Sandy victims protest for second day after spending 12 days without power

• An estimated 300 residents in Hicksville, Long Island, took to the street on Saturday, protesting the Long Island Power Authority for ongoing power outages
• There are still over a quarter million New York customers without power
• Early on Saturday more than 500 people lined up in Far Rockaway with empty fuel cans
• President Barack Obama is set to visit hard-hit areas of New York City on Thursday

 
 
 By Reuters Reporter and Damian Ghigliotty
PUBLISHED: 17:52 EST, 10 November 2012 | UPDATED: 17:56 EST, 10 November 2012
The trail of devastation left by Hurricane Sandy has been long and trying for those still overcoming setbacks.
An estimated 300 residents in Hicksville, Long Island, took to the street on Saturday protesting the Long Island Power Authority at its headquarters for ongoing power outages 12 days after the storm hit the area -- the second protest against the energy provider this weekend.
There are still over a quarter million New York customers without power. As of Friday more than 170,000 of those customers were on Long Island, many of them staying in temporary shelters.
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Power hungry: LIPA protesters line up outside the company's headquarters in Long Island to voice frustrations over ongoing power outages

Power plea: A plea to the Long Island Power Authority for electricity to be restored is posted on a barrier in Mastic Beach, New York

More than 500 angry LIPA customers in Oceanside staged a similar protest at a LIPA news conference on Friday saying the energy provider was giving them the run-around and they wanted to know why, CBS reported.
Many of the protestors were chanting "LIPA sucks."
Electric utilities have taken heat for being slow to restore power throughout the region. For a large number of those without power, no electricity means no heat, hot water or hot meals.

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Frustrated by slow response to power lost during storms, residents protest outside NY utility

 

By Mae Anderson, Associated Press | Associated Press – 13 mins ago

NEW YORK (AP) -- Even as the lights came for many who lost power in New York and New Jersey during the superstorm and a later nor'easter, hundreds of residents protested Saturday outside a Long Island utility, frustrated by its slow response to outages.

Power restoration has been slower there than in other areas hit by Superstorm Sandy, sparking criticism of the Long Island Power Authority. Some of the 130,000 blacked out homes and businesses the utility serves may not have power restored until the end of Tuesday, LIPA said.

In the rest of the region hardest hit by the storm, most service was expected to be restored by the end of the weekend, though that doesn't include tens of thousands of homes too damaged to juice up.

"We are sitting in a cold house. No one comes by," said John Mangin of Levittown, N.Y. "There should be criminal charges against the CEO and the executive board of LIPA for failure to do their jobs."

He was among about 300 people staging a rally in front of LIPA's office in Hicksville, N.Y. Not all were without power, but some who have power said they were there to protest LIPA's lack of communication.
LIPA chief operating officer Michael Hervey said they were aware customers haven't gotten the information they've needed from the utility, partly because of an outdated information technology system they're in the process of updating.

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