77,000 people lost power in New York City power outage that knocked out train stations, elevators, and traffic lights amid transformer fire
J. David Ake/AP
A massive power outage struck uptown Manhattan Saturday evening, leaving people stranded in elevators, without traffic lights, and facing massive train delays.
Power was restored late Saturday night before midnight after New Yorkers were left in the dark for hours.
The New York City Fire Department told INSIDER the department was responding to a transformer fire at West 64th St. and West End Avenue.
Posts on social media showed people stranded in the neighborhoods, as the city's fire department told INSIDER it was responding to numerous reports of power outages in a 20-block radius.
Power was restored late Saturday after an outage that lasted hours struck uptown Manhattan, leaving some stranded in elevators, without traffic lights, and facing massive train delays.
Frank Gibbon, a spokesperson for the New York City Fire Department, told INSIDER the department was responding to numerous reports of stuck elevators and subway stations without power in a 20-block radius and a transformer fire at West 64th St. and West End Avenue.
The city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority tweeted that it had received reports of power outages across Manhattan and was "working to identify causes and keep trains moving." A spokesperson for Con Edison, the city's power provider, did not immediately return a request for comment.
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We're getting reports of power outages in station complexes throughout Manhattan. We're working to identify causes and keep trains moving. More information to come.
As of 11:00 p.m. Saturday, Con Edison's power outage map showed more than 70,000 customers had lost service, showing clusters of outages in blocks above 44th street and below 71st street.
WABC-7 reported that NYPD is directing traffic manually at intersections with dark traffic lights.
CNBC journalist Natalie Zhang shared a photo of a half-darkened Times Square, which stretches from West 42nd to West 47th streets.
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#Blackout in Manhattan. Half of Times Square remains on pic.twitter.com/vVW4n308g3
Those in the city's Midtown and Upper West Side neighborhoods posted on social media that massive crowds had formed on the streets as Lincoln Center was evacuated.
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Massive #PowerOutage in #NYC. Was watching The Farewell at AMC Lincoln Square when they ordered a mandatory evacuation pic.twitter.com/7Glb2rawNC
Power outages in the neighborhood's train stations forced people to the streets to trek out of the affected areas.
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The great migration: from an interrupted dinner at Columbus Circle turnstile all the way back to UWS... #poweroutage #NYC pic.twitter.com/lKAHzfdjeC
One person tweeted from the inside of an elevator.
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Power outage in parts of NYC! The view from an elevator stuck!🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/K4fXVofiVE
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