Goldman, Wednesday night, before the streetlight in front of his home was relit.
Newsday Photo by Ana P. Gutierrez
A crew of Verizon workers were working on my block to install buried utility lines and they cut the lines to the street lamp in front of my house, making the area around my house extremely dark at night. My wife almost broke her leg when she came home from work as she tripped walking up my driveway. Verizon says the Town of Hempstead has to fix it. I have contacted the town repeatedly and they say they’re going to do it. That was over a month ago. The street is dark and unsafe.
-- Alan Stewart Goldman, Merrick
The streetlight should be working by the time you read this.
When we talked to town spokesman Michael Deery last week, he said Goldman’s complaint to the town on Dec. 18 was being resolved and that Hempstead officials would meet with Long Island Power Authority workers on Wednesday.
Late this afternoon, Deery said, “a trench was dug, a new cable was laid and LIPA, we believe, has energized the circuit. That would mean the light should be on this evening.”
It wasn’t a simple fix. “We had to go through a process known as ‘one call’ to ensure there are no other utilities in the area, and having them marked so you don’t create further damage,” Deery said.
“It was actually the feed cable, so a trench had to be dug. It wasn’t merely the connection at a light post, which can be done very quickly.”
Town residents with a streetlight problem can call the town's hotline, 516 489-6000 or email the town with details.
Also related to this topic:
*Town of Hempstead Emergency Services for street light outages, flooding and other problems:
*Verizon Customer Support
*South Merrick Community Civic Association
*Newsday: “Neighbors feel unsafe on dimly-lit street” (Dec. 16, 2007)
