New York City Hit With Major Power Outage, Leaving the Internet to Make Jokes in the Dark
Thousands of New York City residents are without power thanks to a massive blackout in Midtown [...]
Thousands of New York City residents are without power thanks to a massive blackout in Midtown Manhattan. While officials tried to get the power back on and solve the mystery behind the outage, Twitter users in New York found the humor in the situation.
Power appeared to be restored to some customers a little after 10 p.m. ET.
ConEdison, the utility company that handles electricity in Manhattan, said there were about 42,000 customers left without power, mostly in Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side, reports CNN.
The moment power was restored in Manhattan. #NYCblackout #blackoutnyc #Blackout pic.twitter.com/0T3b3VkMHY
— Quentin Alexandre (@qa_alexandre) July 14, 2019
I guess this is what they call a New York moment. After being trapped on the F for an hour because of the power outage I emerged to see dark restaurants & traffic lights, civilians directing traffic, & an evacuated Carnegie Hall concert happening in the street. #nyc #Blackout pic.twitter.com/3p9UWtRrel
— Briallen Hopper (@briallenhopper) July 14, 2019
The New York City Fire Department is also responding to several transformer fires on West 64th Street and West End Avenue.
"This appears to be something that just went wrong in the way that they transmit power from one part of the city to another," Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is campaigning for president in Waterloo, Iowa, told CNN. "It sounds like it is addressable in a reasonable amount of time."
Today happens to be the exact day of the great NY blackout of 1977 pic.twitter.com/a4LPsXM4uV
— Tatiana Siegel (@TatianaSiegel27) July 14, 2019
FDNY said it was helping people trapped in elevators and subway cars in the West 40s to 60s streets. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority also tweeted that there is only limited service on the 1/2/3 and 4/5/6 lines, and suggested bus transportation is the best way to get around now.
The power outage also put a significant dent in weekend plans for those hoping to see Broadway shows. The Broadway League has been retweeting several shows that have already cancelled performances. The Book of Momron, Mean Girls, Oklahoma!, Pretty Woman, Wicked, Hamilton and Aladdin are all among the shows canceled for Saturday night.
No cops directing traffic at 66th Street and Broadway. Up to the #fruitstandguy to direct traffic because of the #blackout in nyc pic.twitter.com/jQpCC8TgMI
— wilkssc (@wilkssc) July 13, 2019
Several eerie photos have also surfaced on Twitter. One person shared a photo of Times Square's usually lit billboards all black. Another Twitter user shared a photo of a civilian helping to direct traffic before a police officer could arrive at the intersection of 66th Street and Broadway.
Bill de Blasio being in Waterloo, Iowa during a major NYC blackout is just... amazing. https://t.co/LFEfWlqc02
— (((Thus Always to Tyrants))) (@nickofboe) July 14, 2019
Times Square is down, i repeat, Times Square is down. This is not a drill!! #Blackout #NYC pic.twitter.com/8IUfER7ozl
— Sahid Abraham (@Sahid0) July 13, 2019
Notably, Saturday's outage happened on the 42nd anniversary of the infamous 1977 New York City blackout. In that case, every borough except Queens was affected, and there was mass looting and vandalism. This time though, people are more focused on joking about the incident on social media.
This is the area of Manhattan affected by the power failure that left at least 42,000 customers without electricity. It's still not clear what caused the blackout or how long it will take to restore power. https://t.co/AODQE8LNhU pic.twitter.com/y5cQmEbVqF
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 14, 2019
Photo credit: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images