Were you ever in a New York City blackout?

I was there for the one in the 2000s. Forgot the exact year 2003?

Had to walk home from 23rd street to 102nd Street. Everyone was walking in the street. It was summer and really hot - hard to sleep without AC.

Those are my memories from it.

I was in the one in Manhattan last summer - July 2019.

I was supposed to see Dear Evan Hansen, but was stuck in my hotel room on the 31st floor. Not stuck, I suppose I could have walked down all those stairs if I really needed to. The power did come back in a few hours but it was a surreal experience.

I've been in a bunch of them, the first in 1965.

Yep. I was on the Broadway line between Lexington and Queensboro Plaza when the power cut off in 1977. It was July and hotter than the hinges of hell without fans. Opening windows didn't help. Plus the pumps that removed East River water that leaked into the tunnel stopped working. Jeebus it was bad.

R4, that sounds hellish. How long were you stuck on the subway?

Elder here. My friend and I were driving from Long Island to New York City on that blistering hot summer night in 1977. As we caught the first glimpse of Manhattan from the Long Island Expressway, I turned to my friend and said “where is the city; where are the lights”? In any event, we cautiously plowed ahead in pitch darkness, and long story short, wound up at Ty’s bar in the Village, drinking warm beer by candlelight. Good times. The “action” on the corner of Christopher St, the W. Side Highway, and the piers, was a fuck-fest on steroids. I also experienced the blackouts in 1965 and 2003. Brutal.

R6 again. This is exactly what we saw while driving towards the city. Skyline of Manhattan -1977 Blackout. Creepy, mysterious.

My then gf/later ex-wife and I were in the audience of the Broadway play, “Otherwise Engaged,” starring Tom Courtenay. About halfway through the second act, the stage lights went out, but the emergency lights above the proscenium came on. The actors stopped, and the stage manager walked out, and announced there was a citywide blackout, and what would we like to do : leave, and return another day, or for them to finish what was left?

Amidst general muttering, some wag in the back yelled out, “Play out the play!” So they did, but somewhat perfunctorily, with the stage manager standing to one side, announcing stage directions. It didn’t take long, the cast took their bows to preoccupied applause, and we all filed out onto W. 48th St.

Normally, we’d have taken the subway back to where we lived in Brooklyn Heights. But, since that was out, we went to catch a bus downtown, then walk over Brooklyn Bridge.. Times Square was full of disoriented people, many sitting on the sidewalk, trying to figure out what to do. All in the dark, with vehicle lights providing the only illumination. I saw a downtown bus, grabbed her hand, and we ran for it. We paid fares, but, after a while, the driver just let people ride free.

We got off at Chambers St., and started walking towards the bridge. There was a large crowd slowly heading there. But my gf said, “Nothing doing,” and held out her thumb. This guy stopped immediately, and took us over the bridge in no time, dropping us off on the other side, not so far from where we lived. So we actually ended up getting home faster than we would have, had we waited for the crowded after theater subway from Times Square.

We were very lucky. A guy I knew, in the cast of a play I was doing, told us all he’d got stuck in a subway under the East River, people panicked, but somehow he was able to make his way in the dark tunnel to the first stop in Brooklyn, and walk home from there. But it sure rattled him.

There were other, fonder reactions. Someone else I knew had been up at Lincoln Center, watching the Irene Worth “”Cherry Orchard,” where the audience also wanted them to continue. So they brought out lit lanterns around the stage, which my friend said was magical. Other performances stopped and gave refunds. Restaurants and delis gave away all their ice cream. Bar crowds spilled out into the street. My gf and I shared everything we had in our freezer. There were lots of outdoor barbecues.

A dicey situation for some turned out well for many.

Forgot to include this was during the 1977 blackout.

1965, 1977 and 2003.

In 2003 I managed to catch an “express” bus . It took about 4 hours to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn. I jumped in the shower when I finally got home, and discovered that there was no water. The power finally came on in my area mid afternoon on the following day.

I fucked my way through Central Park.

Which one? All of 'em.

I walked from the UES back home to Brooklyn Heights. It was party party all the way with restaurants bringing out their chilled beer out on the sidewalks.

I tried to get laid on the way but my slutty meth head fb was probably already getting ploughed already.

Boro prez Markowitz welcomed us home on the other side of Brooklyn Bridge. Nice memories.

[quote] I was in the one in Manhattan last summer - July 2019. I was supposed to see Dear Evan Hansen, but was stuck in my hotel room on the 31st floor.

So were you able to get a refund for your ticket?

I was in my Greenwich Village apartment talking with a friend in Murray Hill when the lights went out in 1977. I was never certain whether the phone went out simultaneously; either it did or my friend hung up. My roommate knew she had candles and a flashlight in a kitchen drawer, so she got those out and lit the place up as best she could.

After a couple of minutes, we decided to go outside, and we made our way down the stairs using our cigarette lighters and holding onto the banister in the stairwell. We could see and hear there was already kind of a party starting as we walked towards the perceptible crowd on University Place. Car headlights provided most of the light IIRC.

After eating a little free food at one of the restaurants, I went to my boyfriend's apartment and spent the rest of the night having sex in the dark. It was a good night. The next day was brutally hot, but being outdoors was more comfortable than being indoors.

Blackout of July 13, 1977 at the ice cream store Mother Bucka's on 8th Street and MacDougals.

2003 blackout. Hot af with power out overnight. No a/c, no fans. I remember lying in bed with my then partner and sweating all night long.

No, but I've been caught between the moon and New York City.

R17 =

2003, I lived on the UES and had just finished taking a shower. I wasn't sure what had occurred ( was it my apartment, was it the block) so I walked a couple of blocks to a friend's apartment. He was prepared for an apocalypse so we had a crank radio, flaslighs, batteries, etc. We went out for brick oven pizza and had a fun evening.

i cannot imagine the fear of being in NYC in 1977 during a city-wide blackout.

I remember this Time Magazine cover

Oh look 👀 black people looting... AGAIN

There wasn’t a blackout in July 2019. Last one was 2003. The whole city lost power.

The upper west side losing power for 5 hours in July 2019 is not a blackout. Bitch please.

[quote]i cannot imagine the fear of being in NYC in 1977 during a city-wide blackout.

Fear? It was fabulous. Ask r14.

R22, you will lose to Biden.

I experienced all three - 1965, 1977 and 2003 - exactly where I am today, 20 miles north of Manhattan in the suburbs. The last one was best because it happened on a late Summer afternoon when it was still light with another four hrs till dark. I was frantic, though, trying to locate my 73 year old mother who could barely walk. I feared she was stuck in lower Manhattan because she had a PT job there. Turns out she was with friends in a hotel on Long Island. I gave it to her big because she failed to call and tell me!

2003. It was hot and miserable. Was just starting law school.

So much cock during those... mmm

We were on that damn train for hours R5. MTA eventually sent one of their diesel-powered maintenance locomotives to tow us out. By the time they did, the water level in the tunnel was already above the 3rd rail. Since all windows were open, the diesel exhaust trapped in the tunnel flowed into the car. It was so toxic I had to yank the collar of my t-shirt up to cover my nose and mouth.

I walked from Wall Street all the way to Queens. It took me 3 1/2 hours to get home arriving about 1:00am. Took a cold shower and slept like a very tired baby.