSE lights up Wall Street Trading calm after 2-day shutdown; market powers up without problem Associated Press NEW YORK -- Wall Street is back in business. The New York Stock Exchange opened trading without problems Wednesday after a historic two-day shutdown caused by Superstorm Sandy. Wall Street traders n q ... -.05 and strategists were worried a third day of delay would have meant pent-up demand, resulting in a surge of orders that could send the market on a wild ride. Trading was placid from the start . Generators were used to power operations, including turning on the outside red, white and blue Close: 2,977.23 Change: -10.72 (-0.4%) 2,960 Foreign Exchange MAJORS CLOSE CH. USD per British Pound 1.6130 +.0053 Canadian Dollar 1.0002 +.0006 USD per Euro 1.2962 -.0000 Japanese Yen 79.76 +.16 Mexican Peso 13.0849 +.0207 6MO. 1YR. +.33% 1.6232 +.06% .9873 -.00% 1.3243 +.20% 79.81 +.16% 13.0352 %CH. 1.6129 .9941 1.3924 78.05 13.2354 EUROPE/AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST Nasdaq composite 3,040 10 DAYS Mayor Michael Bloomberg talks to traders before ringing Wednesday's opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. "It's good for the city, good for country, it's good for everyone to get back to work," the mayor later said on CNBC. AP For updated stock quotes, send a text message with STOCKTICKER (e.g., MSFT) or FUNDTICKER (e.g., AGTHX) to 44636 (4INFO). 3,120 S&P 500 1,440 tive seawater. The company gave the same heads-up to customers in outlying Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. By midevening, though, conditions had worsened. More than 150,000 customers in New York City and Westchester County were already off grid. The utility began turning off the power, as a precaution, to a section of lower Manhattan, including Wall Street, in an attempt to stem damage. Shortly afterward, the company began cutting electricity in parts of Brooklyn, too; a total of 220,000 other customers were already in the dark. Less than an hour later, more equipment flooded, sparks flew, and the blast boomed across the East River -- Manhattan's eastern border -- and throughout lower Manhattan from what Con Edison believes was a circuit breaker at its flooded substation. The flooded equipment had failed. When live electric equipment is inundated with salt water, electricity escapes every which way, sending sparks flying and damaging more equipment. As day broke Tuesday, the company was fixing equipment. But downed trees and wires and floodwaters made it hard for crews to reach some areas. southeast portion of Manhattan, had withstood a surge of 9.5 feet during Tropical Storm Irene. The utility figured the infrastructure also could handle a repeat of the highest surge on record for the area -- 11 feet during a hurricane in 1821, according to National Weather Service figures. They also did not expect the design limit of 12.5 feet to be threatened. But as water poured into the substation Monday evening, the blinding flash of an explosion lit the skyline , then plunged the bottom third of Manhattan into darkness. "Nobody predicted it would be that high," Con Edison spokesman Allan Drury said. A proactive Con Edison had hoped to avoid disaster by shutting down three similar power networks in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn in advance of the storm surge. As the storm's predicted path zeroed in on the New York metropolitan area, Con Edison brought on extra work crews and laid plans to shut down underground equipment in lower Manhattan. By late Monday afternoon, the utility started to notify Manhattan customers south of 36th Street -- an area encompassing nearly a third of Manhattan -- that power might be shut off if underground equipment was flooded with corrosive, destruc- 10 DAYS Israeli Shekel Norwegian Krone South African Rand Swedish Krona Swiss Franc 3.8865 -.0022 5.7025 -.0332 8.6633 +.0166 6.6309 -.0128 .9313 -.0010 -.06% -.58% +.19% -.19% -.11% 3.7615 5.7196 7.7775 6.7186 .9073 3.6127 5.5373 7.8910 6.4779 .8736 1,500 3,200 Commodities 1,450 3,100 1,400 3,000 1,350 2,900 FUELS Crude Oil (bbl) Ethanol (gal) Heating Oil (gal) Natural Gas (mm btu) Unleaded Gas (gal) CLOSE 86.24 2.44 3.07 3.69 2.76 PVS. 86.28 2.38 3.10 3.40 2.70 %CH. +0.65 +0.04 -0.59 +0.03 +1.22 %YTD -12.7 +10.8 +4.5 +23.5 +2.8 1,300 2,800 METALS Gold (oz) Silver (oz) Platinum (oz) Copper (lb) Palladium (oz) CLOSE 1717.50 32.29 1577.00 3.53 609.00 PVS. 1710.90 32.01 1544.30 3.56 595.70 %CH. +0.41 +1.56 +1.52 +0.59 +2.29 %YTD +9.7 +15.8 +12.7 +2.8 -7.1 1,250 M J J Stocks Recap NYSE Vol. (in mil.) Pvs. Volume Advanced Declined New Highs New Lows NASD 3,510 3,252 1767 1281 136 53 1,761 1,799 1348 1121 84 76 Local Stocks A DOW DOW Trans. DOW Util. NYSE Comp. NASDAQ S&P 500 S&P 400 Wilshire 5000 Russell 2000 S HIGH 13189.08 5123.48 479.83 8252.77 2989.70 1418.76 980.45 14821.08 818.73 2,700 O LOW 13052.07 5040.83 475.39 8185.48 2964.94 1405.95 973.32 14700.01 811.86 52-WK RANGE NAME TICKER 52LO 52HI CLOSE Acadia Rlty Tr AKR 18.28 0 26.05 25.68 Acorda Therapeutics ACOR 20.24 5 27.74 23.95 Atlas Air Worldwide AAWW 32.64 0 57.00 54.99 Avon Products AVP 14.45 2 23.58 15.49 BioScrip Inc BIOS 5.05 9 9.80 9.19 Bunge Ltd BG 55.64 0 71.20 71.03 CMS Bancorp Inc CMSB 6.50 6 9.20 8.00 Cablevision Systems CVC 10.76 9 18.86 17.42 Capital One Fncl COF 39.30 0 61.33 60.17 Citigroup C 23.30 0 38.72 37.39 Coca-Cola Ent CCE 24.20 9 32.55 31.44 Con Edison ED 56.07 5 65.98 60.38 Drew Industries DW 19.91 0 32.56 31.67 Entergy ETR 62.97 9 74.50 72.58 GAMCO Investors GBL 38.69 8 52.32 49.00 Gannett Co GCI 10.29 7 19.99 16.90 HSBC Holdings PLC HBC 35.37 0 49.94 49.36 Hitachi HIT 50.31 9 66.99 63.70 Home Depot HD 34.58 0 63.20 61.38 Hubbell B HUB/B 56.86 9 87.37 83.72 Hudson Tech HDSN 1.22 9 4.40 4.00 IBM IBM 177.06 6 211.79 194.53 JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM 28.28 8 46.49 41.68 Jarden Corp JAH 28.66 8 55.77 49.80 Jones Group (The) JNY 8.13 7 13.98 11.81 Keycorp KEY 6.60 8 9.12 8.42 MBIA Inc MBI 7.10 5 13.50 9.90 MELA Sciences MELA 2.50 2 6.05 3.09 MVC Capital Inc MVC 10.88 6 13.39 12.36 Mack Cali Realty CLI 24.16 4 29.80 25.99 Macy's Inc M 28.69 7 42.17 38.07 MasterCard Inc MA 333.36 9 486.08 460.93 Mondelez Intl MDLZ 22.31 7 28.48 26.55 Morgan Stanley MS 12.26 6 21.19 17.38 NavgGp NAVG 41.67 0 54.22 53.08 M CLOSE 13096.46 5085.03 479.40 8221.40 2977.23 1412.16 980.45 14773.10 818.73 1YR CHG %CHG %RTN +.15 +0.6 +33.9 +1.47 +6.5 +2.0 +.76 +1.4 +38.2 +.01 +0.1 -28.7 +.13 +1.4 +38.5 +.95 +1.4 +19.3 ... ... +6.2 -.47 -2.6 +6.5 +.17 +0.3 +35.0 +.79 +2.2 +17.6 +.47 +1.5 +22.9 +.41 +0.7 +6.1 +.31 +1.0 +30.6 +.48 +0.7 +9.4 -.15 -0.3 +7.2 +.15 +0.9 +48.3 +.08 +0.2 +22.3 ... ... +23.1 +1.34 +2.2 +67.4 +3.37 +4.2 +36.3 +.03 +0.8 +210.2 +1.26 +0.7 +8.0 +.52 +1.3 +23.8 +.20 +0.4 +50.0 +.09 +0.8 +5.5 +.03 +0.4 +17.4 +.24 +2.5 +13.5 -.06 -1.9 -47.1 +.10 +0.8 +2.4 -.08 -0.3 +2.1 -.41 -1.1 +28.2 +7.95 +1.8 +38.1 -.05 -0.2 +21.1 +.39 +2.3 +3.6 -.53 -1.0 +17.9 J CHG. -10.75 +32.68 +3.91 +31.20 -10.72 +0.22 +5.71 +18.78 +5.48 P/E 57 cc 14 27 6 12 dd 20 10 12 13 17 22 10 18 9 22 17 15 13 9 14 cc 8 5 dd q 32 12 27 dd 17 J A %CHG. -0.08% +0.65% +0.82% +0.38% -0.36% +0.02% +0.59% +0.13% +0.67% DIV 0.72 ... ... 0.92 ... 1.08 ... 0.60 0.20 0.04 0.64 2.42 ... 3.32 0.20f 0.80 2.05r ... 1.16 1.64 ... 3.40 1.20 ... 0.20 0.20 ... ... 0.54f 1.80 0.80 1.20 0.52 0.20 ... S O WK s s s s t s s s s MO QTR YTD t s +7.19% s s +1.30% s t +3.17% t s +9.96% t s +14.28% t s +12.29% t s +11.52% t s +12.00% t s +10.50% NAME Nokia Corp TICKER NOK Interest Rates PRIME RATE 3.25 YEST 3.25 FED FUNDS .13 YEST .13 6 MO AGO 6 MO AGO 1 YR AGO 1 YR AGO 3.25 .13 TREASURIES YEST NET PVS CHG 1YR AGO 3-month T-bill 6-month T-bill 52-week T-note 2-year T-note 5-year T-note 10-year T-note 30-year T-bond .11 .15 .21 .28 .72 1.69 2.86 0.11 0.15 0.21 0.30 0.76 1.75 2.91 ... ... ... -0.02 -0.04 -0.06 -0.05 .01 .05 .17 .29 1.13 2.32 3.38 52-WK RANGE 52LO 52HI CLOSE 1.63 2 7.07 2.67 P/E DIV 0.26e Northeast Cmty Bncp NECB 7.29 5.44 ... ... -4.3 54 0.12 Novartis AG NVS 51.20 8 64.07 60.46 -.38 -0.6 +11.0 15 2.46e PepsiCo PEP 61.56 7 73.66 69.24 +.26 +0.4 +14.6 18 2.15 Pfizer Inc PFE 18.15 9 26.09 24.87 -.56 -2.2 +36.4 15 0.88 Presidntl Life PLFE 8.59 0 14.05 13.98 +.03 +0.2 +50.1 23 0.25 Prestige Brands PBH 8.40 0 17.95 17.39 -.03 -0.2 +61.3 24 ... Progenics Pharma PGNX 2.38 1 11.34 2.85 -.06 -2.1 -56.6 dd ... Provident NY Bancorp PBNY 6.10 8 9.13 -.06 -0.7 +31.2 20 0.24 Regeneron Pharm REGN 49.58 8 166.39 142.30 -6.95 -4.7 +158.8 73 ... SL Green Rlty SLG 60.01 6 85.74 75.30 -.10 -0.1 +13.1 48 1.00 Sears Holdings Corp SHLD 28.89 6 85.90 62.67 +.57 +0.9 -10.6 dd Siemens AG SI 77.88 8 108.95 100.91 +.80 +0.8 -2.3 115.21 8 164.17 152.21 Simon Property Gp SPG Starwood Hotels HOT TAL International Gp Teva Pharm 5.00 2 1YR CHG %CHG %RTN +.11 +4.3 -59.6 9.92 0.33t 4.04e +1.91 +1.3 +24.9 31 4.40f 43.34 5 61.09 51.85 -.10 -0.2 +5.9 17 1.25f TAL 24.61 6 42.00 34.14 +.79 +2.4 +20.3 9 2.48f TEVA 36.88 4 46.65 40.42 +.03 +0.1 +2.2 11 0.99e 16 1.52f Tompkins Financial TMP 35.82 7 43.13 40.48 -.91 -2.2 +11.0 Toronto Dom Bk TD 65.20 8 86.56 81.34 +.02 ... +14.5 UPS class B UPS 66.46 5 81.79 73.25 +.23 +0.3 +8.5 19 Unitedhealth Group UNH 43.42 8 60.75 56.00 +.22 +0.4 +15.9 11 0.85 Verizon Comm VZ 35.17 7 48.77 44.64 -.09 -0.2 +27.0 41 2.06f Watson Pharm WPI 55.00 9 89.90 85.95 -.69 -0.8 +22.9 70 ... WellPoint Inc WLP 52.52 4 74.73 61.30 +.01 ... -10.3 8 1.15 Wells Fargo & Co WFC 23.19 8 36.60 33.69 -.28 -0.8 +34.9 11 0.88 3.08f 2.28 Dividend Footnotes: a - Extra dividends were paid, but are not included. b - Annual rate plus stock. c - Liquidating dividend. e - Amount declared or paid in last 12 months. f - Current annual rate, which was increased by most recent dividend announcement. i - Sum of dividends paid after stock split, no regular rate. j - Sum of dividends paid this year. Most recent dividend was omitted or deferred. k - Declared or paid this year, a cumulative issue with dividends in arrears. m - Current annual rate, which was decreased by most recent dividend announcement. p - Initial dividend, annual rate not known, yield not shown. r - Declared or paid in preceding 12 months plus stock dividend. t - Paid in stock, approximate cash value on ex-distribution date. PE Footnotes: q - stock is a closed-end fund - no P/E ratio shown. cc - P/E exceeds 99. dd -loss in last 12 months. lights. To Jonathan D. Corpina, who made his way to the building by flashlight, it was a welcome sight. "Walking up this pitchblack street ... with the red, white and blue lights going, it was clear this was the only building in downtown Manhattan that was open," said Corpina, senior managing partner of Meridian Equity Partners. The exchange organized car pools to get people to work. Gas prices fall as U.S. Northeast travel dips By Sandy Shore Associated Press Gasoline prices fell Wednesday as travel in the storm-hit Northeast remained restricted by felled trees, power outages and flood damage. Benchmark crude rose 39 cents to $86.07 per barrel in New York. The national price for a gallon of gasoline fell 1.3 cents overnight to $3.521, said AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's about 26 cents less than a month ago. The drop in demand for gas has overshadowed limited production at the nine refineries in the region. Seven refineries have been operating at reduced rates and the other two closed. Crews worked to restore the facilities to normal operation but, in some cases, were hampered by power outages. Though gasoline supplies are plentiful in the region, some supply terminals were closed, which limited availability for service stations. Some stations were closed, lacking power. Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at OPIS, predicted the average U.S. price of gasoline would fall below $3.50 per gallon in a few weeks, with the steepest declines in the Southeast and the West Coast. Prices could rise temporarily in the Northeast until there is a better idea of when supplies will be readily available again. "The product is available and I don't anticipate prolonged supply shortages," he said. "There is gasoline in various tanks, but thanks to flooding or electricity or traffic chaos, it can't be accessed."