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by Marcia Kramer
QUEENS (CBS) ― The blackout in parts of Queens -- now in its fifth day Friday -- is 10 times worse than the power company had previously reported, Con Edison said.

Now, the Queens District Attorny Richard A. Brown, is looking into the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the utility company.

"I have directed my Economic Crimes Bureau to conduct a thorough review of all the facts and circumstances surrounding this week's power outages in Queens County to determine if there is any basis for the filing of criminal charges." According to a statement released by Brown's office this afternoon.


Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking on his weekly radio show, said he was "annoyed" by the new estimate -- 25,000 customers without power -- because "we might have thrown more resources into the area."

"The sad thing is, this shouldn't have happened," Bloomberg said. "We don't know why, but the most important thing -- make sure nobody dies or gets hurt and then help Con Ed to get it back up."

"And then we'll go and try to figure out why and point fingers and beat people over the head and all that sort of thing," added the mayor.

The American Red Cross in Greater New York has been helping Queens residents affected by the power outages.

Today, the Red Cross is at the corner of Steinway Street and Ditmars Blvd. until 10 p.m. distributing water, light snacks and information for residents affected by the outages.

Con Edison said its revised number followed a block-by-block cable inspection in northwest Queens on Thursday night. It said previous estimates came from the number of customers who called to complain.

Similarly, Con Edison said Friday that 35,000 customers in Westchester County -- not the 25,000 reported earlier -- lost power after Tuesday's storm. About 6,000 were still out on Friday morning.

"They have no way of measuring whether or not there's power to your house" until workers make it to that location, Bloomberg said. "They cannot tell from their computers."

"Their estimates at the beginning were based on how many people called up and said, 'My power's not working.' ... You can question whether that's an intelligent way to do it," the mayor said.

The rhetoric was ratcheted up as other politicians jumped into the fray. Assemblyman Michael Gianaris of Astoria called for a "criminal investigation of Con Edison on the grounds of reckless endangerment."

Bloomberg said he was told the utility now hopes to fix most of the problems by the end of the weekend.

The blackouts started Monday evening. Two LaGuardia Airport terminals were without power Tuesday; the Rikers Island jail complex used backup generators. A number of subway problems around the city this week were believed to be heat or power related, including severe interruptions in Queens on Wednesday, when the temperature hit 100 degrees in some neighborhoods.

By Friday, hundreds of Queens businesses remained idle and homeowners had no use of appliances. Some building elevators were not running and traffic lights at some intersections were not working.

"This is outrageous," City Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr. said Thursday. "When is this going to be fixed? If it's going to be days, they should tell people it is going to be days."

Spokesman Chris Olert said Friday that the power company was making every effort to get the situation fixed, but couldn't estimate when that might happen. He said the company didn't know why things went wrong.

"Chances are fair, but not firm, that it was heat related, but right now that is just a hypothesis," he said.

That was little consolation for Gianni DellaPolla, 26, a baker at Gian & Piero Bakery.

"We probably lost $25,000 in business in three days," DellaPolla told the Daily News. "Everything like wedding cakes, eggs, creams, we had to throw all that out."

Con Edison has more than 500 splicers, troubleshooters, mechanics and support personnel working around the clock. Its crews are inspecting thousands of manholes and service boxes, as well as transformers and miles of cable.

Bloomberg, who visited the area on Thursday, demanded that the utility investigate and deliver a report on the cause within two weeks.

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