Charter hit by vandals, 60K in Queens, New York, go without triple play for hours

Around 60,000 Charter Communications customers in Queens, New York, went without TV, internet and landline phone service for most of Monday after vandals severed a fiber-optic line

“Our crews are on site and working to repair a fiber optic cable damaged by vandalism, which is affecting TV, internet and phone services for Spectrum customers in central Queens,” Charter spokesman John Bonomo said in a statement.

RELATED: Charter asked by New York City councilman to stop importing out-of-state workers to replace striking technicians

Bonomo would not speculate as to whether the vandalism, which was reportedly estimated to cost in the range of $12,000 to fix, was tied to Charter’s ongoing labor unrest in New York. 

In March, around 1,800 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3 members went on a strike that is still going strong. 

The IBEW didn’t respond to the New York Daily News’ inquiry for comment on the vandalism. 

Last week, a New York City Councilman picketed alongside the striking workers, urging Charter to stop importing replacement workers from other states.