Aerial views show glowing skyscrapers amid partial blackout in Manhattan. (Image via: New York Post)

Major Blackout in New York City

NEW YORK CITY - A blackout occurred on early Saturday night throughout Manhattan, especially the tourist destination landmarks. According to the New York City Fire Department, the blackout was caused by transformers explosion engulfing Times Square to 72nd Street, Broadway, and Central Park in darkness, about 30-block stretch.

Around Times Square, billboards only showed black screens. A power provider, Consolidate Edison (Con Edison) calculated that there were around 42,000 customers and people around the area were affected by the blackout. Some buildings had to rely on their own generators to fuel electricity into their buildings.

Due to the blackout, many passengers were trapped inside subway and cable cars, Broadway had to cancel its shows, and pedestrians had to direct traffic since traffic lights are not functional. For the disappointed audience of Broadway, the cast of the theatrical play went down the streets to perform on the streets to make it up for them.

Take a story from Emily Totero who planned to invite her guests from out of town to see Moulin Rouge, however, as soon as they reached Theatre District, the blackout occurred.

Currently, New York authorities are struggling to restore power back to the state, mainly Upper West Side and West Side of Manhattan where businesses are mainly located. But on Saturday at 11 p.m., Con Edison managed to restore 5 out of 6 power back to life.

Meanwhile, the blackout came on the anniversary day of 1977 New York City blackout that led to widespread looting and left the city powerless from 13-14 July, exactly what had happened today and yesterday.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/manhattan-power-outage-new-york-city-coned-subway-electricity-a9003966.html