NYC Blackout exposes political vulnerabilities for Blasio



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When an electrical disturbance in a ConEdison substation caused a mbadive blackout along the West Side of Manhattan on Saturday, home politicians were ready to jump into the limelight vacant and slightly darkened.

"Mayors are important, and the situations And you have to be there," said governor Andrew Cuomo calling CNN as the plans for a city in darkness are played on the screen. think it's important to be able to respond at any time, but everyone has their own political judgment and I will not guess anyone either. "

With Blasio out of town and On the trail of the countryside President Corey Johnson – who is considering a race for the mayor's post – provided minute-by-minute updates during the breakdown, the subways were closed, there were fears of people trapped in elevators and confusion over the source of the power outage.

Nevertheless, New Yorkers went into action, directing traffic, moving concerts in the streets, and making the most of the power. from a saturday night in ruins

In a few kilometers, de Blasio would not commit to returning immediately to work.

"I'll get more information in about an hour and change my schedule based on what I hear," Blasio said Saturday night during a CNN appearance from Iowa. 19659002] Johnson, who left the city for Long Island earlier in the day, immediately turned around after receiving the first reports.

"I just talked to the CEO of ConEdison who told me that said that six sections of the West 49th Street substation were disrupted, "said Johnson. (19659002) Saturday's power outage illustrated one of the biggest challenges of presenting oneself to the presidency while heading the largest city in the world: more than four hours away from the nearest airport, Blasio was forced to spend the night away from home. He was driven to Chicago on Saturday evening and made an appearance at the national cable news to defend his absence the Next morning

"When you are mayor or governor, you will travel for various reasons; the most important thing is: getting your hands on the steering wheel and making sure that things evolve effectively, even from my place of origin, I was able to do it for the inhabitants of New York, "said de Blasio.

On his return to the country, Sunday, the situation had returned to normal but the political damage was already done.

" When I heard about the Incident, I was waiting to see exactly what was happening so we could make that decision, "said de Blasio." In this job, no matter what public CEO today, you have to take charge wherever you are and that is what I did. As soon as it became apparent that we had no immediately resolvable crisis, I started moving. "

Expected temperatures to rise in the mid-90s next week. Blasio said he would work with ConEd officials to make sure the system can handle it – it's unclear when his next trip outside the city is planned.

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