Local Businesses Brave Irene-Induced Blackout

For many in the local area, Hurricane Irene was one of the worst storms to have ever been witnessed. Homes were evacuated, trees were knocked down and power is still out for a myriad of neighborhoods. In Long Branch, many businesses are still feeling the effects of the storm. 

Normally, one of the busiest streets in the city for local shops is Brighton Avenue. However, since the storm this past weekend, power has been out on this particular block. Not only are the stores without electricity, but also so are the traffic lights, meaning drivers going down Brighton Avenue cannot proceed straight and can only either make a left or right turn. 

Many restaurants are closed as well during this storm, with places like Surf Taco and Scala’s Pizzeria shut down. Scala’s even went as far to put a sign out in front of the restaurant acknowledging the power outage, saying the restaurant would be back in business once the electricity came back to the city.

Some stores along Brighton Avenue kept operating even without power however, opting to open their doors and use the sunlight and candles to allow patrons to peruse their shops.

One such store was Parci Parla, located at 67B Brighton Avenue. Linda Kay, filling in for her mother on Tuesday afternoon, noted the power outage was “annoying,” but she was making do with the situation.

“You gotta do what you gotta do here,” she said, noting though the power was out, the store did see a good amount of customers throughout the day.

Lavender Lace, located at 67A Brighton Avenue, was also open, and used a unique technique to spread the word out about a sale on lingerie at the store.

“We just sent out a bulk text to a bunch of our customers telling them about this ‘Blackout Sale,’ and we’ve been pretty busy,” said Sophie Cohen, an employee at this location. She concurred with Kay that the blackout was “depressing,” and she hoped to have power back soon.

Also operating during the power outage was Sacred Circle, located at 57B Long Branch. This store, known for selling a variety of unique psychic-related crafts, stayed open with customers seeing their way around the store via several candles placed around the location.

Adam Kane, employee at the store, was not upset about the blackout, but rather took a look at this situation in a positive manner. 

“Overall it really wasn’t too bad considering,” he said, noting the store did have some minor leaks in the ceiling due to the influx of water, but that was really the biggest extent of their problems.

Due to the power outage, credit card machines were also down, so many businesses along Brighton Avenue had to either only accept cash, or write down patron’s credit card numbers and charge them later for the products they purchased.

“We have to go back to the old ways of selling merchandise,” Kane said with a laugh. 

Brighton Avenue shops appeared to be one of the hardest hit areas in regards to the power outage in Long Branch, as many other stores and restaurants around the area were open for business on Tuesday afternoon.

One of the more popular areas in Long Branch, Pier Village, had power on Tuesday. However, residents and visitors looking to visit the area should be careful driving there, as there are still a great deal of traffic lights that do not have any power yet, so traffic cones will direct drivers of which ways to go.

Unfortunately, many of the business owners on Brighton Avenue said they had no idea when power would be restored to the street, with some guessing it would take nearly a week prior to the power coming back on to this location. 

For further updates on this situation, please continue to monitor longbranch.patch.com.