Thousands Without Power In Brooklyn Amid 'Heat Emergency' Strain

BROOKLYN, NY — A strain on New York City's electric system caused by a scorching heat wave is largely localized in Brooklyn, where more than 2,400 people were without power Wednesday afternoon, data shows.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and city officials urged New Yorkers in an emergency press conference to immediately cut back on their power consumption as the "heat emergency" continued to cause outages across the city.

The majority of the outages spread throughout Brooklyn, including the largest in Williamsburg, where 1,700 customers were without power, according to officials and the Con Ed outage map.

"Immediately reduce the use of electricity in your home or in your business," he said. "...Use less electricity starting right this moment."

The outages come after Con Edison has seen sustained high power consumption over the last few days, the mayor said.

In Williamsburg, wires down near Martinez Playground, which Con Ed marked as weather-related, are responsible for more than 1,000 of the outages, according to the map.

Other pockets in Brooklyn include more than 260 customers near Flatbush and more than 100 in Red Hook without power, according to the Con Ed outage map.

Pockets also appear to be popping up in Queens, including in Fresh Pond, where more than 160 people didn't have power as of Wednesday afternoon.

By comparison, only three people were without power in Manhattan as of Wednesday afternoon.

New York City is under the third day of a heat advisory as temperatures hover past 90 degrees. With high humidity, heat indices can reach up to 104 degrees. The heat likely will break by Thursday morning, perhaps with thunderstorms, de Blasio said.

To help until then, ConEd crews are distributing dry ice at Nassau and Morgan avenues in Brooklyn and city officials have set up a bus as a localized cooling center.

New Yorkers should avoid using high-power devices such as washers, dryers and microwaves until Thursday morning, de Blasio said.

He said they should also, if they can, reduce the use of air conditioning.

"Set it at a higher temperature if you need the air conditioning," he said.

"This is very serious stuff," he said. "We need to ensure that our electric supply is protected. We need to avoid any possible disruptions. We've all experienced that and know how problematic that can be — what a problem for all of it could be if electricity is disrupted in any way.

"This is a chance for all New Yorkers to do something about it."

For more Brooklyn resources, check out these neighborhood guides:

• How To Stay Cool In Park Slope During NYC Heat Wave This Week
• How To Stay Cool In Bed-Stuy During NYC Heat Wave This Week
• How To Stay Cool In Prospect, Crown Heights During NYC Heat Wave

Patch reporter Matt Troutman contributed to this report.