Queens residents have suffered for an astonishing seven days without electricity, and no clear explanation has been forthcoming. Con Ed has promised a report within two weeks as to the cause of the blackout, and still cannot say when all power will be restored in the borough.

Jonathan walked through Astoria today, listening as residents described their ordeal. In the afternoon he volunteered with the Red Cross, distributing water and sandwiches. The frustration level was high. It's difficult for anyone to understand how such a massive outage could happen, and why it would take so long to repair. Some leaders are calling for the area to be declared a disaster area.

According to Con Ed C.E.O. Kevin Burke, the blackout was "caused by an unprecedented failure of multiple power lines." Burke doesn't explain why they failed.

ABC News attributes the problem to "years of neglect." ABC quotes Gerald Norlander of the Public Utility Law Project as saying: "Maintenance data suggests that Con Ed is spending less on regular preventative maintenance in the system and that needs to be investigated."

Indeed it does.