Surveying the damage

Updated 12:37 p.m. 8/30/11

According to the Con Edison, power has been restored to all but 184 area customers who had lost electricity due to Irene. 

The Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North station re-opened this afternoon, according to the officials, but the aftermath of Hurricane Irene is still being felt in Riverdale. 

Aaron Donovan, a spokesperson for Metro-North, said that trains are not running on the track closest to the site of a mudslide beneath the Villa Charlotte Bronte, at 2501 Palisade Ave. Otherwise, he said, trains would be running on a Sunday schedule. 

The Villa Charlotte Bronte on Palisade Avenue was evacuated at about 2:30 a.m. this morning. Some ended up sleeping in their cars. 

Numerous Cablevision customers in South Riverdale lost their cable, Internet and phone service after the brunt of the storm yesterday. A resident at 3001 Henry Hudson Parkway said it was restored Monday evening. 

A Cablevision representative wouldn't comment on any specifics, but told The Riverdale Press that its having issues throughout the New York service area.

The Bronx Borough President's Office said this morning that there were still 1,933 Con Edison customers without power in the Bronx, and that the majority of them are in Riverdale.

“Con Ed can’t fix the power until the trees get removed. They can’t remove the trees until the wires don’t have power in them,” Director of Communications John DeSio said.

He said the wires on 231st Street, between Independence and Palisade avenues, are still live.

“I believe Riveradle is still facing considerable outages,” he said.

Updated 9:57 p.m. 8/28/11

According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, limited public transportation service will be restored tomorrow at 6 a.m.

Exceptions include  No. 3 trains, which will not run their entire routes, C trains, which will be suspended and A trains, which will be making local stops.  

Limited bus service was restored earlier this evening.

Regular service will not be restored on any of Metro-North's lines by tomorrow's rush hour.

Updated 6:17 p.m. 8/28/11

Evidence of Irene could be found all over Riverdale and Kingsbridge on Sunday.

From Seton Park to Sedgwick Avenue, fallen trees littered the area, damaging cars and fences alike. Strong wind and rain caused widespread power outages and a retaining wall collapse.

Multiple trees and utility poles fell along West 231st and West 232nd streets near Independence Avenue.

A large tree fell in Seton Park, damaging the chain-link fence surrounding one of the tennis courts.

Edsall Avenue, which leads to the Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North station, was roped off due to several down trees and a utitily poll, which crisscrossed the street.

On Palisade Avenue near 232nd Street, a tree just missed falling on a home and left a ditch in the ground.

"The noise was unbelievable," the resident, who said she heard the tree come down between 4 and 4:30 a.m.

"I am so lucky," she said.

On Sunday monring, Kevin Farrell was checking out the scene and stepped into a puddle that turned out to be a deep water-filled hole.

“I was surveying damage, enjoying the storm,” he said with a beer in his hand.

Not far from there, homes that comprise the Villa Charlotte Bronte were evacuated for about an hour, starting at around 10 a.m. this morning, shortly after the cliffside behind the building collapsed and sent soil barreling down onto the Metro-North train tracks below.

Blanche Baker Magill, one of the residents evacuated, said the Department of Buildings determined that it was safe for residents to return home.

"There were these three floating concrete slabs, not attached to the foundation, that slid down the hill onto Metro-North, and Metro-North is there working on it now,” Ms. Baker Magill said. "The good news is Villa Charlotte Bronte has survived an earthquake and a hurricane. It was built in 1928 so it’s impressive.”

Multiple trees and tree limbs were knocked down on Sedgwick Avenue north of Fort Independence Avenue near the Jerome Park Reservoir.

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