Senator Weber’s Office Helps Restore Power Overnight, Ensuring Hundreds of Rachmastrivka Students Return to Campus

An overnight effort by New York State Senator Bill Weber’s office helped ensure that more than 300 boys at the Rachmastrivka Mosdos were able to return to cheder as scheduled after an unexpected delay in the electrical hookup threatened to leave the campus without power.

As part of the school’s recent building expansion, Senator Weber’s office worked with school leadership and Orange & Rockland (O&R) to help navigate utility-related issues and coordinate electrical service for the new 10,000 square foot addition.

With the arrival of summer heat, increased demand for air conditioning placed additional strain on the electrical system, necessitating the completion of additional electrical upgrades before the expanded facility could safely operate at full capacity.

On Thursday morning, the electrical service was temporarily disconnected to complete the necessary electrical work. Knowing the classrooms would become unbearably hot without air conditioning, the school sent the boys on an afternoon trip, expecting O&R to restore service later that evening so the boys could return the following morning.

At the same time, Orange & Rockland crews were responding to widespread outages and storm damage from severe weather earlier in the week, leaving them stretched thin and delaying restoration schedules.
Because O&R arrived later than anticipated to disconnect the service, the camp’s electrician could not complete the required UL inspection and certification on schedule. Once the electrician’s certification was received in the afternoon, the school reached out to O&R to have them return to restore power. The school was repeatedly advised that an O&R crew was on its way to reconnect the electricity. By nine that night, however, it became clear the crew would not arrive, placing the next day’s school and camp session for 500 boys in jeopardy. With the boys expected to arrive the following morning, school officials contacted Senator Weber’s office for assistance.

Working throughout the night, Mort Becker, Senator Weber’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director, coordinated with Orange & Rockland officials after the required UL inspection was completed and was able to successfully secure an emergency crew to restore electrical service upon the boys’ arrival the next morning.

Senator Weber said helping constituents resolve unexpected problems is one of the most important responsibilities of his office.

“Our office is always ready to step in when our constituents need help,” Senator Weber said. “Since becoming your State Senator, I have advocated on behalf of constituents in more than 3,500 cases, and every one of them matters. I appreciate Orange & Rockland’s efforts under difficult circumstances following the storm, and I commend Mort Becker for his persistence in staying with this issue throughout the night until a solution was guaranteed. Thanks to the cooperation of everyone involved, 300 of the boys were able to return to camp safely and on schedule.”