Businesses trying to dig out of pandemic-driven financial hole now wait for power restoration

Businesses on Long Island have already had plenty to deal with this year, but lengthy outages have caused lost items, a lack of customers and plenty of frustration.

News 12 Staff

Aug 11, 2020, 9:23 PM

Updated 1,492 days ago

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Businesses on Long Island have already had plenty to deal with this year, but lengthy outages have caused lost items, a lack of customers and plenty of frustration.
Doing business in the dark has been a struggle for Denise McCrann, who owns a children's clothing store in Locust Valley. She's not alone -- a group of stores in her shopping complex have been left in the dark for a week.
Business owners say losing power is a major setback as they attempt to climb out of a financial hole caused by the pandemic.
"We are struggling we are trying to keep our businesses afloat," says McCrann. "They can't seem to get it right -- why is that they can't get it right?"
Others have expressed frustration about unreliable outage updates.
"The map said it was supposed to be on by 11 this morning, it said yesterday it was supposed to be on by four, it said Saturday by four ... it's never happened," says Kurt Ericsson.
And at the Basil Leaf Restaurant, $30,000 worth of food has gone into the dumpster. Its manager says they still have no answers from PSEGLI.
"Even if they tell you take seven days, a week, 10 days -- just tell us something," says Hayman Adam.
Over at Our Precious Angels Child Care in Garden City, up to 60 kids are cared for while their parents work. But during the storm, a tree crushed the playground and ripped wires down. Their power finally came back Tuesday, and they will work on cleaning up and reopening.