NYC Council member gives tech help to gas station

NEW YORK A New York City Council member did his part to pitch in following superstorm Sandy by fixing a crashed computer system at a Queens gas station, CBS New York reported.

John Rigone, the owner of the 15th and 49th Street Auto Care Center, told 1010 WINS that his station was without power for a week after the storm. When electricity was restored, he realized the system had crashed.

Rigone called the office of City Council Member Dan Halloran (R-19th), who went to the gas station to help fix the problem.

"He was actually programming the computers," Rigone said. "He was online getting diagrams on how to reboot certain systems. This is all gas station equipment, which nobody really knows about, but he took the time out to really get in it to get the place up and running."

Halloran said he wanted to personally take part in helping restore the system because lines for gas in Queens were long and had been moving slowly. He said some residents had been waiting in the line at Rigone's gas station all day, hoping it would eventually resume operations.

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The City Council member worked on the system for about four hours. He said he became worried when the gas-pumping mechanism still wasn't working even after the computers had been reset, but the system was eventually restored.

"I'm an Eagle Scout, so I've got a lot of cross-training in all sorts of things," Halloran said. "I'm a gadget geek as well, and I always have my Swiss Army knife in my back pocket when push comes to shove. My dad was an electrical engineer."