NEW YORK (AP) – It has been a miserable week for people in Queens: First the power went out, then came the hottest day of the year. Food started to rot, people broiled in their homes, and tempers flared as the outages dragged into a fifth day.

On Friday, the misery turned to outrage when power company Con Edison revealed that the blackout is actually 10 times larger than the power company had originally reported.

“I’m very angry. I’m really mad,” said Koi Getbam, who estimates that her food market has lost $30,000 since the power went out.

Her customers weren’t happy, either.

“I haven’t slept in three nights,” Graziela Malenka said. “And all the mayor can do is come here and shake hands.”

The anger was common across Queens, and most of it was directed at Con Edison. City leaders branded the company incompetent and one state lawmaker called for a criminal investigation.

Con Edison originally said the blackout affected only 2,500 customers, but provided a new estimate on Friday of 25,000. The company said the initial figure was based only on the number of customers who called to complain. By 9 p.m., the number of customers without power had dropped to 23,950, the utility said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the actual number of people without power is about 100,000; the term “customer” can refer to more than one household – or even an entire apartment building. Bloomberg said he was annoyed by the new estimate because “we might have thrown more resources into the area.”

“The sad thing is, this shouldn’t have happened,” Bloomberg said. “We don’t know why, but the most important thing – make sure nobody dies or gets hurt and then help Con Ed to get it back up.”

Others had harsher words for Con Ed.

“They’re either pathetic incompetents or pathetic liars,” Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. said.

Con Edison said it will “cooperate with everyone’s inquiries.”

“We’re trying to get them up as quickly as possible,” said Alfonso Quiroz, a Con Edison spokesman. “We’re working 24/7, and we’re hoping that the bulk of the customers that are out will be back on Sunday.”

Con Edison, the main power company in New York City and Westchester County, said its revised number followed a block-by-block cable inspection in northwest Queens on Thursday night.

“They have no way of measuring whether or not there’s power to your house” until workers make it to that location, Bloomberg said. “They cannot tell from their computers.”

“Their estimates at the beginning were based on how many people called up and said, ‘My power’s not working.’ … You can question whether that’s an intelligent way to do it,” the mayor said.

The wild variations in the numbers raised questions about why City Hall was relying on a private company’s estimates rather than compiling its own figures using teams of people and municipal agencies on the ground.

City officials said an independent count was not conducted because the focus in the first few days was on preventing the blackouts from spreading. Bloomberg ordered Con Edison to do a street-by-street assessment late Thursday, after many questioned the numbers.

A series of heavy-duty circuits that supply the area began to fail Monday evening, just hours after the sweltering state set a record for electricity use. More circuits failed Tuesday and more again Wednesday, even after the heat wave passed and demand for power plummeted.

Just why heat would have triggered a problem in Queens, but not elsewhere, was unclear.

On Steinway Street in Astoria, a block between 30th and 31st Streets was closed to traffic Friday. Con Edison trucks lined the street while workers were busy digging to fix power lines.

Most of the street’s shops were shuttered, but Bobby Collazo, the owner of a men’s clothing store, was attending to a customer in the dark.

“In 2003 it took a day and a half to turn on all of the lights in New York City and now this little store here has been closed for three days – with the big Con Ed power station a few blocks away,” he said, referring to the massive blackout of three years ago that darkened much of the Northeast.

Mike Campbell, a construction employee on disability, attends daily Mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Astoria, which has had no electricity for five days. “It’s like the days of Columbus, Mass by candlelight,” he said. “The priest had to use candles to read the Scriptures.”

Two LaGuardia Airport terminals were without power Tuesday; the Rikers Island jail complex used backup generators. A number of subway problems around the city this week were believed to be heat- or power-related.

Bloomberg said the city had expected to restore traffic lights by the Friday afternoon rush-hour, with traffic agents posted at remaining intersections.

Uniformed officers were showing a “significant presence” and two burglary arrests were made on Thursday night at blacked-out homes, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

The mayor said calls to 911 were down 40 percent because police were on the scene, where residents “can grab them.” Ice and water were handed out.

Con Edison also said Friday that 35,000 customers in suburban Westchester County – not 25,000 as reported earlier – lost power after a storm Tuesday. That figure had dropped to 8,000 by 9 p.m. Friday, Con Edison said.

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Associated Press Writers David B. Caruso and Sara Kugler contributed to this report.

AP-ES-07-21-06 2157EDT

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