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East Hampton community members say repeated power outages posing health, safety risk



OLA of Eastern Long Island, a primarily Latino focused organization, has stepped in to help find a solution, holding a meeting Wednesday night at St. Luke's Episcopal Church with residents to address their concerns.


People living in one East Hampton community say there have been repeated power outages and that those outages pose a health and safety risk.


"It's just unbearable and I'm at my wits end right now, so I can't take it no more," said Neisha Brown.


Brown lives in East Hampton Village, a community on Oakview Highway, she and other residents tell News 12 they've had multiple power outages over the years.


"I'm really concerned about the health hazard, my husband is a Type 1 diabetic, and I store his insulin (in the refrigerator)," said Nancy Quinn.


East Hampton Village residents tell News 12 they've complained to their management company, RHP, PSEG, and to the Village and Town of East Hampton and say they're getting the run around.


"When you go to the office and you voice your concern, they're pointing fingers...the office is telling us it's PSEG fault and PSEG when you call, they're telling, no, it's internal, it's their fault." said Carlene McCoy.


OLA of Eastern Long Island, a primarily Latino focused organization, has stepped in to help find a solution, holding a meeting Wednesday night at St. Luke's Episcopal Church with residents to address their concerns.


"We're seeing something go wrong here and we see the power of community as the answer." said Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA.


In a statement to News 12, Joel Brown, president, East Hampton Village Management said, "The comfort and safety of East Hampton Village residents is our top priority. LIPA is responsible for the main line serving power to the community and all maintenance and repairs relating to that line. LIPA has acknowledged that upgrades need to be made to their system, and they expect to begin the necessary work within 30 days. Additionally, our management team had a productive meeting with city officials today and agree the next step is for LIPA to make the required improvements. We will continue to work closely with the city on any future repairs that may be required. In the meantime, as a gesture of goodwill to ease any inconvenience that the East Hampton Village residents may have experienced as a result of the interruption in service from the LIPA line, we have offered residents a rent credit. We vehemently deny any resident is being retaliated against for expressing concern about power issues. Rule reminders are important for the safety of all residents. While some residents have received reminders about non-compliance with lease rules and regulations, at this time there are no pending lease terminations."


A spokesperson for PSEG said in a statement, "PSEG Long Island has been working with the property owner to address electrical issues within this neighborhood. We recently received required documentation from the owner that will now allow us to replace the old facilities and energize new PSEG Long Island facilities throughout the neighborhood, which should address reliability and outage issues in the future. Work is anticipated to start within the next few weeks."


And East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said in a statement, “When the Town learned of the power outages at the Oakview Highway Manufactured Home Park we acted expeditiously to investigate and do our part to help resolve the issue. During these extreme conditions, our Human Services Department did outreach to seniors living in the community to offer them complimentary lunch and a place to cool off at our Senior Center. With power restored we have begun working with management of the park to address and rectify these issues promptly and effectively.”


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