Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / OneLegUpAlex Visits With PSEG-LI as they Partner With the Viscardi Center on 8-12-25 (recorded 8-5-25)

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OneLegUpAlex Visits With PSEG-LI as they Partner With the Viscardi Center on 8-12-25 (recorded 8-5-25) · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:05
Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Garrett.
0:13
Speaker 2: Well, I made a promise to those that awarded me
0:16
Speaker 2: a very special grant at Ideas Park, which is actually
0:19
Speaker 2: presented by Viscardi Center and Heinz Institute at Iowa University,
0:24
Speaker 2: to literally start the work of one leg up Alex
0:27
Speaker 2: tomorrow and that was on July sixteenth. Well, once again,
0:31
Speaker 2: tomorrow feels like today because today we're promoting something very
0:34
Speaker 2: special with PSC and g Now you have electricity Long Island,
0:38
Speaker 2: it's most likely through PSC and g l I. And
0:42
Speaker 2: I have Orlando Melanariis and John Cassano with me from
0:46
Speaker 2: PS and g l I, the arm that actually works
0:49
Speaker 2: with folks like the Viscardi Center.
0:52
Speaker 3: Thank you both for joining.
0:53
Speaker 1: Me today, right, welcome, glad to be here. Now.
0:58
Speaker 2: I got to meet Orlando at the u OAA dinner.
1:01
Speaker 2: How cool is that? And how small world does that?
1:03
Speaker 2: And here we are talking about VISCARTI. So first of all,
1:06
Speaker 2: tell us about the ABLE division of p S and
1:09
Speaker 2: g l I and how you guys give back to the.
1:11
Speaker 1: Community Able EBRG, which is the Employee Resource Group. We
1:18
Speaker 1: just tend to focus on those with disabilities both internally
1:22
Speaker 1: on the company and externally as well. We look to
1:26
Speaker 1: push the opportunities to people with disabilities the even and
1:29
Speaker 1: aboard opportunities. Within PSC and G. We're applicable, so able
1:36
Speaker 1: basically goes out and we deal with many different organizations,
1:42
Speaker 1: everything from PTSD to physical and both cognitive disabilities. We
1:48
Speaker 1: worked with Canine Companions with their therapy and service dogs,
1:53
Speaker 1: and over the past couple of years we've been a
1:55
Speaker 1: very big support of Viscarti and the Games of the
1:57
Speaker 1: Physically Challenged, and last year we came up with an
2:01
Speaker 1: idea we'd like to do a little bit more outside
2:04
Speaker 1: of the games themselves and do something a little bit
2:06
Speaker 1: more personal between PSC and G and Biscardi. So we
2:10
Speaker 1: came up with the idea of a three on three
2:12
Speaker 1: basketball tournament where we would have some of our people
2:15
Speaker 1: in the wheelchairs and some of the people from the
2:18
Speaker 1: Viscardi varsity team teaming up together and playing almost like
2:23
Speaker 1: what they do in a March Madness, which is a
2:25
Speaker 1: reduction bracket, so we have a single winner. With that,
2:31
Speaker 1: we're gonna give another check to Riscarti. We're also going
2:36
Speaker 1: to sign a basketball for everybody who participates and donate
2:39
Speaker 1: that to their trophy showcase. And if all goes well,
2:43
Speaker 1: which we anticipated will, we're looking to make this an
2:47
Speaker 1: annual event and next year possibly even bigger and possibly
2:51
Speaker 1: hold at NASA Community College.
2:53
Speaker 2: How cool is that we're obviously the Victory Challenge is
2:57
Speaker 2: held every year in NASA kund of Games for the
2:59
Speaker 2: physically challenges.
3:00
Speaker 3: Out every year with the wheelchair basketball. I love that
3:02
Speaker 3: pcnng l I is involved. I also love that you.
3:05
Speaker 2: Expanded from New Jersey. I mean to to get involved
3:07
Speaker 2: with l I like this means a lot. And as
3:10
Speaker 2: someone who you know dealt with prior electric companies, you
3:12
Speaker 2: guys are great. Now, Orlando, I want to talk to
3:15
Speaker 2: you about how it started, because you told me at
3:17
Speaker 2: the table at UOA how this whole venture started.
3:23
Speaker 4: It actually started. We were tending one of Prascotti's our
3:27
Speaker 4: presentation that we normally go yearly, and John and I
3:32
Speaker 4: were discussing what can we do to proceed with having
3:37
Speaker 4: more of an interaction or Scotty through the able organization,
3:42
Speaker 4: the e b r G, and then we came up
3:44
Speaker 4: with the plan. We give up the plane. You know
3:45
Speaker 4: it would be a good idea. It creates some sort
3:47
Speaker 4: of basketball tournament and have the partisipants from Pascotti played
3:53
Speaker 4: with the ps G employees and and make a day
3:56
Speaker 4: of it there and we came up with the the
4:00
Speaker 4: concept of something similar to March Badness that they have
4:03
Speaker 4: in the college tournament. This is our first year, you know,
4:06
Speaker 4: this is our learning, our learning steps, and this is
4:09
Speaker 4: something that we need to know how to organize. So
4:14
Speaker 4: hopefully we can have this on an annual basis and
4:17
Speaker 4: going forward, we can make this tournament a lot better
4:19
Speaker 4: and a lot larger and more of our people, more
4:22
Speaker 4: of our employees can participate, and that's what we really
4:26
Speaker 4: want to deal. You know, we're trying to try to
4:29
Speaker 4: basically also gave our employees a vision of what Wascatti
4:36
Speaker 4: centered to us for their students, and we hopefully we
4:40
Speaker 4: can bring that to the outfront.
4:41
Speaker 2: All right, I have to give credit to Amy de Leo,
4:43
Speaker 2: who actually connected us Orlando right that dinner and here
4:46
Speaker 2: we are talking to Amy as everybody knows, big supporter
4:49
Speaker 2: of the game's physically challenged and Viscardi.
4:52
Speaker 3: So to see her, you know, bring more people on
4:54
Speaker 3: board means a lot.
4:55
Speaker 2: Now, I got a couple of questions for you guys, Hey, wi,
4:58
Speaker 2: will you guys be playing in this next Tuesday.
5:03
Speaker 1: Well, right now we're we're looking to put see how
5:07
Speaker 1: many teams. Obviously you have to get an even number
5:09
Speaker 1: of teams. And since we'll be coordinating with doctor Rosaid
5:13
Speaker 1: his staff, Lando and I might not be playing in
5:16
Speaker 1: the games, but if we need additional people to firm
5:19
Speaker 1: up and even number of teams, we will both be playing.
5:24
Speaker 3: Well, that'll be fun to watch now watching these kids play.
5:27
Speaker 2: I want your both perspectives on this, and Orlando, we
5:30
Speaker 2: touch on it at the OI dinner. Watching these kids
5:33
Speaker 2: play must bring a certain feeling to you guys, you know,
5:36
Speaker 2: just watching them excel on the court.
5:41
Speaker 4: It does every time we attend any kind of Moschondi
5:45
Speaker 4: Center event joy and are truly amazed. And how I
5:52
Speaker 4: gotta put it, how amazed we are these students that
5:57
Speaker 4: are there. They're always smiling there, always have the happy face,
6:01
Speaker 4: and they never seemed to be angry. And that is
6:05
Speaker 4: something that we both admire a lot, and we see
6:09
Speaker 4: that a lot when we attend these events in Piscatti Center.
6:14
Speaker 2: Now, obviously PCNNGLI is in the community a lot, so
6:18
Speaker 2: in addition to Ascarti and uh, you know, the games,
6:21
Speaker 2: where else can we find you guys in the community.
6:27
Speaker 1: We get involved with a lot of different things. We're
6:29
Speaker 1: going to be hosting an employee event on alics harm
6:34
Speaker 1: disease coming up later this month, and we're supporting a
6:37
Speaker 1: new not for profit in September. It's called a Run
6:40
Speaker 1: to break Through and that was actually started by a
6:44
Speaker 1: gentleman who recently passed away. His son unfortunately was born
6:49
Speaker 1: oh the disability and is in a wheelchair for life.
6:52
Speaker 1: So the father was a runner and he was trying
6:57
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to get his son more
6:59
Speaker 1: and get him out there with him at all. And
7:02
Speaker 1: they built a special wheelchair that the father can get
7:06
Speaker 1: his run in and the son goes along with them,
7:08
Speaker 1: and from there it just it just grew. A not
7:12
Speaker 1: for profit was formed and each year now they're going
7:16
Speaker 1: to have a run. This year it's at Hexta State
7:19
Speaker 1: Park on a Sunday where they're bringing in you know runners,
7:23
Speaker 1: they're bringing in people in.
7:25
Speaker 2: Well that's normally, if I'm not missaying, where they have
7:27
Speaker 2: the usual Alzheimer's Day run. Because I met Buddy Harrelson
7:30
Speaker 2: out there when he was part of that run a
7:32
Speaker 2: few years, you know, seven.
7:33
Speaker 1: Years ago or so, yep, yep, so yep. We try
7:38
Speaker 1: to get involved in as many things as we can, Alex,
7:41
Speaker 1: anything that has to do with, like I said, either
7:44
Speaker 1: physical or cognitive disabilities. And you know, like Orlando was mentioning,
7:49
Speaker 1: you know, when we leave the Viscardi Center after any event,
7:52
Speaker 1: you get to see how if the mind wants to
7:55
Speaker 1: do something, the mind definitely can And to see a
7:58
Speaker 1: lot of the students there, the way they participate and
8:01
Speaker 1: excel in things that they favor is kind of amazing.
8:06
Speaker 1: And the basketball team is just you know, one of
8:08
Speaker 1: the things that the Piscardi Center does, you know, between
8:11
Speaker 1: teaching them to swim, working with them to get food
8:15
Speaker 1: service certificates, they built a room that looks like a
8:21
Speaker 1: retail environment so that they can get used to working
8:23
Speaker 1: in a retail environment. So Piscarti is truly one special
8:28
Speaker 1: place and it holds a special place in each of
8:30
Speaker 1: our hearts. And we spoke to doctor Roasted, executive director,
8:34
Speaker 1: and he was extremely welcoming and very excited to start
8:39
Speaker 1: something like this, and like we mentioned, hope it's going
8:42
Speaker 1: to be an annual event and from here it just
8:43
Speaker 1: grows more and more.
8:45
Speaker 2: No, Doctor Rosa is an incredible advocate of Viscardi as
8:48
Speaker 2: is the coach of the wheelchair basketball team Joe Salonica.
8:51
Speaker 2: Now I know, Orlando, you've been directed with Joe and
8:53
Speaker 2: you see how great of a coach he is for
8:55
Speaker 2: these kids. I mean, that's gotta make an impact as well.
9:00
Speaker 4: Oh with Dust, Yeah, Joe's an amazing individual. We met
9:03
Speaker 4: Joe a loot a month ago in one of the
9:05
Speaker 4: meetings we had UH and Uh seems to be an
9:10
Speaker 4: individual that's very dedicated to his school, the basketball and
9:17
Speaker 4: seems to be a very knowledgeable individual. And I was
9:20
Speaker 4: very impressed with with Joseph, very nice guy.
9:23
Speaker 2: And doctor Bays I've known forever. And of course all
9:26
Speaker 2: of this continues the legacy of doctor Viscarti. Now, prior
9:29
Speaker 2: to partnering over with Viscarti, did you get a chance
9:31
Speaker 2: to research who he was and.
9:33
Speaker 3: How you know and how is how important is he
9:35
Speaker 3: to continue his legacy through all of this as.
9:37
Speaker 1: Well the True Dallas We were out there one time.
9:42
Speaker 1: We never had a full tour of the facility. We
9:45
Speaker 1: were always limited to the gym prior to the games
9:47
Speaker 1: that physically challenged and doctor Rosa was nice enough to
9:51
Speaker 1: set up a full tour of the facility, including doctor
9:54
Speaker 1: Viscarti's office. The way he left it, it's pretty amazing.
10:01
Speaker 1: He had a vision and back then when things weren't
10:04
Speaker 1: so easy, you didn't have probably a lot of governmental
10:06
Speaker 1: support or even community support. But he obviously didn't let
10:11
Speaker 1: him hold back, and he built a special kind of school.
10:17
Speaker 1: The kids that go there, like Orlando said, are very
10:20
Speaker 1: integrated in everything that the school allows them to. Everything
10:26
Speaker 1: there is welcome with open arms, the staff. It's truly
10:29
Speaker 1: a special place and anyone who has time should visit
10:33
Speaker 1: the Viscardi Center just to see how these these young
10:38
Speaker 1: kids and the staff just how well they get together,
10:41
Speaker 1: they perform, and when they graduate, you know they have
10:46
Speaker 1: a future, you know, whether it's going to school or
10:50
Speaker 1: going to work.
10:51
Speaker 3: No, it's pretty awesome.
10:52
Speaker 2: And they also have adult programs now to help out
10:54
Speaker 2: kids who are there till they're twenty one or so.
10:56
Speaker 2: So it's it's really all inclusive and very intense of
11:00
Speaker 2: helping them out. I gotta say, though, you mentioned who
11:03
Speaker 2: ever can visit now helping people can sign up for
11:05
Speaker 2: this event or how can people attend?
11:08
Speaker 1: Well, this first year we kind of kept it small.
11:10
Speaker 1: We ran to a bunch of hurdles trying to get
11:13
Speaker 1: this thing done. That's the first time we did in
11:15
Speaker 1: the company, so we decided to keep it a little small.
11:17
Speaker 1: So this year it'll pretty be much the involvement of
11:22
Speaker 1: the students, the staff of Viscarti and a small number
11:26
Speaker 1: of PSG employees. Like we were saying, next year, would
11:31
Speaker 1: like to have this thing really grow to the point
11:33
Speaker 1: where Viscardi can't even handle the influx of people. Would
11:36
Speaker 1: like to see and it was optioned to us to
11:39
Speaker 1: possibly use National Community College next year in the gymnasium
11:42
Speaker 1: if need be so. So this year it's, like we said,
11:47
Speaker 1: it's a learning experience. We're getting through the hurdles and
11:49
Speaker 1: next year should go a lot smoother with the probably
11:54
Speaker 1: I would say much earlier planning as well.
11:57
Speaker 2: You know, I got to ask you, I don't know
11:58
Speaker 2: if you guys were part of the New Jersey team
12:00
Speaker 2: they came over, but when PCNG took over, l I
12:03
Speaker 2: how impactful was it for your lives?
12:04
Speaker 3: I mean, I feel like it's changed everything on the
12:06
Speaker 3: island having PCNG out.
12:07
Speaker 1: Here, it was it wasn't that much of a change
12:11
Speaker 1: for us. It was business as usual. They called it
12:15
Speaker 1: lifting and shifting. Donna is pretty new still to the company,
12:20
Speaker 1: but Priya a Lando ancement. Most of our careers on
12:23
Speaker 1: the natural guests side of the business through Brooklyn Union Gas,
12:27
Speaker 1: who then became Keyspan, who then became National Grid. So
12:32
Speaker 1: what happened was is that anyone who was on the
12:35
Speaker 1: electric side of National Grid when the contract ended was
12:38
Speaker 1: lifted and shifted into PSC and G. So the biggest
12:41
Speaker 1: change was just the name of the company really and
12:45
Speaker 1: some of the senior leadership that came over from New
12:48
Speaker 1: Jersey and the transfer. But for the most party, it
12:52
Speaker 1: was pretty much business as usual. We all have the
12:55
Speaker 1: same values and high levels of customer service, making sure
13:00
Speaker 1: that the lights stay on, you know, attending to storms
13:03
Speaker 1: as quickly as possible. And we're very involved in the
13:07
Speaker 1: community like we were with National Grid.
13:09
Speaker 2: I believe you sponsor the Islander power Plays, if I'm
13:11
Speaker 2: not mistaken, there's some involvement there with the Islanders also. Well,
13:16
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I believe you guys also sponsor the Island
13:20
Speaker 2: power Plays. If I'm not mistaken, you guys are with
13:22
Speaker 2: them as well.
13:24
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, we get involved in a lot of different things.
13:28
Speaker 1: When we were National Grid, you know, the playing field
13:32
Speaker 1: changed a little bit because we went from Montalk into say,
13:35
Speaker 1: Staten Island. But since the electric portion now is dedicated
13:39
Speaker 1: from the Rockaways to Montalk, we're pretty much on Long
13:41
Speaker 1: Island at this point. We don't go into the city
13:43
Speaker 1: as much anymore, so we don't have that much interaction
13:45
Speaker 1: with like the nets and things like that. But we're
13:47
Speaker 1: very involved with the islanders, the Long Island Ducks, and
13:52
Speaker 1: a lot of you know, the smaller and larger groups
13:55
Speaker 1: on Long Island that we get involved with. We do
13:57
Speaker 1: a lot of things with the schools from from grade
14:00
Speaker 1: school all the way to high school. We do mentoring,
14:03
Speaker 1: resume help, so, you know, we try to get involvement.
14:08
Speaker 2: Here's the question I have for those that are disabled
14:11
Speaker 2: residents try are there ways you guys help make their
14:13
Speaker 2: electricity adaptable? Like is there a way to maybe make
14:17
Speaker 2: outlets different? Like is there a way you guys help
14:20
Speaker 2: the adaptive community in that way as well? Is making
14:23
Speaker 2: places more accessible.
14:27
Speaker 1: A good question? I don't know if Orlando can incident.
14:29
Speaker 1: I know what we do is when someone is disabled
14:33
Speaker 1: on their account, it's well noted so that there is
14:36
Speaker 1: a problem priorities. You know, we'd look at certain priorities
14:40
Speaker 1: that you know, if someone say disabled that needs a
14:43
Speaker 1: breeding machine or seepat machine, this is uh, this is
14:47
Speaker 1: well noted. So we try to restore people like this
14:51
Speaker 1: as soon as possible on a priority basis. Actually for
14:57
Speaker 1: actually going into the house, I'm not sure we've done.
15:01
Speaker 1: We've done some things with the Red Cross. We've partnered
15:03
Speaker 1: with the Red Cross with things like smoke detectors for
15:07
Speaker 1: people who are hard of hearing or deaf, special uh
15:13
Speaker 1: bed inserts so that got bid there was a fire,
15:16
Speaker 1: the dead would start to vibrate, So we've done different
15:19
Speaker 1: things like that. Orlando, are you familiar with anything physical
15:22
Speaker 1: within the house?
15:24
Speaker 4: Not at all. John, You just mentioned exactly what you
15:26
Speaker 4: and I learned when we were volunteering for the Red Cross.
15:29
Speaker 4: Now I don't that I'm aware PCG doesn't have any
15:33
Speaker 4: other devices.
15:36
Speaker 1: One good question now is that's something we could check
15:38
Speaker 1: on and even follow up with you.
15:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, love that.
15:41
Speaker 2: Now how about hiring, So obviously I'm also about, you know,
15:44
Speaker 2: like doctor Viscarti was and all of us are about making.
15:47
Speaker 3: Sure people disabilities are hired.
15:48
Speaker 2: Does PSC and g l I, in addition to helping
15:50
Speaker 2: disabled community, also hire the disabled community.
15:54
Speaker 1: Yes, we do obviously, you know, based on their disability.
15:59
Speaker 1: When there is a position available, people with disabilities are
16:03
Speaker 1: always considered, say, for instance, like a call center position.
16:08
Speaker 1: You know, some people would look at that as an
16:10
Speaker 1: entry level position, but it's one of the best positions
16:13
Speaker 1: to start with in a company like ours, because you
16:15
Speaker 1: get to see everything from the ground up. You know,
16:17
Speaker 1: you're talking to customers, you're arranging for you know, uh,
16:21
Speaker 1: response rates and and sometimes types of service. You know,
16:26
Speaker 1: sometimes it's a billing question. And these these are positions
16:29
Speaker 1: whereby somebody even that's uh dedicated to a wheelchair instead
16:33
Speaker 1: is sitting in a chair in front of a computer. Dude,
16:35
Speaker 1: sit in the wheelchair and work the same way. You know,
16:40
Speaker 1: there's there are a bunch of different jobs that are
16:42
Speaker 1: always considered, and you know, part of our our makeup
16:47
Speaker 1: is to always uh look at the best possible candidates
16:51
Speaker 1: and put them in the best possible position so they
16:53
Speaker 1: could succeed.
16:57
Speaker 3: I love that well.
16:58
Speaker 2: You know, I also got to say one thing that's
17:00
Speaker 2: changed with PCNG, because I read the headlines a lot
17:03
Speaker 2: from then and now is you know headlines when it
17:05
Speaker 2: was light and now it's PCNG. Is the power lines
17:08
Speaker 2: are just not coming down as much. How did you
17:10
Speaker 2: guys maintain control of mains or all these power lines
17:13
Speaker 2: are up.
17:14
Speaker 3: In order and not you know, flailing in the wind.
17:16
Speaker 3: It seemed like at times.
17:19
Speaker 1: There's a program. It's called hardening of the system, and
17:22
Speaker 1: what that means to the lay person is that we
17:24
Speaker 1: look at areas that are subject to outages and we
17:28
Speaker 1: do track these so many times they'll go out, they'll
17:32
Speaker 1: change the poles if the cement poles got to go
17:35
Speaker 1: in versus a woodpole or a stronger woodpole, or poles
17:39
Speaker 1: are getting older and we're you know, have a pole
17:41
Speaker 1: replacement program. We have a vegetation management program whereby we
17:46
Speaker 1: subcontract out to Asplin Energy Aspen Construction, and they have
17:51
Speaker 1: a tree trimming division where they'll go out and they
17:54
Speaker 1: trim around the wires and stuff so that during heavy
17:57
Speaker 1: storms and wind and stuff that as branches come down,
18:01
Speaker 1: they're not going to take down the lines as well.
18:03
Speaker 1: And harding of this system is also tensioning of the lines.
18:06
Speaker 1: We've gotten a lot smarter and with equipment today is
18:10
Speaker 1: a lot stronger. We have communication boxes all over the
18:15
Speaker 1: networks that when something goes down, we'll usually know even
18:18
Speaker 1: before a person calls, so we can start arranging for
18:21
Speaker 1: a restoration. So there's a lot of good things coming down.
18:26
Speaker 1: And then obviously you have where possible where you can
18:28
Speaker 1: bury the lines, you know, and that's usually a good
18:31
Speaker 1: thing because you don't worry about them coming down. But
18:34
Speaker 1: the only downside of a buried line is that when
18:36
Speaker 1: there's a problem on the ground, it takes a little
18:37
Speaker 1: bit longer to figure out what's going wrong because you
18:40
Speaker 1: can't drive the circuit and just you know, witness everything
18:44
Speaker 1: by eye. We have a special underground team that's got
18:47
Speaker 1: to bring special equipment out and whether it's sonar or
18:51
Speaker 1: radiate and basically find out where the issue is and
18:54
Speaker 1: then open up that area and hopefully fix it.
18:58
Speaker 3: All right.
18:59
Speaker 2: I got to ask one more thing about the weather
19:02
Speaker 2: we've had because it's been so hot, but I hadn't
19:04
Speaker 2: heard many of power out it. Just how did you
19:05
Speaker 2: guys maintain all of that during Is it that the
19:08
Speaker 2: heartening and the system or is that something different that you.
19:10
Speaker 3: Guys were able to maintain power through the heat.
19:13
Speaker 1: Well, you know, with the influx of renewables now besides
19:18
Speaker 1: creating power in the power plants that we've had for years.
19:23
Speaker 1: We're also purchasing power from a lot of these solar farms.
19:26
Speaker 1: There's large solar farms. You got the wind coming on
19:30
Speaker 1: now out in the sounds, so there's always an additional capacity.
19:34
Speaker 1: Now we're not hurting his bed looking for capacity in
19:39
Speaker 1: case of like you know, a one hundred degree day
19:41
Speaker 1: that goes to three or four days and people are
19:44
Speaker 1: using energy like crazy. We have that capacity now to
19:48
Speaker 1: serve and together with the heartening of this system, you know,
19:52
Speaker 1: it basically works well. So a lot of these solar
19:56
Speaker 1: farms that you see with it putting in twenty thirty
19:58
Speaker 1: thousand panels and stuff, we'll purchase that energy and send
20:01
Speaker 1: it through the grid, so we always have power. The
20:05
Speaker 1: fossil plants, you know, they're getting old. You know, they
20:08
Speaker 1: need a lot of maintenance to keep them up and running.
20:11
Speaker 1: So you always have that backup and uh other opportunities
20:15
Speaker 1: to you know, to generate the power that we all use.
20:18
Speaker 2: You mentioned the grid, and I want to kind of
20:20
Speaker 2: put a boat to all of this. When you think
20:22
Speaker 2: of the grid, how does P S, E and G
20:25
Speaker 2: also include disabled community to protect the grid for them
20:28
Speaker 2: as well. I feel like not many people take them
20:30
Speaker 2: into account. And we talk about grids and whatnot.
20:34
Speaker 1: Well, you guys realized too, the grid is more and
20:36
Speaker 1: more than a complex network that transmission that transmits electricity
20:40
Speaker 1: from power plants to the consumers. So, like I was
20:43
Speaker 1: saying before, we do code accounts for people with disabilities,
20:50
Speaker 1: all kinds, both physical and cognitive, you know, any kind
20:55
Speaker 1: of medical disability they have in the house. So it's
20:58
Speaker 1: it's very important for us, then words, to attend to
21:00
Speaker 1: these to keep the power on. And we've been lucky,
21:04
Speaker 1: you know, PS and G'll get beat up in the
21:06
Speaker 1: newspapers every once in a while, but uh, a lot
21:09
Speaker 1: of people don't realize what goes behind all that.
21:11
Speaker 2: Very rarely, let me tell you, very rarely. I notice
21:13
Speaker 2: a lot of good press and a lot of good
21:15
Speaker 2: news from you guys.
21:15
Speaker 1: Actually, yep, it's getting very it's getting much much better.
21:19
Speaker 1: We do surveys throughout the year, like JD Power, who
21:24
Speaker 1: a lot of people are familiar with, and we're getting uh,
21:27
Speaker 1: you know, better and better responses. People are starting to
21:29
Speaker 1: realize that our restoration times are down and that uh,
21:34
Speaker 1: you know, we're adhering to making sure that the power
21:37
Speaker 1: stays on, you know, as hard as it could be sometimes.
21:40
Speaker 2: Now, Orlando and John and John, I want to ask
21:43
Speaker 2: you about this because I have a friend of mine
21:45
Speaker 2: from church who actually works for PSC and the.
21:48
Speaker 3: Under the Jersey side.
21:50
Speaker 2: So do you guys communicate with the Jersey side or
21:52
Speaker 2: are you kind of now your own conglomerate.
21:54
Speaker 3: On Long Island.
21:55
Speaker 4: So we do communicate with Jersey. You know, we're one
21:57
Speaker 4: team with one company, so we do have a back
22:00
Speaker 4: and forth with them. We do use their knowledge and
22:03
Speaker 4: they use our knowledges. So that's what keeps the company
22:06
Speaker 4: going forward. And we do have a very good relationship
22:09
Speaker 4: with Jersey.
22:11
Speaker 3: Now, Donad's on the call, I see as well. Are
22:12
Speaker 3: you just listening?
22:13
Speaker 2: I do you want to chime in on what the
22:14
Speaker 2: on what you guys are doing with the programs here
22:17
Speaker 2: with Viscardi and whatnot.
22:20
Speaker 5: I just recently joined with John and Orlando. I've been
22:23
Speaker 5: with the company for about a year and a half
22:26
Speaker 5: and I'm thrilled to be doing this project with them
22:29
Speaker 5: at the Misscardi Center. I'm coming up on Tuesday. Yeah,
22:34
Speaker 5: that's about it.
22:36
Speaker 3: Well, we're excited.
22:37
Speaker 2: I'm excited that you guys are partnering with Mi Alma
22:39
Speaker 2: Mater because it just shows how much more involved the
22:42
Speaker 2: community is, you know, collaborating, how much more of a
22:45
Speaker 2: Scardi's getting out there? How much more Yeah, they're getting
22:49
Speaker 2: out there in the community even more through PC and
22:51
Speaker 2: G And I love that.
22:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, Alex, you know, you'll find that our
22:57
Speaker 1: company is very community minded. Like I said, we're involved
23:00
Speaker 1: and a lot of different things, everything from Long Island
23:03
Speaker 1: cares and handing out food at supermarkets every you know
23:07
Speaker 1: on weekends and stuff for those who you know come
23:11
Speaker 1: down to the heart of times we've done. We've actually
23:14
Speaker 1: we got something coming up where we're going to help
23:16
Speaker 1: plant the huge garden in a facility and then the
23:20
Speaker 1: facility will maintain the vegetables and everything that. So our
23:23
Speaker 1: employees are involved a lot of things. We do a
23:25
Speaker 1: Polar Bear plunge to raise money. So you'll always find
23:27
Speaker 1: a PSNG employee doing something within the community.
23:32
Speaker 2: All right, I don't want to make it a competition,
23:34
Speaker 2: but what could if I may ask, what could kan
23:37
Speaker 2: Ed learn from ps so that the New York City residents.
23:39
Speaker 3: Have the right electricity?
23:40
Speaker 2: I feel like there's a lot of complaints about kaned.
23:43
Speaker 2: Here is PC and G available in New York City? Yet?
23:46
Speaker 1: Is that in the plan at all or no. Kanye
23:50
Speaker 1: is a very huge and powerful utility and with people
23:55
Speaker 1: got to understand the problem in the city is that
23:58
Speaker 1: the infrastructure is very old and it's it's not so
24:03
Speaker 1: easy the words you don't see you know, the poles
24:06
Speaker 1: and the wires it's say in Manhattan as you're going
24:08
Speaker 1: down the street and stuff. So when something goes wrong,
24:11
Speaker 1: it takes a lot longer. Like I was saying, when
24:13
Speaker 1: things are underground, it's good and bad. The good being
24:16
Speaker 1: that it's not subject to maybe wind and a lot
24:19
Speaker 1: of things like that, but it's subject to a lot
24:20
Speaker 1: of heat, steam and just the aging of the equipment.
24:26
Speaker 1: You know. Kanet has a very a long an old
24:32
Speaker 1: reputation of being around for a very long time, very
24:35
Speaker 1: powerful utility, very good people. It's just at the infrastructure
24:38
Speaker 1: would probably take billions to replace all at once. And
24:42
Speaker 1: I think with their plan is they you know, they
24:45
Speaker 1: try to replace as much as they can when they can.
24:48
Speaker 1: So yeah, they get beat up now and then. But
24:50
Speaker 1: being in this business, we kind of know, you know,
24:52
Speaker 1: what it takes and stuff, and we're lucky that our
24:56
Speaker 1: infrastructure is a little easier to maintain because most of
24:59
Speaker 1: it's above ground. Well, when you get into kind ofisin's territory,
25:03
Speaker 1: things get a little different. It's a different animal at
25:06
Speaker 1: that point.
25:07
Speaker 2: Well, thank you for keeping Long Island safe. And maybe
25:10
Speaker 2: one day PC you will expand the city. Who knows,
25:12
Speaker 2: but you never know. Life is interesting like that. But
25:14
Speaker 2: I gotta ask you one more thing, because I've dealt
25:17
Speaker 2: with mechanics on different radio shows with the car shows
25:20
Speaker 2: and whatnot. But I'm thinking of the trade schools right
25:22
Speaker 2: and obviously being electricity in the trade is PCNNGLI also
25:26
Speaker 2: investing in the trade schools in New York and getting
25:29
Speaker 2: that back up and even more popular today.
25:37
Speaker 4: John, I presume we are. I'm not sure. I know
25:40
Speaker 4: there was some sort of a training that we were
25:43
Speaker 4: fringing through posees with the Land Academy that we have
25:48
Speaker 4: in Hicksville. That's the last thing I heard about participating
25:53
Speaker 4: in some sort of training. I'm not sure. I'm not
25:56
Speaker 4: involved with that particular aspect of the company.
26:02
Speaker 3: Interesting.
26:03
Speaker 2: Well, now, I just know that trade schools are very important,
26:05
Speaker 2: and I'm sure that listening to this maybe more will
26:07
Speaker 2: be inspired.
26:07
Speaker 3: To join PC and G because they know, hey, this is.
26:10
Speaker 2: A community, community minded organization, not just our electricity, but
26:15
Speaker 2: a community.
26:15
Speaker 3: There's people behind it too.
26:18
Speaker 4: Yep.
26:19
Speaker 1: There's a lot of faces to this organization.
26:23
Speaker 3: Well and beyond the power play.
26:24
Speaker 2: I always think of that piece of NG powerplay I
26:26
Speaker 2: listened to every time of an Islander game.
26:28
Speaker 3: So there you go.
26:29
Speaker 2: Well, guys, this meant so much to have you on
26:31
Speaker 2: and I'd love to continue the conversation and I want
26:34
Speaker 2: to know if I can make it next week, but
26:35
Speaker 2: do give us a recap.
26:36
Speaker 3: I'd love to hear you, guys recap this with me
26:38
Speaker 3: next week.
26:40
Speaker 1: Love to follow up with you on that.
26:43
Speaker 4: Yes, definitely word all right.
26:45
Speaker 2: Orlando Molinaris, John Cassano, and Donna Poglici, thanks for joining
26:50
Speaker 2: the One Leg Up Network and talking about this incredible
26:53
Speaker 2: event with Viscardi next week. I'm so glad to hear
26:55
Speaker 2: about this and to talk about it today.
26:58
Speaker 1: Alex appreciate it. Thank you for having us.
27:01
Speaker 4: Yes, I was. Thank you very much for having us.
27:05
Speaker 4: Thank you.
27:06
Speaker 2: M