'It's A Mess': Truck Takes Down 4 Utility Poles In Suffolk, Mayor Says

PATCHOGUE, NY — Business owner John Murray was working from his Hero Joint location in Bay Shore on Monday afternoon when he received an unexpected call from staffers in Patchogue.

A snapped utility pole left both of his food-based businesses — the Hero Joint and Kilwin's Chocolates — were plunged into darkness just around lunchtime.

"I got a panicked phone call, basically, about the crisis out there," he said. "My staff tells me that, you know, they heard, like, a bang and that just basically the whole parking lot was covered in smoke."

"It was quite the same way down there all day," he said.

The driver of a truck crashed the vehicle into four utility poles on Terry Street and did not stop, leaving an estimated 20 businesses on south Main Street without power, Mayor Paul Pontieri said.

"It's a mess," he added.

Suffolk police said they received a 911 call just before noon about a truck taking down a utility pole and wires on Terry Street. No injuries were reported.

Further details were not immediately available from police.

It is believed to be a food service truck that crashed into the poles and that one of the surveillance cameras in the area picked up that truck in the parking lot at that time, Pontieri said, adding, "So that's what the supposition is, is but it hasn't been confirmed."

The driver then left the crash scene without stopping, he said.

Pontieri believes that the truck was very large and its top caught electrical wire linked to the pole, "and he just kept on going."

"There's very high tension wiring on that," he said, adding that the pole feeds all of the stores on the south of Main Street. "So it's a tremendous amount of power and it's a very large cable. But whoever it was, did it, and left."

Electricity should be back on by night's end, but Pontieri could not be certain about Cablevision.

In an email to members, Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Kennedy said "many businesses have lost power, phone and/or internet services."

"Based on those who have contacted our office, most businesses on the south side of Main Street between Whiskey Neat and Bobbique, as well as South Ocean Avenue, have some loss of power, phone, and/or internet," he said. "If your business is affected in any way outside of this area, or you have any more information, please let me know so we can communicate how widespread this may be."

Kennedy said crews are on the scene, including the village's Department of Public Works and Public Safety personnel, adding There is no timetable yet as to when all services will be back in line."

"I will update as more information is received," he said.

The outage includes not only Whiskey Neat and Bobbicue, but Ruta Oaxaca, The Village Idiot, James Joyce Irish Pub, The Cheese Patch, and That Meetball Place to name a few.

The downed pole prompted some businesses to post their concerns to social media.

"This is why we can’t have nice things. Closed til we get power back. Stay tuned." Whiskey Neat's post read.

A post on Kilwin's Chocolates page referred to the outage as an "electrical disaster."

Murray said that there are broken poles on trees along the street, noting that the Terry Street parking lot services the east side of south Main Street.

"It's a pretty major parking lot for Main Street," he said, adding that around 1:30 p.m., the stores fully lost power "and we had no refrigeration."

The internet was out as well, so Murray and staff packed up the remaining ice cream and placed it in a freezer in the back.

In the meantime, he is hoping for the best.

"I don't know how long this is going to go on for," he said. "I mean, it seems like quite a lot of rebuild needs to be done."

The "real killer" for him is that a couple of lines have been taken down and there are cracked holes everywhere, he said.

"There's a lot of emergency service people there," he said. "They got the street shutdown back there. Unfortunately, it was a beautiful day to open and do some business today."

Murray urged the public not to give up on their favorite businesses, and keep checking social media to see when they will be open again.

He bemoaned that the crash could not have come at a worse time of the year — when business is already slow.

"I'm sure everyone would appreciate it's the worst timing for something like this, especially because it's not the spring," he said. "It's not the summer. It's January."