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Update: All utilities have been restored as of Wednesday, Feb. 1.
Power has been restored to downtown Patchogue after a car wrecked toppled four utility poles Monday along Terry Street near Artspace Patchogue Lofts.
The businesses that were immediately affected by the power outage included restaurants Whiskey Neat, Jardin Cafe, Toast, Kilwins, The Hero Joint, Ruta Oaxaca and Bobbique, as well as establishments on South Ocean Avenue, among others, according to the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce.
Power had remained off as everyone went home Monday night.
It was restored sometime before 9 a.m. Tuesday.
However, according to David Kennedy, the chamber’s executive director, while businesses such as Patchogue Print Ship & More on South Ocean do have power, Optimum wifi service has yet to be restored.
In the case of Patchogue Print Ship, he said, that’s preventing them and others from opening.
“I checked on Optimum’s site and it showed the outage is affecting 186 customers, so I’m heading in my box truck to Patchogue now,” said John Murray, III, who owns both Kilwins and The Hero Joint, around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
He said it would be near-impossible for him to open without the wifi to run credit cards or coordinate with delivery apps. “And no one carries cash these days,” he said.
Kennedy, who has been in touch with Optimum and the village over the matter, said business owners should try resetting their modems throughout the day.
The utility poles have been replaced and Optimum was working on restoring service, he said.
“The affected area appears to go from South Ocean Avenue and east to as far as the Lidl Shopping Center in East Patchogue,” Kennedy said.
“This is a result from an accident that occurred along Terry Street that took down four utility poles,” he said. “It was a Sysco food truck that fled the scene after the accident. Footage of the accident has been secured and we will be connecting that to local authorities in hopes the person responsible is held accountable.”
“I got a call around noon Monday that there was basically an explosion and the back parking lot was covered in smoke,” Murray said. “Initially we had half-power that knocked out. It was clear to me this wouldn’t be quick fix, so I dropped everything and headed out there.”
“I needed to save what I could save, between the meat, cheese and ice cream,” he said.
So Murray moved what he could to his walk-in freezers, which worked like a charm during Sandy, he said, and moved other perishables to a refrigerated box truck.
But the truck didn’t hold up overnight, and he still might lose about two dozen tubs of ice cream, or worse.
“I have to access the losses today,” Murray said.
A business interruption claim is already in the works with his insurance company, something he suggested other local businesses start initiating now.
“But the claims do take take time to pay out, along with a lot of paperwork,” he said. “It’s obviously a terrible time of year for this to happen, so if you can support any of these businesses that lost at least a day, possibly two, that would go a long way to help during an already slow time.
“But we’re hoping for the best still.”
Patchogue file photo
Original Post (Monday, 3 p.m.)
A car wreck involving a food service truck knocked out power Monday afternoon to much of Main Street in Patchogue.
Four utility poles along Terry Street — behind the Patchogue-Medford Public Library and Toast and in front of the Artspace Patchogue Lofts — were knocked down in the accident, which occurred shortly after noon.
The businesses immediately affected by the power outage included Main Street restaurants Whiskey Neat, Jardin Cafe, Toast, Kilwins, Ruta Oaxaca and Bobbique, as well as establishments on South Ocean Avenue.
“There is no timetable yet as to when all the services will be back in line,” Patchogue Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Kennedy said.
Whiskey Neat quipped on its Instagram account: “This is why we can’t have nice things. Closed til we get power back. Stay tuned.”
Top photo: One of the damaged utility poles on Terry Street in Patchogue. (Source: Instagram/@whiskeyneatny)
