“It is a beautiful view, but I guess this is the repercussion of living up there,” explained Co-Op city resident Gigi Colon as she and her daughter climbed climb 32 flights of stairs to get to their apartment in Co-Op City. 

For the second time in three days, Colon’s building has been without power. 

What You Need To Know

  • Twice in three days some buildings in Co-Op City experienced a power outage

  • With no electricity, elevator service was out so residents had to take the stairs to their apartment using phone and flashlights to light up the stairwell

  • Co-Op City has its own power plant, separate from the city to power electricity and water supply to 35 high rise buildings

  • A 73-year-old woman hooked up to an oxygen tank died Friday while taking the stairs to her apartment

On Friday, Co-Op City police said a transformer fire caused an outage. 

Colon and her family stayed at a hotel for the night. 

But then in the early hours Sunday morning the power went out again. 

Colon was met by darkness in her lobby after returning from her overnight shift at work. 

“What can you do? You can’t always buy and pay for a hotel all the time and you know sometimes you just need your things and you can’t always go to a family’s house," she said. 

Co-Op City has its own power plant to servicing the electricity and water supply for 35 high rise buildings. 

Residents say power outages are not frequent. 

But newly elected Congressman Jamaal Bowman tweeted that Co-Op City urgently needs infrastructure investment and repairs. 

“The last blackout I experienced here was in 2003 but that was citywide and now this one,“ said Bowman in a tweet.

Tragically during the outage on Friday, 73-year-old Ada Longmore hooked up to an oxygen tank, collapsed while climbing up 19 flights of stairs to her apartment. 

Police say the tank ran out and she was later pronounced dead at the scene. 

“It’s a lot,” Colon said, adding that she had a double hip replacement just last year, so getting up 32 flights of stairs is not easy for her and many other residents.

Shortly after 2 P.M. on Twitter, Co-Op City Police announced power had been restored, while urging residents to try and minimize use of the electricity in their apartments while they work to ensure the system is stable.