NYC Blackout Images and Captions

misc. | 8/15/03

[finnman69]

DAY TWO In Manhattan, the sun is rising but the lights are still out.

Commuters sleep on the steps of the Post Office on 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue in New York during the early hours of Friday, after being stranded by the city's electrical blackout.

A huge power failure swept through parts of the Northeast, Midwest and Canada on Thursday, shutting down trains, subways and airports from New York City to Detroit, forcing people into the streets.

At the ferry terminal on west 38th St., thousands of people without access to the subways and trains flocked to catch ferries, creating another form of gridlock.

Passengers on the downtown A train were stuck underground for two hours before being led out by MTA employees.

Waterway buses to Weehawken were filled to capacity.

Transit workers escorted riders off a subway car on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Pedestrians clogged the Brooklyn Bridge as the power outage brought life to a standstill.

Dozens of people at the Lincoln Tunnel jumped on a truck to get a ride through the tunnel to New Jersey.The police made them all get off the truck.

The hallways of Saint Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan were dark after the blackout. Power generators lit emergency and patient care areas.

The whole of the city was dark and the setting sun painted one building.

[finnman69]

Travelers wait in line at New York's LaGuardia Airport due to a massive blackout that hit much of the Northeast Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 in New York. Lingering power outages grounded airplanes and halted trains Friday, a day after a massive blackout in the eastern United States and southern Canada snarled transportation systems. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Bitchface blaming President Bush instead of faulting moron environmentalists who have been stalling against building power plants and transmission lines.

A New York City subway station sits empty early August 15, 2003 after the biggest power outage in North American history blacked New York City and other major U.S. and Canadian cities. New York City's subways have started getting power back in a few locations, but Con Edison has not said when the electricity will be fully restored, a New York City Transit spokeswoman said. Photo by Jeff Christensen/Reuters

Stranded air passengers cope with delays at LaGuardia Airport in New York August 15, 2003. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights as some of the world's biggest airports struggled to restore service on Friday in a second day of transportation chaos caused by a power blackout that swept much of the northeastern U.S. and Canada. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Improvising in the blackout, an Orthodox Jewish man reads by oil lamp inside the darkened recesses of the Lubavitcher World Headquarters, Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. According to Con Ed spokesman Michael Clendenin most of Staten Island and Westchester County had power back, but some customers who regained power lost it again, or were operating under reduced power. Less than half of customers in the city's other four boroughs had power, he said. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

A Consolidated Edison crew works on electrical connections in New York's Rockefeller Center, Friday, Aug. 15, 2003. Power was restored to half of New York City after a massive blackout hit much of the northeastern United States as well as parts of Canada. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Motorists and pedestrians jam traffic on the Brooklyn bridge after New York City ground to a halt from a power outage. A failure in a power plant in upstate New York sparked the massive blackout Thursday across the northeastern United States and southern Canada(AFP/Mandel Ngan)

Notice the guys hoisting their bikes up since there was no room to ride.

[Clemenza]

Wish they would have had a picture of me an my neighbors having an informal block party when the lights were out. My camera is busted. :-(

[KCmark]

I love New York.

[KCmark]

Even without electricity, I bet you can still feel the life of the city. It truely is something special. I envy your closeness, even in times like these. Someday, ....

[NYC GOP Chick]

I am *so* sorry that I had to switch back to RCN almost 2 years ago. I had switched from them to Verizon in June 2001 (I'd had enough with their erratic service that rivaled third world countries and dubious billing practices), but then Verizon had no idea when they could restore service after the terrorist attacks and RCN was back up and running, so I went with them.

Two weeks ago, they randomly shut off my phone service and finally deigned to come out here the next day to correct their screw up.

I was on the phone at 8:20 this morning when the phone just went dead. When I called them, they *so generously* said that they would be here any time between then and 9 p.m. The woman also had the brass balls to try to hang the blame on the blackout -- which had ended down here nearly 3 hours earlier. She said that if I wanted anything resembling a "time window," the best they could do is Sunday. Well, my whole building is out and these pricks have yet to show up. I'm warming up my vocal chords, because I'm going to call them in about 2 hours and you just might hear me.

[NYC GOP Chick]

Last evening, I was on a roof deck with my book and Walkman, and every time I heard his nasal whining, I switched to the crappy old tape in the Walkman.

[mathluv]

i heard about some of those on Hannity last night.

[Clemenza]

Yeah it was great. We all sat/stood on the sidewalk drinking beers (courtesy of the bar in my building) and shooting the bull. When the lights came on at 3:30 everyone cheered.

[cake_crumb]

"Last evening, I was on a roof deck with my book and Walkman, and every time I heard his nasal whining, I switched to the crappy old tape in the Walkman."

Great idea (shame it was a crappy tape, but that doesn't say much for Bloomie's voice, either)

[hellinahandcart]

Just got my lights back about an hour ago.

I've certainly had better days than this one. >:P

[hellinahandcart]

You should have heard the cheering on the streets when the power came back on. It was better than the World Series in 1996.

I am hoping to have ice cubes by midnight.

[ErnBatavia]

Mega bummer! And to think I was grouchy because it was 115 on Wednesday, and my air conditioning repairman decided it was too hot for him to finish up that day...leaving us rather balmy in the house until the next morning.

[lawdude]

I'll just bet there was some extra fickie-fick taking place last night. Watch in May 2004 for a spike in births.

[RightWhale]

Very good satellite images. Tnx.

[nutmeg]

Mayor Doofus stood in the middle of the bridge to shake people's hands and get some face time, but only served to block foot traffic and got heckled for it, from what I understand.

I guess that's why some FReepers call him "BloomingIdiot" or "Blunderberg"! Glad to see you back online. :-)

[nutmeg]

Wow, amazing photos! Thanks for posting them and creating this thread.

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[nutmeg]

Just got my lights back about an hour ago.

Yay! Glad you're back. :-)

[hellinahandcart]

That would make me grouchy too. Normally, I flip out without airconditioning.

Last night I couldn't even use a fan, but I just had to file it under "Whaddya gonna do?" At least I had running water (a lot of buildings didn't).

I also had my emergency supplies already in order months ago, thanks to my nagging mom, and I broke into it for the first time last night.