Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington held a rally on the corner of Revere Road and Port Washington Boulevard Sunday. They were there to voice their opposition to PSEG coming into to town and putting up what they say are unsightly 80-foot poles to carry the transmission lines.
According to the Port Washington Police, approximately 125 area residents attended, many holding signs that read, “Governor Cuomo, Where are you?” on one side with the simple word “No” on the other.
Opening remarks were made by Curtis V. Trinko, Chairman of Residents who said, “Today we send a clear message to Governor Cuomo, the LIPA Board, and PSEGLI that waking up to 80-foot utility poles, aggressive and ugly tree-hacking, and high-voltage overhead wires, with no notice, no dialogue, and no exploration of alternatives is not acceptable, and is not the way we do things in Port Washington.”
Trinko ended his comments by saying, “Governor Cuomo, Port Washington needs your help. Port Washington needs your attention.”
Councilwoman Dina M. De Giorgio then addressed the crowd saying, “We need to move on. It is not about quitting,” at which time the councilwoman and got heckled a bit.
She countered by saying, “I am not the enemy. I am trying to be your advocate. It is a complicated situation. We were not given a choice [on the poles].”
PSEG said the infrastructure is weak and it needs to be strengthened by June 1.
De Giorgio stated that the town needs to hire its own consultant to see what is feasible and what is not feasible. She then received applause. She said a resolution on April 1 will be made to hire someone that has dealt with a situation similar to the one in Port and has worked with underground wire.
Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel encouraged the crowd to make phone calls and write letters if they want to see action taken.
“Petitions are OK but phone calls and individual letters work…nothing scares me more than someone who took five minutes to write a letter,” said Schimel. “What gets to me is a written letter because it someone took the time. That is what would get the governor motivated.”
Mindy Germain, Executive Director of Residents said, “We are hoping today we are sending a message to PSEG to stop saying ‘no’ to the Port Washington community and to start saying ‘yes’.”
