Press Release

NEW YORK (BUSINESS WIRE) - Con Edison Communications, Inc., a provider of fiber optic network services in metropolitan New York, has signed an agreement with Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc., one of the tri-state area's largest providers of real estate services. The partnership will enable Con Edison Communications to provide "last mile" fiber optic connectivity to multi-tenanted commercial properties owned or managed by Newmark.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) Con Edison Communications' (CEC) fiber optic network will connect telecommunications and Internet service providers to commercial properties throughout the five boroughs and Westchester. Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc. owns, manages and leases large, multi-tenanted commercial properties in more than 125 buildings in New York City, Westchester, Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey, as well as California. Newmark Telecommunications, LLC, the telecommunications arm of the company, will pursue site acquisitions on behalf of CEC for six months with the option for extension. Some Newmark-managed buildings include the Multi-Media Building at 220 east 23rd Street, The Film and Video Center building at 630 9th Avenue and the Market Center at 230 5th Avenue.

"Newmark is one of the leading real estate companies with a prestigious client base -the relationship is an opportunity to further expand our services within the real estate community and New York City, " said Peter Rust, president and CEO of Con Edison Communications. "The agreement signifies not only increased property value for current building owners, but also a lasting and superior connectivity base for future tenants and owners."

Paul Nussbaum, managing director of Newmark Telecommunications, LLC said, "We chose Con Edison Communications as a partner and carrier of broadband service for their ability to provide enhanced accessibility to both future and present carrier tenants in our properties. The combination of reliability and the diversity of CEC's services offers state-of-the-art bandwidth to accommodate our tenants' future broadband requirements."

About Con Edison Communications, Inc.
Con Edison Communications, Inc. (CEC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. CEC, a carrier's carrier, offers a comprehensive range of value-added products and services designed to enhance the performance of its customers' networks. CEC provides managed data transport services, leased capacity services, and plans to offer in-building optical distribution to multiple classes of customers including long-distance carriers, competitive local exchange carriers and Internet, cable, wireless and video companies. CEC's NYC metro area network is expected to interconnect over 1,000 commercial buildings, POPs and Verizon Central Offices by the end of 2005. Additional information about CEC is available at http://www.electricfiber.com.

About Consolidated Edison, Inc.
Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $10 billion in annual revenues and $17 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through two regulated utility subsidiaries and four competitive energy and telecommunications businesses. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit the Consolidated Edison, Inc. web site at www.conedison.com.

About Newmark Real Estate
Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc., founded in 1929, is one of the largest independent, full-service real estate firms in the U.S. The firm manages and/or leases 46 million square feet of commercial space, including a nine-million-square-foot portfolio owned by its principals. Newmark offers comprehensive brokerage, property and asset management, construction, retail and corporate advisory, telecommunications, valuation, environmental, engineering, underwriting, investment sales and financial services to tenants, owners, investors and developers. Headquartered in New York, Newmark has offices in Chicago, Dallas, Connecticut, Westchester, New Jersey, Long Island, Washington, D.C. and Southern California. An affiliation with ONCOR International extends Newmark's reach to more than 220 cities worldwide. For more information, please http://www.newmarkre.com.