Bedford Village Businesses Trying to Recover from Power Outages

The lights started coming on in Bedford Village Tuesday morning.

Dina Clayson and her staff were putting the merchandise back into window displays at Consider the Cook—they had taken it out before the hurricane to save new product from potentially being damaged in the storm. The store survived the storm, unscathed.

"We only lost one day of business, on Monday, but I don't know how many people will be coming in today," said Clayson, the shop's owner. "We sold a lot of french presses before the storm though!"

Across the street at Bedford Gourmet, where the power had not yet returned, they weren't so lucky.

"We lost thousands of dollars in food—just threw it all out," said Debbie Franzese, co-ower of the shop. She and her partner Alex Walsh, opened up the store on Monday wihtout power, offering coffee and pastries al fresco. "We became a real meet and greet place for the village," said Franzese. "People were so appreciative."

Franzese lugged a 40-pound coffee grinder and 10 pound bag of coffee to Walsh's house in Goldens Bridge—where power was restored—to grind beans to serve to the community. She said they would try to remain open without power, but were hopeful it would be restored soon.

The Meetinghouse Restaurant planned to open on time Tuesday evening, perhaps even a bit earlier. Their freezers were stocked with enough dry ice prior to the storm to preserve their product.

The Bedford Deli had not yet re-opened, and a note on their door said they were waiting for product deliveries on Wednesday to welcome customers back.

Without power, many businesses remained closed. But a few opened, serving customers in darkened stores.

Matty Fruchtman, who co-owns the Bedford Pharmacy with Gerald Griffiths, said the opened Monday and planned to be open 9 - 12 all week, or longer if power was restored.

"We are here to serve our customers, especially those who need medications," she said. "We're filling prescriptions and giving our regulars their meds. I've seen some customers who have said picked up their pills and said they were leaving the country for Europe."

Next door at the Bedford Village Cleaners, Nunzio Tripoli was also open for pickups and drop-offs. "We have a plant in Pleasantville so we can remain open," he said. But the shop does not offer wash and fold laundry services—some residents have gone down to laundromats in Mt. Kisco to clean clothes, he said.

Adam Schoelkopf, owner of Bedford Home and Hardware, was another local business owner who opened his doors without power.

"We just got a shipment in of gas cans, propane, chain saws and flashlights," he said. The store's clerks had filled up several pages of yellow legal pad with customer credit card numbers for processing later.

Doreen Rosenblatt of Bedford was inside, purchasing lanterns in anticipation of another dark evening at home. Though the store didn't sell generators, she was already in touch with an electrician to purchase one for the future.

"I'd better get a generator, or a divorce," she quipped, revealing the frustrations felt by many without power.