Community Corner

Warming Centers Available

Westwood, Washington Township and Hillsdale all had warming centers available for the many residents without power after Hurricane Sandy.

Updated at 10:05 p.m. Saturday

As power outages continued around the Pascack Valley this week, local governments and others began setting up warming centers for residents without power.

Westwood and Washington Township each had between 2,001 and 5,000 customers without power as of 2:30 p.m. Friday, according to PSE&G. Betwee 501 and 2,000 Hillsdale customers were also without power.

Find out what's happening in Westwood-Hillsdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Westwood opened an overnight warming center at the Community Center Saturday.

Westwood officials opened the Municipal Complex and the library Wednesday, inviting residents to come in to charge their electronics. Westwood resident Ed Murtagh, who had lost power Monday afternoon, stopped by the Municipal Complex to charge his cell phone.

Find out what's happening in Westwood-Hillsdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I think we're going to be out a long time," Murtagh said. "We need to stock up more than we did."

Westwood Mayor John Birkner told Patch that the borough was also working with the clergy council to open a warming center and soup kitchen at the St. Andrew's Church Parish Center starting Thursday. Residents will be able to have some hot soup, coffee and tea while sitting in a warm place and charging their electronics, Birkner said. The warming center will remain open from 1 to 5 p.m. each day as long as their are still a large number of power outages.

Washington Township officials also announced that the Jack Woods Senior Center, located in the Municipal Complex, would be open to residents between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. for residents to warm up and recharge devices and have coffee.

Hillsdale officials also opened their Municipal Building for residents to charge electronics and have coffee, tea and light snacks. The borough library was also open, but did not have Internet access. The Hillsdale United Methodist Church on Magnolia Avenue did have Wi-Fi available. 

The Bergen County YJCC, also in Washington Township, announced they would open their doors to the entire community from Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The YJCC also has showers for residents to use.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage at 50 Broadway in Hillsdale was also offering their office for residents to come in and warm up. They have coffee, tea and hot chocolate available and also have facilities to make photocopies and send faxes between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The Washington Township Library also announced Friday that it would remain open on Sunday for residents to use electricity and Wi-Fi, though regular library services would not be available.

Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Jim Leggate at Jim.Leggate@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.


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