Syosset in the Dark: Homes, Businesses Still Without Power Tuesday

The aftermath of Hurricane Irene has left Syosset in the dark for a little longer than residents might have expected.

From the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway entrance, down to the Jericho Turnpike and Jackson Avenue intersection, there is still no power (with the exception of a couple of stores). Thousands of homes in Syosset also remain in the dark- according to the LIPA outage map, 3,198 out of 7,100 customers Tuesday, as of 3 p.m.

People around town said they are just trying to get by, until things return to normal. The result has been packed coffee shops.

“It certainly hasn’t been easy,” said Sherry Schweitzer, a Commack resident who works in Syosset at “A Touch of Class,” an event and party planning business. "But we’re operating. We’re traveling in our cars, doing calls."

"Internet is so important," she said.

Adding to the crowd at the Woodbury Starbucks was the fact that in Syosset is still closed, as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, as with other businesses. An employee inside the Syosset location, however, said that they were expecting power to be restored later in the day. The employee commented that this Starbucks, along with the Jericho location, were the only two locations still without power.

Other business closed on Jericho Turnpike as of 2 p.m. include: and Shake Cups, , , and restaurant. across the street was open, however, along with businesses on Jackson Avenue.

Most stores in Woodbury are open - the in the Woodbury Commons was packed with people on their laptops, using the WiFi.

Syosset resident David Wayne was one of them. Wayne said he had  power at his home restored Monday – but he still has no internet or phone service. He said the bottom part of his community is still completely without power.

“Verizon said there’s no timetable for return,” Wayne said. “We’re just trying to get by in the meantime.”

Meredith Allison, who lives on the border of Woodbury and Huntington, has no power at home, so she was using her cell phone's internet outside the Woodbury Starbucks. Allison said she “finally” spoke to LIPA today after calling them “at least 1,000 times,” but was not happy with their response.

“They said they are ‘still assessing’ and had to look at damage of more trees before they could work on our power lines,” Allison said.

As with many Long Island residents, Allison said she is growing impatient with LIPA, saying they've been doing a “terrible job."

“Everything they put in their Twitter account is ‘accessing’,” Allison said. “They’ll only respond to people on the account who got their power back – not complaints and questions from people who don’t have. It’s like they are just trying to make themselves look good. “