Push to declare Queens blackout a disaster Almost a full week of no power (Astoria-WABC, July 23, 2006) - A group of Queens political leaders urged Gov. George Pataki on Sunday to designate a section of the borough suffering from a massive power outage a disaster area, making it eligible for federal aid. "Anywhere else it would be," said Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., at a news conference in Sunnyside. "If this were an area of 100,000 people in upstate New York, the governor would have declared it a disaster area." A spokeswoman for Pataki, Joanna Rose, said the governor has...