Queens, New York’s recent 10-day blackout, which affected as many as 100,000 residents, “officially” ended just last week. Yet while the power outage is but a warm beer-and-candles-filled memory for residents, about 750 small businesses are struggling just to stay alive in the wake.

For those of you who have been in the dark (No pun.) these past few weeks, large sections of Queens, NY, were without power for 10 days, having gotten it back only last week.

The outage, which started Monday, July 17, was 10 times worse than utility company Consolidated Edison originally reported, as it affected as many as 100,000 residents in northwest Queens. By Wednesday, power was restored to all but a handful of Queens homes (at which point, thousands of Staten Islanders lost theirs). While it was a throwback to primative times for residents — ridiculously hot temperatures, no working refrigerators/freezers, of course no AC, fans or lights, and who will forget the new smell of rotting food and stale air permeating the neighborhoods — pretty much every resident has electricity again (for now).

However, while the Queens blackout that “officially” ended only last week is but a sweat-and-candles-filled memory for residents, small businesses are struggling to stay alive in the wake.

In addition to the estimated 100,000 residents, the blackout was said to affect an estimated about 750 businesses, which were without lights, refrigeration and air conditioning on some of the hottest days of the year. The outage devastated the inventories of ice cream parlors, groceries, butcher shops, fish mongers and restaurants.

Joyce Moy, director of the LaGuardia Office of Economic Development, noted that it’s not just a matter of simply throwing out bad food. “Some businesses will have to lay off or have already laid off staff,” she told The Associated Press. “Some people will not recover their losses because business interruption insurance is extremely hard to get after 9/11.”

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat who represents the Upper East Side of Manhattan and portions of Queens, said to The Associated Press that her staff surveyed businesses affected by the blackout and found that some reported losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

After all is said and calculated, though, it seems safe to assume the losses reach millions of dollars.

NY1 reports of an owner of a local fish market having received a reimbursement check for $7,000 from utility company Consolidated Edison, but he says that check is just a fraction of his total losses.

“It’s in excess of $100,000, between my loss of product, my loss of business, my equipment failure and loss. It’s a lot of money,” said Marino & Sons Fish Market owner Charles Marino. “It’s money that we can’t come up with to stay in business right now.” Marino, the fourth generation of his family to run Marino & Sons Fish Market, said his business has been open for more than 80 years and has never suffered like this.

Con Ed has offered reimbursement to businesses devastated by the power outage. The cap is $7,000. Many owners argue that losses are far in excess of the $7,000 limit in assistance.

Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert said the $7,000 limit on reimbursements for commercial customers was set by an arrangement between the utility and the state Public Service Commission. He said that as of Sunday, Con Ed had mailed out more than 1,500 checks for more than $884,000 to commercial and residential customers hit by the blackout.

Governor George Pataki stepped in, asking for the federal aid on Friday, but still says he thinks Con Ed should cover the costs.

Meanwhile, the federal Small Business Administration has agreed to make disaster loans available to businesses affected by the Queens blackout. Businesses can apply for loans of up to $1.5 million at a four-percent interest rate.

On July 26, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would offer a $10,000 low-interest loan program for businesses, which many store owners feel is a good first step, but not nearly enough.

“Somebody should step up and do something that’s more than a loan,” Charlie Cinquemani, owner of K & T Meat Market in Astoria, which saw nearly $30,000 of meat become spoiled due to lack of refrigeration, said in today’s New York Times. “I took on loss on top of loss and this is still something I’d have to pay back.

“Besides losing business for a week, people are now coming in and wondering if our merchandise is fresh,” said Cinquemani. “Now we’re dealing with the after effects.”

In addition to the loans, the mayor presented a new ad campaign called Power Up Queens, encouraging residents to shop and eat in the borough in order to revamp some businesses.

The mayor’s program comes after he received harsh criticism for praising Con Ed’s performance at a City Hall news briefing on Monday, where local politicians noticeably shook their heads and rolled their eyes in the background.

Con Ed utility has come under scrutiny from local politicians and residents for its underestimation of the blackout. Local lawmakers continued to criticize Con Ed on Tuesday during a visit to Queens to meet with businesses that are still recovering from last month’s blackout.

The politicians are calling on the utility to fully reimburse store owners for their losses incurred during the nearly 10-day blackout. And lawmakers have sent a letter to Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke calling on the utility to increase its reimbursement rates and provide free electricity for three months.

“Con Ed knew cables were out and they never gave people an estimate for the duration of the blackout,” City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who represents Astoria, said. “Had people known, they could have closed their businesses or rented generators and the losses wouldn’t be nearly as bad.”

Some store owners are holding onto back-up generators just in case this week’s heat wave brings another power failure.

Now across parts of western Queens, diesel-fuel-guzzling generators have become a common sight, continuing to supply power to thousands of Con Ed customers. The utility company itself is still using 19 generators at some sites throughout the borough where it is still repairing damaged feeder cables. It is using another 19 generators to supply power to densely populated buildings in an effort to reduce the pressure on an already overtaxed grid, according to Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesman for the utility, in today’s New York Times.

The NY Times has a decent timeline of events and feeder cable outages during the Queens blackout.