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Fire edison plant manhattan { August 14 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.wnbc.com/news/2406659/detail.htmlhttp://www.wnbc.com/news/2406659/detail.html
Massive Power Outage Cripples New York Area
Report: Fire At Con Edison Plant May Be Cause
POSTED: 5:00 p.m. EDT August 14, 2003
UPDATED: 5:56 p.m. EDT August 14, 2003
A massive power outage struck the eastern United States and parts of Canada on Thursday afternoon, knocking out some telephone and subway service and sending office workers streaming into the streets.
The outage hit all the boroughs of New York and a number of suburban areas shortly after 4 p.m.
The blackout is hitting parts of Westchester and Rockland counties, as well as areas of Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Affected cites include Albany, Syracuse, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto and Ottawa.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office says this is the result of "natural use of electricity" and that there is "no evidence at this moment" the outage was connected to terrorism. He warns New Yorkers to expect the outage to last late into the night.
A senior police official also said there was no evidence of terrorism.
Bloomberg said the outage appeared connected to a malfunction near Niagara Falls. Officials said they were working to determine the extent of the outage.
"Apparently, for reasons that we don't yet know, it cascaded down through New York state," the mayor said. "The likely expectation is a few hours at a very minimum, and maybe well into the evening, before power comes back on."
WNBC reported that the outage may have been triggered by an overload at the Mohawk Niagara power grid. It may also be connected to a reported fire at a Consolidated Edison plant on 14th Street in Manhattan, but that has not been confirmed.
"We believe it was a cascading effect that may have originated in Canada," said Joy Faber, a spokeswoman for Consolidated Edison, New York City's primary power provider.
Black smoke poured into the air from a power substation near 14th Street in New York, but Bloomberg said that was normal -- a function of the automatic shutdown of some of the city power system.
In Manhattan, the power outage means that subways have stopped in their tracks, stranding thousands in the dark tunnels underground. It was not immediately clear what had happened to passengers who were on trains and between stations when the outage struck.
Thousands of workers are trapped in elevators in city high-rise buildings, as the blackout hit near the close of business. Street lights are not working so the traffic has come to a standstill and pedestrians are streaming onto the roadways, trying to get home.
In New York City, downtown streets were jammed with office workers walking north, trying to get home in a scene reminiscent of the first hours of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Pedestrians also streamed across the Brooklyn Bridge.
"People that would normally be inside are outside because they are baking in their buildings," said James Thompson, who works in midtown Manhattan.
There were also long lines for pay phones as cell phone service was disrupted.
Bloomberg urged people to drink plenty of fluids, open windows and take their time walking on a day when temperatures in Manhattan soared into the mid-90s.
The Port Authority is pulling busses off the roadways, because the stop lights are not working. There are no Port Authority trains working.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the outage has not shut down their facilities, and they have gone to using back up generators.
New York City airports stopped all takeoffs but allowed incoming flights to land. No flights destined for New York from other cities were allowed to take off, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac said.
Many stores closed because they were without lights and electricity for cash registers.
Because traffic lights were also out, passersby were directing traffic in midtown Manhattan, where streets were clogged with traffic. Generally, people on the streets were calm.
Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuter trains lost power, leaving thousands of rush hour commuters stuck on trains.
"We're trying to asses the extent of this and locate all our stuck trains," said Marjorie Anders, spokeswoman for Metro-North.
City Hall is operating on a backup generator and has power although most electricity, including air conditioners had been shut off.
In Times Square, Giovanna Leonardo, 26, was waiting in a line of 200 people for a bus to Staten Island. All the famed neon lights in Times Square were off, leaving sunlight as the only source of light.
"I'm scared," Leonardo said. "It's that unknown 'what's going on' feeling. Everyone's panicking. The city's shutting down."
Cathy Ley, 46, a tourist from Wisconsin, came out of her Times Square hotel, joining thousands of others on the street.
"We wanted to come out where there was light," she said. "We want to see the lights tonight. We hope it doesn't last too long."
Copyright 2003 by WNBC.com The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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