Today in Sunnyside, Queens, representatives of Western Queens Power for the People were joined by Assemblymember Richard Brodsky to announce a settlement with Con Edison stemming from the nine-day blackout in western Queens. Under the terms of the settlement, residents who were affected by the blackout will receive a $100 rebate in their August or September bill, along with a written apology from Con Ed. Businesses will receive slightly more.

The settlement is unprecedented. Never before has a public utility given out a rebate without the recipients being required to fill out a form, and never before has the rebate gone directly on to the bill. This rebate also comes with no strings attached -- any resident or business owner who feels he or she should get more can still sue Con Ed.

Some more details of the settlement:

Well as all 10 candidates fight for endorsements one organization feels like acting like a "Twix" commercial. Instead of picking one candidate they picked two. That is right "Two for me none for you"

I could not resist...

Here is the press release from Citizen Union's endorsements:

For Immediate Release
February 12, 2007

Media Contact:
Sara Stuart, 212.227.0342 ext. 16

Citizens Union Issues Endorsement for Brooklyn's 40th Council District
Zenobia McNally and Wellington Sharpe Secure Joint Endorsement in Crowded Field of Talented Candidates

The historic good-government organization, Citizens Union, announced its support for two candidates running for the City Council seat being vacated by Yvette Clark in central Brooklyn. After extensive interviews with the candidates for the 40th council district, Citizens Union has issued a joint endorsement for Zenobia McNally and Wellington Sharpe. While the organization prefers to issue a single endorsement, it found that these two candidates stood out amongst a crowded field of well-qualified candidates. With ten candidates vying to fill the shoes of the former council member, narrowing the field to support just one candidate was difficult.

Peter-Cooper and Stuyvesant Town have been browned out. We just had someone from the administration knock on our doors to alert us that there may indeed be a blackout in our area.

I live two blocks away from the 14th Street ConEdison plant. I just saw a note posted next to our elevators that MetLife is shutting down one elevator in all their buildings and are denying people access to the laundry rooms in order to limit energy consumption within their properties.

I would not mind if this meant that we'd need to go up and down the stairs. Unfortunately, we live on a 12th floor.

If brownouts and blackouts only meant disruptions in electricity, I would not have a problem. I mean, I have a gas stove. The fridge, as long as it's closed, can ride out a few days of no wattage.

The problem we have in New York City is that brownouts and blackouts also mean potential water supply disruption. I learned this in 2002 during the blackout. I was out at a playground relatively close to Avenue D and from there we heard the boom and saw the plume of steam that signaled when the turbines screeched to a halt during during the blackout. We ran home and found almost a dozen elderly neighbors waiting to be helped up to their apartments. Since ours is the last floor, we helped them all. Once up, one of my next door neighbors and a native New Yorker commanded me to immediately fill up every pot and pan available as well as the tub. "In two more ours, the water will be off too." And what do you know, she was right.

So here are Liza's to-do's during a brown/blackout :