New York's Manhattan plunged into darkness after power outages

Manhattan went dark on Saturday night after a power cut, just as Saturday-night Broadway shows were set to begin

Times Square's billboards are dark after a power outage hit Manhattan in New York City. AFP

Screens in Times Square are black during a power outage in New York. AP

A police officer directs traffic with Times Square's dark billboards in the background after a power outage hit Manhattan in New York City. AFP

The sun sets behind 42nd Street in Manhattan during a power outage in New York City. AFP

The sun sets behind 42nd Street in Manhattan during a power outage in New York City. AFP

Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media after widespread power outages in the Manhattan borough of New York. Reuters

A residential building near the Times Square area, as a blackout affects buildings and traffic during widespread power outages in the Manhattan borough of New York. Reuters

People sit outside their residential building near the Times Square area. Reuters

People celebrate on 6th Ave after the lights came back on. AFP

Radio City Music Hall on 6th Ave is pictured after the lights came back on. AFP

People are evacuated outside Row NYC hotel. AFP

People walk along a dark street near the Times Square area. Reuters

A power cut crippled the tourist-filled heart of Manhattan just as Saturday night Broadway shows were set to start, sending theatregoers spilling into the streets, knocking out Times Square’s towering electronic billboards and bringing subway lines to a halt.

The New York City Fire Department said a transformer fire at West 64th Street and West End Avenue affected hundreds of thousands of customers along a 30-block stretch from Times Square to about 72nd Street and Broadway.

The fire happened just before 7pm US time on Saturday, authorities said.

Con Edison officials later said they were working to restore power to customers and businesses, primarily on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, by midnight.

The temperature was warm, above 26°C even as the sun set, but not as steaming as Manhattan can get in July.

Electricity reportedly failed early on Saturday evening at much of Rockefeller Center and reached the Upper West Side.

At Rockefeller Center, traffic lights were off. Some buildings in Rockefeller Plaza were illuminated, others were in darkness.

The power cut comes on the anniversary of the 1977 New York City outage that left most of the city without electricity.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement that, although no injuries had been reported, “the fact that it happened at all is unacceptable,” and the Department of Public Service would investigate the hours-long power cut.

Many Broadway musicals and plays cancelled their Saturday evening shows, including Hadestown, which last month won the Tony Award for best musical. Several cast members from the show put on an impromptu performance in the street outside the venue for disappointed audience members.

Emily Totero, 30, had planned to bring out-of-town guests to see Moulin Rouge. But once they got near Times Square, they saw the power go out.

“You could see all the theatre lights across the street, all the marquees went out. That’s what we noticed first,” she said.

Some Broadway shows, including Frozen, announced they had cancelled performances.

The power cut made its way to Madison Square Garden where Jennifer Lopez was on stage. Concertgoers said the venue went dark at about 9.30pm, in the middle of Lopez’s fourth song of the night. The arena was later evacuated. And at Penn Station, a major transport hub, officials used backup generators to keep their lights on.

When the lights went out early Saturday evening, thousands of people streamed out of darkened Manhattan buildings, crowding Broadway next to bumper-to-bumper traffic.

People in Hell’s Kitchen began directing traffic themselves as stoplights and walking signs went dark.

Ginger Tidwell, a dance teacher and Upper West Side resident, was about to order food at the West Side diner on Broadway and West 69th Street just before 7pm.

“When the lights started flickering, and then were out,” she said. “We got up and left, walking up Broadway with all the traffic lights out and businesses dark.”

But once they got to West 72nd Street, they found another cafe that was open and had power.

“It was still sunny and everyone just came out to the street because they lost power and air conditioning; it was super-crowded,” she said. “Everyone was hanging out on the street on a nice night. All you could hear was fire trucks up and down Broadway. All of Broadway was without traffic lights.”

Karen Janowsky, a vendor selling ponchos at a street fair on Sixth Avenue in Rockefeller Center, got caught in the blackout just as she was wrapping up for the day and taking some of the goods to her car parked in a garage two blocks away on West 49th Street. That kept her from driving her car to get the tables, chairs and racks – all stolen before she could rush back to get them

“I was alone and I couldn’t get to everything, so they stole my stuff,” she said, adding that she had no idea who the people who took her things may have been. “It was chaos, with fire engines and people packing the streets. When the lights went out, I was one minute from getting my car in the garage.”

She lost about $400 worth of set-up equipment for her goods.

“I’ve been stranded for the last three hours,” said Ms Janowsky. “I have another fair tomorrow, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.”