Sunday, July 14, 2019

Power Restored to Manhattan’s West Side After Major Blackout

 
 
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Power is restored in New York after partial blackout
Video by Reuters
A power failure plunged a stretch of the West Side of Manhattan into darkness on Saturday night, trapping people in subway cars and elevators for a time, leaving drivers to fend for themselves at intersections with no traffic signals and eerily dimming the lights in a swath of Times Square.
Stores emptied out, and Broadway shows did not go on: Most theaters canceled their performances. In restaurants and bars, people drank by the glow of their smartphones.
But the lights — and, on a warm Saturday night in midsummer, the air conditioning and fans that keep people cool — began to return about 10 p.m. Power was fully restored by midnight, with cheers ringing out on the streets in response.
Con Edison said that the power failed at 6:47 p.m. and that 73,000 customers were in the dark for at least three hours, mainly on the West Side. The blackout stretched from 72nd Street to the West 40s, and from Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River.
Con Edison said the failure apparently stemmed from a problem at a substation on West 49th Street, and affected six power sectors.
  • Slide 1 of 17: Pictures A large section of Manhattan's Upper West Side and Midtown neighborhoods are seen in darkness from above during a major power outage on July 13, in New York City.
  • Slide 2 of 17: Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media following a blackout due to widespread power outages on July 13, in the Manhattan borough of New York.
  • Slide 3 of 17: NYPD officer controls traffic after a massive power failure hit parts of Manhattan, in New York, on July 13.
  • Slide 4 of 17: People walk along a dark street near Times Square area, as a blackout affects buildings and traffic during widespread power outages in the Manhattan borough of New York, July 13.
  • Slide 5 of 17: People sit outside of the Row NYC hotel during a major power outage on July 13, in New York City.
  • Slide 6 of 17: A couple walks down the street during a major power outage affecting parts of New York City on July 13.
  • Slide 7 of 17: People walk along a dark street near Times Square area, as a blackout affects buildings and traffic during widespread power outages in the Manhattan borough of New York, July 13.
  • Slide 8 of 17: People wait in a dark street near Times Square area as a massive power failure hit parts of Manhattan, in New York, on July 13.
  • Slide 9 of 17: A subway station is closed off during a power outage Saturday, July 13, in New York.
  • Slide 10 of 17: The sun sets behind 42nd Street in Manhattan during a power outage in New York City on July 13.
  • Slide 11 of 17: Screens in Times Square are black during a widespread power outage, Saturday, July 13, 2019, in New York. Authorities say a transformer fire caused a power outage in Manhattan and left businesses without electricity, elevators stuck and subway cars stalled. (AP Photo/Michael Owens)
  • Slide 12 of 17: A train is seen out of service at Penn Station, as a blackout affects buildings and traffic during widespread power outages in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S, July 13, 2019.
  • Slide 13 of 17: Fire trucks respond during a widespread power outage in the Manhattan borough of New York, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Authorities say a transformer fire caused a power outage in Manhattan and left businesses without electricity, elevators stuck and subway cars stalled. (AP Photo/Michael Owens)
  • Slide 14 of 17: People are evacuated outside Row NYC hotel, as a blackout affects buildings and traffic during widespread power outages in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S, July 13, 2019. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
  • Slide 15 of 17: A police officer directs traffic in Times Square during a widespread power outage, Saturday, July 13, 2019, in the Manhattan borough of New York. Authorities say a transformer fire caused a power outage in Manhattan and left businesses without electricity, elevators stuck and subway cars stalled. (AP Photo/Michael Owens)
  • Slide 16 of 17: Pedestrians cross the street near emergency response vehicles at 50th Street and 8th Avenue during a power outage, Saturday, July 13, 2019, in New York. Authorities were scrambling to restore electricity to Manhattan following a power outage that knocked out Times Square's towering electronic screens and darkened marquees in the theater district and left businesses without electricity, elevators stuck and subway cars stalled. (AP Photo/Michael Owens)
  • Slide 17 of 17: Dark buildings along a dark street are seen near Times Square area, as a blackout affects buildings and traffic during widespread power outages in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S, July 13, 2019. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Slide 1 of 17: Pictures A large section of Manhattan's Upper West Side and Midtown neighborhoods are seen in darkness from above during a major power outage on July 13, in New York City.
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1/17 SLIDES © Scott Heins/Getty Images
A large section of Manhattan's Upper West Side and Midtown neighborhoods are seen in darkness from above during a major power outage on July 13, in New York City.
Thousands of New Yorkers were without power as a major outage left portions of Manhattan in the dark and disrupted subway service across the city.
Slideshow by photo services
John McAvoy, Con Edison’s chairman and chief executive, suggested it was a mechanical failure but emphasized that the utility would not know the cause until an investigation was completed.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was more specific, saying the failure started with an explosion and fire at a substation that caused other substations to “lose power and malfunction.”
“Once we get past the emergency, then I want to know what the heck happened,” Mr. Cuomo told WABC-TV, “because this is not the first time we have had a substation issue.”
a store front at night© Michael Noble Jr. for The New York Times
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was in Iowa campaigning for his presidential bid, ruled out terrorism or criminal activity.
Con Edison customers “expect to have a system that contemplates, anticipates and prevents foreseeable occurrences,” he said.
The blackout happened on the same date that a large power failure in 1977 plunged the city into darkness. Now as then, Times Square — usually blindingly bright with tourists and crowds strolling to theaters — was dark, and traffic signals were out.
[See photos from the 1977 blackout that lasted more than a day.]
For several hours on Saturday night, the police asked drivers to avoid much of the West Side — the area between 42nd and 74th Streets, between Fifth and 12th Avenues.
At intersections, police officers and civilians worked together to direct traffic while fire trucks and ambulances screamed down side streets.
Two young women posed for a selfie in the middle of 46th Street before an officer rushed over and chastised them, saying, “Ladies, this is not the time.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subway, said the blackout affected the entire system, with limited service for a time on several lines.
Ellie Shanahan, 23, was on the A train between 50th and 59th Streets when the train stopped unexpectedly. She waited with the other passengers for nearly 20 minutes before an M.T.A. worker announced that there was a power outage and that there would be no train service between 59th and 163rd Streets.
After evacuating the subway station, she said, she noticed police officers trying to monitor the frantic crowds at 50th Street.
She got on a Citi Bike and rode it to 125th Street.
“What was craziest to me was there were no traffic lights,” Ms. Shanahan said. “I was in shock, but people still seemed to know what to do. Everyone was being polite, even though there were no lights to tell us when to go.”
May Martinez, 33, who lives in Inwood, said she got stuck on a different A train when the power went out.
“It was scary,” she said. “We were just wondering — are we going to sleep here?”
Ms. Martinez said the lights and air conditioning remained on, but the train stopped.
Eventually, she said, the train started, but the rest of its trip was erratic. It took 40 minutes to reach Columbus Circle, where she and the other passengers got off the train.
Most Broadway shows — including “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” “Hadestown,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Aladdin” — canceled their performances.
[Almost every Broadway show was canceled, but some casts serenaded patrons on thesidewalk.]
On the sidewalks outside the theaters, the casts staged impromptu outdoor shows. Performers from “Waitress” and “Come From Away” sang versions of songs from their shows, and actors from “Hadestown” improvised a blackout-themed rendition of one of its songs.
Carnegie Hall canceled all performances Saturday night. At Lincoln Center, a performance from the Mark Morris Dance Group was canceled, but outside, the Midsummer Night Swing band kept going.
Some took the blackout in stride.
Renee Chung, 35, of Brooklyn, was having dinner at a restaurant at 63rd Street and Broadway when the power went out.
“In New York, we’re used to things like this,” she said.
Ms. Chung said the restaurant was using an honor system for customers who did not have cash because its credit card machines were not working.
But then there was the challenge of getting home to Brooklyn.
“We’re just going to walk for a little bit and see what happens,” Ms. Chung said.
At the Jennifer Lopez birthday-themed extravaganza at Madison Square Garden, the power failure happened during the fourth song. The lights had been shining and the bass thumping and the opening notes of “Dinero,” Ms. Lopez’s hit Latin pop song, had sounded. A crew of dancers was onstage.
Suddenly, the lights went dark, and the speakers fell silent. The only sound was a live drum set, still playing as dancers continued their routine.
It soon became apparent that this was not part of the show.
Ms. Lopez appeared on the stage and seemed to be speaking. But with her microphone out, her message could not be heard.
After a while, a backup generator kicked in, and the lights came on. Minutes after that, a high-pitched chime sounded, and the audience was told to leave.
In the darkness outside, some fans were frustrated.
“I’ve waited my whole life to see Jennifer Lopez, and I didn’t get to see but five minutes of it,” said Jennifer Walker, 35, of Brentwood, N.Y.
Reporting was contributed by Neil Vigdor, Mariel Padilla, Liam Stack, Jeffery C. Mays, Nancy Coleman, Michael Paulson and Michael Gold.
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