NEW YORK — A massive power outage on a hot Saturday night packed the streets of Manhattan with people using cellphones as flashlights amid bumper-to-bumper traffic and a cacophony of sirens and honks.
Con Edison officials say a substation caused the power failure at 6:47 p.m., affecting 73,000 customers for more than three hours along a 30-block stretch from Times Square to 72nd Street and Broadway, and spreading to Rockefeller Center. An investigation will determine the exact cause of the blackout, which New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called “unacceptable.”
The energy utility said power was restored to customers and businesses in midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side was restored by about midnight.
The pre-sunset outage shut down restaurants and Broadway shows and had people scrambling outside in search of waning daylight.
The Associated Press
