STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Some Great Kills residents are freezing in their homes and huddling in shelters because pleasure boats that came ashore during Hurricane Sandy are preventing Con Edison from doing electrical repairs.

That's why Great Kills residents Dom Trombetta and Helen Duchene and Joanne Hardin say they have been out of power since the hurricane hit.

"I need some millionaire and his yacht taking up my time while I freeze?" said Trombetta. "These boat owners are all sitting pretty, they're making their big insurance claims while we're freezing.

"We're past a civilized attitude here. It's snowing, it's cold."

Trombetta claims that only one of the initial 10 boats that landed at the end of Armstrong Avenue has been removed.

"If one boat was removed by the owner using a salvage company why can't the other ones be removed?" Trombetta said.

The other nine boats remain tangled in trees and electrical wires and poles and the mess is poking into a house. He said he has been told by police officers and firefighters that Con Edison cannot do the repairs until the boats are removed. Neighbors have repeatedly complained to Con Edison, to no avail. A member of the National Guard told Trombetta that soldiers cannot remove the boats until the Fire Department drains the fuel. In addition, many of the homes have been yellow tagged for restricted use meaning that they must be inspected before power is restored.

Trombetta said Con Edison workers drive by daily to check on the situation and then leave without doing anything. Meanwhile, a couple of the boats have information attached indicating that they already been inspected by insurance adjusters.

Ms. Harden, who lives near Great Kills Harbor, said that her entire street which includes at least 30 people has been out of power for the past 11 days because of boats caught in electrical wires and poles.

"It's 11 days now," she said. "They have to help us out, we're in major trouble, we're all getting sick here."

Ms. Duchene, who lives in Great Kills near the harbor, said she was still without power on Wednesday due to the marooned boats.

"My husband spoke with a FEMA representative... who told him that they cannot restore power until the boats are removed from the roadways, as they are touching the power lines," she said in an e-mail to the Advance.

"The FEMA rep also stated that no one is sure who is responsible for moving the boats as they are private property on a public roadway. While they are debating this issue, we are still without power or heat."

Representatives of yacht clubs and marinas say they are doing their best to clear the area. Part of the problem is the sheer volume of damaged or totaled vessels, especially in Great Kills Harbor, which has at least seven marinas and yacht clubs.

However, a variety of sources said that some boat owners were reluctant to have their vessels moved until they could be seen by insurance adjusters, who are inundated with requests.

Tony Somma, who writes a fishing column for the Advance in addition to being a marine surveyor who inspects boats for insurance claims, said that owners may move their boats or do anything necessary to safeguard them before the adjuster arrives.

Great Kills Yacht Club has recovered all of their members' boats and taken them off the streets and all of the other yacht clubs and marinas are working diligently to the same. The big hold-up for some of the marinas and yacht clubs is a shortage of cranes to move the boats, said Somma.

"All the marinas and all the clubs in Great Kills Harbor are doing everything in their power to get things cleaned up as quickly as they can," said David Barr, commodore of the Richmond County Yacht Club. "Our first priority is people lives and homes."

He termed as "unprecedented" the tidal surge that swept away boats that had been securely attached to docks and moorings or trailers and stands.

The commodore thanked all the club members and other volunteers who have helped with the harbor cleanup. Great Kills Harbor is being cleaned up faster than other areas that have experienced similar tidal surges, he said, adding that there are logistical issues of getting cranes and other heavy equipment needed to move the vessels in, out and around the streets blocked by boats.

Atlantis Marina alone docks 102 boats, all of which sustained some degree of damage and its charter boat, the Atlantis Princess, sank. Boats that had been docked at Atlantis floated as far away as Whitman Avenue and Mercer Place, two blocks away. Stray vessels landed on the Altantis property and employees are working with the U.S. Coast Guard to find the owners, said Bianca Formica, of the family that owns the Atlantis Marina.

Mike Berg, who docks his boat with more than 250 others at Nichols Marina, located in Great Kills Park, said that his vessel ended up with about 50 others boats were pushed by the storm to the end of the marina's parking lot. He complained that a manager was "taking no responsibility to move these boats and furthermore, wanted to know who would pay the marina to do this. I find this ridiculous."

Berg claims that the staff at Nichols weren't even helpful to the insurance adjuster.

"After all we went through, I cannot believe that the management of this marina is taking this position in not helping their clients out," Berg said in an e-mail.

"I have been at this marina now for 12 years and it's like I am doing them a favor by paying them $5,000 a year to keep my boat there."

Somma said that the staff at Nichols has been as responsive to their customers as they possibly could under the circumstances. Somma said insurance adjusters have been responding quickly considering the volume of complaints and difficulty of getting to or locating boats due to factors created by the storm.

Staff at Nichols who declined to give their names said they were working cooperatively with insurance adjusters and since the storm they have been putting in long hours securing boats that were in the water and in other precarious situations. Boats such as Berg's that are relatively safe on land will have to be dealt with as time and manpower allows, they said.

Philip Tummina of Graniteville, who docks his boat at Nichols, said it was difficult for insurance adjusters to get to Nichols since Buffalo Street, the main entrance to Great Kills Park, was closed for repaving work. The alternative entrance was one that would have been hard for out-of-town insurance adjusters to spot, a gravel road.

Brian Feeney, the National Park Service coordinator for Gateway's Staten Island Unit, said that the paving was only one day and that that parks had faced far more pressing challenges such as removing sand six-feet-deep from the roads.

Berg said the owners also wanted access to safely get their personal items off of their boats.

"Our biggest concern has been looting of fuel and electronics from boats," Ms. Formica said.

"The storm brought out not only the best but the worst in people."

Somma has some tips for boat owners: Contact your insurance company as soon as possible to get in the claim loop and to clarify policies.

You may do anything necessary to safeguard your boat, including moving it, before the adjuster arrives.

Winterize your boat now if possible; don't risk further damage by waiting for the adjuster.