City In The Dark

(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 15, 2010) PERTH AMBOY

PERTH AMBOY — With all the streetlights out in Perth Amboy, the city reminds one City Council member of “The Twilight Zone.” “I almost expect to see Rod Serling coming-out of the shadows,” Councilman Fernando Gonzalez told his colleagues last week. Gonzalez brought-up the subject of “Public Lighting” as a “Topic For Discussion.” “Last night (Tuesday, Sept. 7) on Smith Street, 27 lights were out, from Convery Boulevard to High Street,” he said. “Interestingly, only one light was out on the Port Authority’s property, but at Seabra’s (Armory Restaurant, Front Street), nine lights out of 12 were out. Along the Waterfront, 13 lights were out.” Gonzalez asked what the procedure is for reporting outages to PSE&G. “You have to document your complaint,” Public Works Director Paul Wnek told Gonzalez. “A form is sent to PSE&G, and a picture must be taken to send-out with that report. “The Waterfront? We’ve been in-touch with them a number of times,” Wnek continued. “PSE&G trucks are running throughout the city, but the lights on Sadowski Parkway were turned-out five years ago when decorative lights were installed, but they were never contacted by the prior Administration to turn the lights back-on.” “One (light-fixture) in front of my house has been down about a year, and there’s a live-wire exposed,” Gonzalez said. “Are we paying our bills? How do we force PSE&G to service us? “Maybe we should escrow our accounts with the courts until we get the service,” he suggested. “Spikes are sticking-out with wires attached, and covers are being stolen to sell for scrap,” Wnek said. “We cannot continue to live in this situation,” Gonzalez declared