In hours of darkness, New York says ‘the show must go on’

At Madison Square Garden, the blackout put a sudden stop to a Jennifer Lopez concert, plunging the arena into darkness.

When a massive power outage plunged much of Manhattan on the anniversary of the 1977 blackout that hit almost the entire city, a choir and the casts of Broadway musicals entertained tourists with impromptu performances on the street.

People walk along a dark street near Times Square in Manhattan, New York on Sunday. (Reuters Photo)

A transformer explosion knocked out power across 30 blocks from the iconic Times Square to 72nd Street and the Rockefeller Center, affecting more than 73,000 homes and businesses.

The outage struck at around 7pm (2300 GMT), just as many shows were starting at theatres in Midtown and at the Lincoln Center plaza on New York City’s Upper West Side. The city’s main utility said it had restored most power within hours.

With subway stations and traffic lights suddenly dark, thousands of people spilled outside on a hot summer’s night. Some were surprised by what they found, including writer Briallen Hopper, who had been trapped on a subway train for an hour.

“I guess this is what they call a New York moment,” she wrote on Twitter with a video of a choir singing at sunset. “I emerged to see dark restaurants & traffic lights, civilians directing traffic, & an evacuated Carnegie Hall concert happening in the street.”

Also unexpected were scenes of multiple civilians who stepped into always-busy intersections to help direct traffic snarled by the lack of traffic lights.

One middle-aged man in shorts and a red tank-top managed the flow of vehicles at one junction for at least 45 minutes, drawing plaudits on social media.

In a photo on Twitter taken after darkness fell, one civilian was seen directing traffic in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood with a toy light saber.

At Madison Square Garden, the blackout put a sudden stop to a Jennifer Lopez concert, plunging the arena into darkness.

“I am obviously heartbroken and devastated,” Bronx native Lopez said in a video clip she sent in a Twitter post for her fans. “I love you. I am so sorry this happened in the middle of our moment, at our show”

All Broadway theatres were closed due to the blackout except for the Winter Garden Theater, Nederlander Theater, and Lyceum Theatre, authorities said.

But among those entertained theatregoers with off-the-cuff performances nonetheless were the casts of the musicals “Waitress,” “Hadestown”, “Come From Away”, and “Rock Of Ages”.

One Twitter user named Antony posted video of the cast of “Hamilton: An American Musical” singing from theater windows to the crowds in the street below.

“It was awesome!” he wrote.

Shouts of celebration could be heard in parts of Manhattan as power was restored by midnight, bringing lights and air conditioners back to life. No deaths or injuries were reported due to the blackout.

The cause of the outage was unclear, John McAvoy, chief executive of utility Con Edison said, adding, “It does not appear related to excessive load.”

New York has endured large-scale blackouts before, most recently following Superstorm Sandy in 2012 as well as the widespread 2003 blackout across the US Northeast that left most of the city without power for a day.

A New York blackout that crippled the city during a heat wave on July 13, 1977, sparked rioting and looting. Power was not restored until the next day.