Excerpt from Yiddish article in
Der Yid’s June 14, 2019 edition
UJO expresses thanks to Mr. Lincoln Restler for heeding
the plea of UJO and for being instrumental in creating a rapid response to the 200
families who had no power. Thanks as well to Councilman Stephen Levin and Pinny
Ringel for their assistance in this critical matter. Con Edison amassed all of
their resources from Brooklyn and Queens and had a vice president and other top
leaders on site to assure that electricity was restored as quickly as possible.
All houses had electricity by candle-lighting time right before the three day
holiday was about to begin.
Brooklyn, NY –A massive
power outage took place on the eve of Shavuos. The loss of power impacted close
to 200 Williamsburg families and included the large Satmar Shul - Bais Yaakov
Nechemia as well with its hundreds of congregants. A large number of stores were
also impacted by the widespread outage. All of these locations had electricity restored
right before the three day holiday thanks to the tireless intervention by the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg and the assistance
of Mr. Lincoln Restler, Chief of Staff to Mayor de Blasio.
“I would like to express heartfelt thanks,” said Rabbi David Niederman, UJO Executive Director and President, “to
Mr. Lincoln Restler, an energetic and devoted friend to all the needs of the
area, a man who doesn’t take no for an answer. His herculean efforts saved the
holiday for close to 200 families and the additional hundreds of worshipers and
others who would have suffered greatly had the power outage continued into the
holiday.
“We stressed the importance of returning power before the
advent of the holiday for families to start crock pots, air conditioners and
more all of which would not have been possible to turn on after the holiday
began. Thankfully, Con Edison realized the critical need for the community and
did everything in its power to assure that the electricity was restored in time,
so preparations were able to be made before candle lighting. This was something
that at the beginning of the day seemed impossible. We are very thankful for
the leadership of Con Edison, and we
express our thanks to Councilman Levin for his concern and for keeping tabs on the
progress. We also thank our dear friend, Pinny Ringel for being instrumental in
the intervention as well.”
