Vandals in central Queens damaged fiber cables for the second time in two weeks, leaving area Spectrum cable customers with nothing but static.
A spokesman for Charter Communications, Spectrum’s parent company, said about 35,000 accounts were affected by the phone, cable TV and internet outage that began around 2 a.m. Spokesman John Bonomo said crews were immediately dispatched and spent the entire day working on repairs.
Although he didn’t have an exact timetable for full restoration, Bonomo said it would be a gradual process.
“We appreciate our customers’ patience while we restore service as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement.
As of 6:45 p.m., service was not fully restored, but Spectrum told customers on its Twitter account that it expected to have a final fix by Tuesday evening. Account holders tweeted back their frustrations.
“Stop thanking me for my patience; I’m all out. I want compensation for both outages. This is not a one-off, it’s a pattern!!!” Twitter user @MercedesCardona posted.
On June 26, around the same time, vandals damaged a different fiber optic cable in Queens, which led to a 15-hour disruption of service in the borough. About 60,000 account holders were affected by that incident.
The NYPD is investigating both outages.
