Power returning after massive New York City outage

New York power outage: What we know so far

• Power is returning after parts of New York City suffered an outage at 6:47 p.m.
• Con Edison CEO John McAvoy said about 72,000 customers were affected at the height of the outage.
• 8th Ave. was closed from 42nd St. to 72nd St.
• The cause is being investigated.
• Four subway stations lost power, impacting several subway lines.
• Several Broadway productions canceled Saturday night’s shows, but some actors took to the streets to perform.

Parts of New York City went dark Saturday in a massive power outage that affected 72,000 customers at its height, the CEO of New York City’s utility company, Con Edison, said. John McAvoy said the cause was still under investigation, but said it was unlikely to be a manhole fire or an excessive load of power.

The power went out at 6:47 p.m. from West 42nd St. to West 72nd St. and from 5th Ave. west to the Hudson River. Five of the six networks were restored by 10:30 p.m., McAvoy said.

There were no reported injuries, the New York City Office of Emergency Management said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is campaigning in Iowa as he seeks the 2020 Democratic nomination, said he would be returning to New York City by Sunday morning.

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson tweeted that Con Edison’s CEO told him there was a “a major disturbance” at West 49th Street Substation.

The New York City Office of Emergency Management activated its emergency operations center. The New York City transit system worked with Con Ed to restore power in affected subway stations. Photos of darkened subway stations were shared on social media.

The Fire Department of New York said it responded to multiple calls of people stuck in elevators.

The CBS Broadcast Center was affected and temporarily turned to generator power. NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza also lost power.

Jennifer Lopez was performing at Madison Square Garden when the power went out. The venue was evacuated due to security concerns.

The Millennial Choirs and Orchestras took their performance to the streets outside Carnegie Hall.

A power outage in New York, but it couldn’t stop the Millennial Choirs and Orchestras, creating a makeshift stage right outside Carnegie Hall. #nycblackout pic.twitter.com/fPQJzvTS1t

— Ravi Agrawal (@RaviReports) July 14, 2019

Several Broadway shows canceled their Saturday night performances, including Hamilton, Hadestown, Aladdin, Frozen, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg and The Cher Show.

Erich Bergen, who is in the Waitress musical, tweeted video of show’s stars taking their performance to the street.

The @WaitressMusical cast is prepared to entertain, power or not! @SaraBareilles #broadway #blackoutnyc pic.twitter.com/rkTYpJ2N8h

— Erich Bergen (@erichbergen) July 14, 2019

Chad Kimball of Come From Away also tweeted those stars were performing.

Impromptu performance #broadwayblackout @wecomefromaway pic.twitter.com/PfHYZeFJ6v

— Chad Kimball (@chadkimball1) July 14, 2019

Coincidentally, Saturday’s power outage struck on the 41st anniversary of the 1977 blackout, which lasted until July 14. New York City went dark during the 2003 blackout of the East Coast and again after Superstorm Sandy struck in 2012.