Sunday, July 15th 2007, 4:00 AM
Every time the temperature rises and a heat wave smothers the city, Ardian Skenderi crosses his fingers and hopes his Astoria restaurant won't lose power.
He's still reeling from last July's prolonged blackout, which cut power to 174,000 residents of western Queens. Many were without electricity for more than a week.
The blackout hit Skenderi hard. It cost his seafood restaurant, Taverna Kyclades, about $20,000, he said.
"You have to throw everything away," he said, referring to the thousands of pounds of fresh fish he carefully keeps on ice.
Astoria residents and merchants endured the worst of the blackout that began July 17, 2006.
They said the Bloomberg administration and Con Edison ignored their pleas for help. By the time Mayor Bloomberg showed up in the neighborhood and set up a command center, residents and store owners had suffered for days in the sweltering heat without help or hope.
"Last year we took care of ourselves," said Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria).
Gianaris worked with community groups and Council members Peter Vallone Jr. and Eric Gioia to get ice, water, generators and other emergency supplies to their western Queens districts.
"We have to be prepared to do it again this year," Gianaris said.
Con Ed officials have said they are doing everything they can to prevent another long-term blackout. And the utility giant has changed the way it keeps track of customers who lose service.
"We know we damaged our credibility with many customers, and we are working hard to rebuild it," said Con Edison spokesman Michael Clendenin. "We're committed to providing the best service that we can every day, and we've made the infrastructure investments to prove it."
City emergency management officials told the Daily News that they are tracking blackouts on their own rather than counting on Con Ed to figure out how many New Yorkers are without power.
After last year's Queens blackout, Harry Panagiotopoulos shelled out $4,000 to buy a generator for his Igloo Café on 31st St. He figures he lost well over $10,000 in inventory, and even more in business because of the power failure.
"We were down the entire time," he said. "We starting giving away ice cream. I felt like we were completely abandoned."
Merchants were eligible for up to $7,000 in reimbursements from Con Ed. But most said it didn't come close to making up their losses.
Panagiotopoulos is trying to safeguard against another blackout. Along with the emergency generator, he has bought several battery-powered fans.
But he admits he won't be able to keep his café completely open if there is a blackout.
"We're all expecting it to happen again," he said with a sigh.
Across the street, Alex Poulos remembers the chaos and broken promises.
"They kept saying the power would be back on tonight, tonight," said Poulos, who owns Soho, a café that he was forced to close for days. "The city should have given us generators after the second day."
