By Alex Davidson
Last week's blackout disrupted the lives of many Howard Beach and Richmond Hill residents and business owners who suddenly found themselves coping without basic amenities at home and facing threats to their livelihoods.
For some, it was like trick-or-treating on Halloween but without the candy.
A few southeast Queens residents ventured to the Esquire Diner on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach, seeking treats such as air conditioning, omelettes and cold orange juice. But at noon the day after the initial power outage blanketed the city that never sleeps, borough residents were tricked and left still trying to find electricity somewhere in their neighborhoods.
“The thrill of my day today was to get into my car and put the air conditioning on,” said Randi Petitto, of Howard Beach. “But now I've managed to get my caffeine, so that's all I care about.”
Petito, who walked out of the diner proudly with her semi-warm coffee, said she had spent her day so far eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because those two foods did not spoil.
Only three loyal customers were in the diner that, according to its owner Jimmy Athanasopoulos, is normally bustling at lunchtime on a Friday. Athanasopoulos, who still did not have power in his restaurant as of noon Friday, was running around trying to give free coffee, rolls, bagels and muffins to the three customers in his eatery.
“Can I get some ice with this?” one woman joked.
“You can't give me any change for this because you can't use the cash register,” another man told a waitress.
Athanasopoulos, owner of the 50-year-old Esquire Diner said he had never before experienced such hardship as he had during the widespread power outage that kept most of southeast Queens without electricity for more than 24 hours.
He said the power failure had already caused him several thousands of dollars in damages that he would never get back.
“There's nothing I can do. I just have to take the loss,” he said. Athanasopoulos said he had managed to save some meat from going bad by sealing his walk-in refrigerator, but he said all the other perishables, such as chicken, fish and dairy products, were long gone.
“The diner is suffering,” he said during a momentary pause in his busy routine. “People come in and they ask for eggs. I tell them, 'You don't have power at home, I don't have it here!'”
In Richmond Hill, Jamaica Avenue was desolate. Liberty Avenue, usually busy with mid-morning Friday traffic, was quiet.
And only blocks away, Ivy Nascimento sat on Lefferts Boulevard in front of his florist shop with his Pomeranian to try and enjoy his day.
“For the flowers this is bad,” said Nascimento, owner of the Lefferts Florist and Gifts at 81-61 Lefferts Blvd. “I will have to replace everything.”
Nascimento, who lives in Whitestone, said last week's power outage was worse than the one the city experienced in 1996 because of the hot weather. He said people were still trickling into his store to buy flowers that in a few hours were likely to die because the refrigeration system was out of order.
“The roses are the first to go,” he said. Nascimento said carnations are the heartiest and could withstand several hours without refrigeration.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
