Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Powerful Winds And Heavy Rain Leave Thousands Without Power On Christmas Morning
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Dec 25, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Jake Offenhartz/Gothamist
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Dec 25, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Heavy rain and wind knocked out power for thousands in New York and New Jersey on Christmas morning.
About 35,000 households were still out of power across New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and New Jersey on Friday morning just before 11 a.m., according to outages maps from ConEdison and PSEG in New Jersey and Long Island.
Con Edison, which is the power company for NYC and Westchester County, saw 22,000 customers lose electricity in total. By 4 a.m., service was restored to about 6,000 customers.
About 9,000 customers had no power in Westchester, with thousands more without power scattered across Staten Island, the Bronx, Queens, and several hundred in Brooklyn.
"The powerful, gusting winds ... caused trees and branches to fall onto overhead delivery equipment, resulting in customer outages," a Con Ed press release says.
The company urged passersby to avoid downed wires, which could still be live.
Outages were worst in Mount Vernon, Yonkers, Cortlandt and Rye and in the northern parts of Staten Island, the company said. The winds also left damage in NYC: The winds left some damage in NYC:
Governor Andrew Cuomo deployed the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to prep for possible flooding from a mix of snowmelt and rain in the Souther Tier, Mid-Hudson and Capital regions.
"Rain and warm temperatures have already moved into much of the state, and with so much snow still on the ground, there is a very real chance some areas may see flooding on Christmas morning," Cuomo said in a statement on Thursday.
Spectrum and Optimum were preparing for potential outages in the northeast from the storms on Thursday and Friday.
Spectrum showed no current service outages just before 11 a.m. But various complaints about outages to both Spectrum and Optimum were rolling in on social media on Thursday and Friday.
A spokesperson for Optimum, Ashwin Bhandari, said in a statement: "There are currently no major outages affecting the Optimum network at this time."
"Due to the severe weather that passed through the New York Tri-State area overnight, a small percentage of Optimum customers may be experiencing a loss of service which is primarily related to commercial power outages," Bhandari added. "Our crews and field teams are coordinating closely with local power companies and are currently in the field assessing any storm-related damage to our network and making repairs to restore service to those affected customers as quickly as possible."
Spectrum spokesperson John Bonomo said most services outages were related to the power outages, and there were no widespread issues.
This article has been updated with a statement from Optimum and Spectrum.
Tagged
conedison
power
ConEd
power outages
Sydney Pereira
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Parents grumble as NYC schools chancellor dodges calls for NYC schools integration plan
Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said she felt disappointed by the lack of details.
By
Jessica Gould
Published Oct 20, 2026 at 10:01 p.m. ET
Driver found with apparent gunshot wound on George Washington Bridge, officials say
The westbound upper level was closed Tuesday night as Port Authority police investigated the incident.
By
Charles Lane
News
Driver found with apparent gunshot wound on George Washington Bridge, officials say
The westbound upper level was closed Tuesday night as Port Authority police investigated the incident.
By
Charles Lane
16 arrested in New York auto insurance fraud crackdown involving nearly $500K
By
Giulia Heyward
Coney Island's small, 1890s lighthouse may be landmarked by the city
By
Catalina Gonella
New renderings are out for Queens' Metropolitan Park casino
By
Willow Higgins
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .