BROOKLYN — Thousands of residents in northwest Brooklyn lost internet, phone and TV service Friday morning when vandals damaged a part of Spectrum's fiber-optic cable network, the company said.
The internet provider was working with the NYPD to get to the bottom of, "this latest round of criminal destruction of our network," said John Bonomo, a spokesman for the company, who said the outage began at around 3 a.m. The NYPD couldn't immediately confirm the investigation.
Service was restored at around 3 p.m., 12 hours later, according to the company.
There have been around 100 attacks on the fiber optic network between March 28, when workers began a strike, and the end of August, he said.
"Our repair crews have been working tirelessly I'm the past several hours to restore service as quickly as possible," Bonomo said.
Brooklyn, NY customers, we are aware of a service interruption in your area caused by vandalism to our network. (1/2)
— Ask Spectrum (@Ask_Spectrum) September 15, 2017
Crews are onsite and are working to repair damage ASAP. We apologize and thank you for your patience as we work towards resolution 2/2
— Ask Spectrum (@Ask_Spectrum) September 15, 2017
The company tweeted that it did not know when repairs would be complete.
We do not have an estimation of time however the fiber cut is currently in the process of being repaired. We hop... https://t.co/nEGfBBjFV1
— Ask Spectrum (@Ask_Spectrum) September 15, 2017
There were reports of vandalism to Spectrum's fiber optic cables throughout the summer.
An employee on strike was arrested in July for damaging the cables, the Daily News reported.
Spectrum workers have been on strike since March in protest of proposed cuts to health care, job security and pensions.
"We do not condone any act of vandalism against the company. It hurts the reputation of the union members and the strike," said Christopher Erikson, a spokesman for Local 3, the union that represents Spectrum workers. He added that workers are marching across the Brooklyn Bridge Monday to draw attention to their prolonged strike.
"These employees are being starved into submission by this company," he said.
