Manhattan in the dark: power failure hits New York

Sunday 14th July 2019

Manhattan in the dark
Power failure hits New York

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In the metropolis of New York City, the lights suddenly go out in the evening: parts of Manhattan’s West Side are involuntarily offline. Elevators and escalators stop in high-rise buildings and underground. Broadway artists move their shows outside before the blackout is resolved.

A power failure lasting several hours hit the US metropolis of New York early on Saturday evening (local time). More than 70,000 people in Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side were affected. Since there are many tourists in the city at the weekend, the number of those affected is likely to be significantly higher. Local utility Con Edison confirmed “significant power outages”.

The blackout hit particularly popular attractions such as Times Square, Broadway and Rockefeller Center with New York visitors. The disruption was resolved around midnight, as mayor Bill de Blasio and the city emergency service tweeted.

What exactly triggered the blackout is still unclear. The New York Fire Department said that a fire in an underground transformer could have caused the blackout. De Blasio spoke of a “mechanical problem” in the power grid that triggered the blackout. The failure was not due to outside interference, he tweeted. “That seems to be something that just went wrong with distributing electricity from one part of the city to another,” he told CNN. The problem can certainly be solved in a “reasonable time”.

Farbloser Times Square

The problems that arose from the locally limited collapse of the energy supply were immediately visible on site: elevators and escalators stood still, traffic lights failed, diesel-powered emergency power generators started up in hospitals and banks. On the world-famous Times Square, numerous electronic billboards initially remained completely black in the light of the evening sun. With the onset of dusk it became clear which parts of the city center had to do without electrical lighting for the time being.

At some subway stations, operations were temporarily suspended completely, as reported by local media. The New York City Transportation Authority called for people to avoid the underground subway stations in Manhattan.

Since the traffic lights are also not working in the affected area, the New York police advised motorists to avoid Midtown Manhattan if possible. The area has been closed to car traffic. According to the fire department, the affected area extends from Fifth Avenue to the Hudson. Numerous emergency calls were received, which, according to the emergency services, mainly concerned lifts that were stuck.

Spontaneous shows on the street

The blackout thwarted the plans of tens of thousands of commuters and theatergoers on Saturday evening. A number of Broadway stages remained closed. The power went out in the Rockefeller Center as well, and in many cases cinema-goers suddenly found themselves completely in the dark. Employees guided visitors outside with flashlights and the light of their smartphones.

Dozens of shows on Broadway had to be canceled, and several artists offered spontaneous performances on the sidewalk in front of the entrance. A concert in Carnegie Hall was canceled, the hall was cleared, and later the singers continued their performance in front of the building. According to media reports, many shops closed earlier than usual. Others, such as bars and restaurants, kept going despite the darkness.

42 years after the 1977 blackout

Power grid problems are uncommon in the US at this time of year, but by no means unknown. The last major power outage in New York, however, was a good 16 years ago. Back then, on August 14, 2003, the entire power grid in the northeastern United States collapsed. The most populous metropolis in the country was completely in the dark for hours.