As we reach the top of the hour, the mayor of new york, bill de blas blasio, is tweeting about all of this and mentioning the Fire Department and the city agencies are responding and trying to get this power outage fixed here in new york city. It was all due to a manhole fire that took place earlier this evening. The disruption is significant. And we do say good afternoon and good evening, everybody, if youre tuning in at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. 6 00 p. M. On the west coast. A massive power outage that has taken place about 6 45 p. M. Thousands of people are without power. Weve been watching new yorks times square where you can see to the left of the scene. Many buildings are without power. They have not been restored of yet. Con ed is telling us that full power will be restored by 10 30
p. M. Eastern. The other big story is Tropical Storm barry. It is moving at eight miles an hour, slowly making its way me andiering through new orleans. It is Dumping Rain On Ruining Rouge Biffle the time all of this is over, and that wont be very long. Thank god they have ligts. Were getting people out of those elevators. So it is an emerging situation, i am told by the plarlt. Checking in with our federal partners, we see no indication of foul play. Very, very important. This appears to be a mechanical problem but it is early
information and we need to get more before we can get people a fuller picture. How long would it typically take. If people are stuck in an elevator, usually the Fire Department and Police Department can get them quickly out. Were waiting for information on how many elevators and how many people. Were talking about a very limited area geographically. I think we can act on it very quickly but the most important thing is to see where it is going overall. So youre not in new york city. Ill know in the next short while what you whatever the duration is expect to be and then ill make that
derrellation. Have there been any injuries reported . No, thank god. This is an eamericani americai. No reports so far. Just stay tuned. Very important. Well know a lot more in the next hour or two. Wheres the best place to check for information . 311. Our city website. There is the notify nyc. All media will be put out. There you have it. Mayor Bill De Blasio is a president ial candidate. Hes been in touch with the new York City Management crews and the new york Police Department and Fire Department as well as con edison and they are working to Restore Power here to new
york city. As the sun has set, it has been fascinating to watch this picture of times square. Have you havent seen this, were looking north. There is a hotel. It used to be a sheraton times square. There areal many broadway suppose would be playing out just to the left of that screen with people who have come into new york city on this july day to see hamilton and so many other shows. Those are in the dark as a result of all of this. There are people dealing with it as far as 21st street including our producer adam reese who is
joining us. Youre not too far from lincoln center. Walk us through it. Im right across the street from lincoln center. Im going to swing the camera around. Weve seen it go from light to dusk to now almost pitch black on the Upper West Side of manhattan. You see a lot of police vehicles, people Walking Around. This would typically be a busy Upper West Side. Typically these restaurants would be filled with customers. People eating outside. Right now theyre pretty much elliot. Theyre having fun with it all. Theyre sitting outside with some lamps and having some drinks. Traffic seem to be moving. Volunteering. Directing traffic. Again, youre seeing lots of police and Fire Activity out here on the streets on the Upper West Side. People going about their business of i did see people with lamps and flashlights of pretty much every building as far as i can tell. All the way down to time warner center. People seem to be out of power. They might have emergency generators. Weve seen lots of buses. This one that youre seeing now not in service. Many buses coming north have been packed. The safest way to get around this evening is on a surface bus. There you see a fire truck. Were seeing lots of fire trucks going to buildings. Helping people out. There might have been people stuck in elevators. It is that kind of thing. So far people taking in it stride here on the Upper West Side. Not much of a choice here on a warm evening in new york city. This is a live picture on the lefthand side. This is the Upper West Side of manhattan. Normally these streets would be parked with people and vehicles and the streets would be absolutely lit up. I believe i know that march area. Lincoln center would be about a block south of where youre pointing your camera at and they would be having some performances as well. To the bottom right of the
screen. It is barely recognizable. Our building here, it is filled with meant of shops. The top of the rock is very popular and would be on a night like this with thousands of tourists going to the top to look at the landscape and the skyline. The marquis shut down. Dark. This is being streamed on facebook right now. Back to adam right there. I do know we have a lot of Emergency Officials who have been out there on the streets. A lot of people are still trapped. Have you gotten a sense of whether the subways are still shut down . Have they shut down the stops . Im not sure. I did hear people going down with their flashlights looking
to see if the subway was running. Thats not clear. I can tell that you the buses are running and they are packed. People using Surface Transportation just to keep it safe. Not taking any chances. We see a bus coming up here. Coming up broadway and it is just packed. People looking to get hole. Le people have not been through a blackout before. We were here 20 years ago. The first thing we noticed 20 years ago was when the Street Lights went out. Then we knew something was wrong. Thats what happened this evening when the Street Lights went out. Phone calls were being made. And soon enough, people realized that there were buildings and whole areas of the Upper West Side without power. Here you see this bus coming
out. Take a look at that bus. Just packed as people make their way home during the blackout. I know that bus very well. It goes straight to the Upper West Side. People are probably looking at this and saying it is coastal. You have thousands of people, possibly hundreds of thousands without power. There are many, many people were told who are trapped on subways, trapped in elevators. You have a lot of elderly people who may not be with any sort of help right now. So this is going on more than two hours. Con edison is saying the lights will be back on at 10 30 eastern time. It doesnt appear as if it is getting back on any time soon. Lets me bring in Jonathan Dienst from wnbc. I know youve been here a long time. Youve weathered many a situation like this. You are here in 2003. Very early to compare any situation but what happens when you have Something Like this thank city this big . Well, the Police Department and Fire Department flood the zone in terms of trying to make sure everyone remains calm and safe. To give you an idea, you see the 41,000 customers. Manhattan has a population, from the 40s through 90s, youre talking about a population of over 200,000 people. That is not to say the entire area the affected by the blackout. It goes to 72nd street. But it gives you an idea of the number of people impacted. My colleague confirmed what i had heard regarding the mta. Theres no one reported stuck on any trains but the trains on many of the west side stations are not running at this hour. And you hear about the buses being packed. The Port Authority bus terminal, a major entry point for commuters coming from new jersey. Thats operational. Buses coming from building in are running normal as of now. But the elevators and escalators are not working. They do have backup power for lighting but thats an example of Whats Going On in the major
knows in new york. From the west side to the river, youre looking at apartment building, apartment building, business after business without power unless they have generators. Again, all this appears to have been caused as a result of a Manhole Explosion and transformer fire. There were two instances. As a result, there is no power no, lights in many buildings at many intersections on the west side of manhattan Impacting Tens Of Thousands of people. As we look at 30 rockefeller plaza, i cant help but think, we hope everybody is safe but this will be an expensive blackout. Fifth avenue. Many of those shops. As we look ahead, thats fifth
avenue. Normally you would be looking at saks fifth avenue. Many are shut down much less the restaurants, hotels impacted by this. It depends how long this goes on. If con ed can get a lot back up by 10 30, the Economic Impact will be it will take its toll on some Business Buzz it will be a one day, one evening event. The bigger question is that everyone is calm and safe. It is making sure the intersections remain open and safe and anyone trapped in an elevator is rescued quickly and as they go building to building,
once they get in, the Fire Department is very good at getting people out. But helping people when they dont have much clarity on it. To paint a picture of the time of situations that Emergency Personnel are dealing with. It is having a large impact. Those are live cameras. The lighting situation, its not because were not very good at lighting. Thats just how new york city looks right now. You see Emergency Officials making their way through those are the only lights that weve been seeing over the last couple hours. Lets go to kurt. Where are you . Reporter hey, cheers from the darkened Warwick Hotel about three and a half blocks from 30 rock. The entire hotel is dark . Reporter ill tell you. It was kind of eerie. I got in from d. C. Literally 45 seconds arrest i walked off the elevator to my floor, the power went out. At first you think this is just an isolated incident. Is it the room . The floor . Then you start realizing that it is much bigger than that. Then you sbrun the long it is particularal challenges. People are trying to figure out how to get into the stair cases. You have a lot of elderly people. People with luggage, baggage. It is an entire sequence you never think about. It has 36 stories, more than 400
rooms. Has the busy saturday. No doubt they were at 90, 95 occupancy. The lights go out and you have people trapped at the 36th floor. That is just one hotel. They may or may not have backup elevators. You saw it. I think ths that question. What is it . Is it temporary . And then the practical situation. Its warm out. There is no air conditioning. How will people get from point a to point b . How will people eat . You saw a lot of the restaurants surrounding the area. Theyre not able to service anyone. People saying, we cant serve beverages. We cant cook anything. It is an entire conundrum. Maybe you take an uber or a cab . The Street Lights are out. It really becomes a complete logistical nightmare. Whether youre a tourist or a restaurant or trying to get around on a Saturday Night in new york city. People are trying to figure out, how do they get any information . Its not like they can turn on the tv when theres no power. Yeah. I appreciate you being there and giving us that perspective. My colleague is joining me here in studio. Patiently waiting for me. You know what . We bring you into the conversation. I want to show you a fascinating photo from the new jersey side of the hudson that kind of, i believe, captures what is going
on here. You see all the lights. The blue sphere, i believe, is battery park and south. 42nd street. Thats the divide. On the left is the Upper West Side. Were familiar with the former trump buildings, the Apartment Buildings, in the dark. Where that happened, there are people currently stuck in the elevator. He said theres no indication of foul play. This is a mechanical issue. And you think, im not sure how long youve been in new york. He was speaking to the hearts of new yorkers. Im not sure how many Text Messages you got. This is foul may. That was men to put new yorkers at ease. As we see the dna of the city change. People in manhattan were inventioned. But knowing that this is limited
to a specific geographical area is an important thing to remember. The Fire Department is also saying that theyre asking people to only call if there is an emergency because theyve had a spike in the volume coming through. Theyve asked people to avoid those low lying areas. I know you were outside of the studio. What is it looking like . Are you now seeing lights come on slowly again . Reporter unfortunately no, lights just yet. Right behind me is radio city music hall. You can see the whole building is still dark right now. Typically this building would be glowing. Specially iconic sign that says radio city. You can see this is a busy Saturday Night. A lot of these folks are tourists. We had a couple of chances. A group of young girls, thousands of children who were singing and they were about to perform when the lights went out. Head to streak building. They said the concert kind of wont impromptu outside. These are the stories that were hearing as we come across some of these folks who kind of come through our live shot. Theyre sharing stories about things that have gone awry. A lot of these shows have been canceled as well. A lot of them had plans to go see the shows but now they dont know what theyre going to do with their tickets. Theyre Walking Around explore. Were seeing it monitoring the situation there was a street fair so the barricades are up. This is tourist central. Folks are kind of enjoying there city. There are a lot of restaurants. A lot of stores that would still be open at this hour. People are passing the time in other ways. Seeing the city in the dark. People are saying this is the first time in new york city for they will but theyre still enjoying a nice evening out. We were told that. Go ahead. It is interesting how people are coming together. Were seeing on social media these powerful images of people outside carnegie hall. To people jumping in to help direct traffic. Exactly. These are Ladies And Gentlemen outside operating for example the local food stand and theyre
getting in and helping direct traffic and pitching in. So thank you for staying on that situation. I want to turn to our executive producer, dan. Take a look at that picture. This is a live picture from earth camp. And you can see how much, what part of the city right there is in darkness. Times square right in the middle of it. It is powerful. You can see the spire lit up with everything around it completely in black. Can you tell us where you were when the explosion happened . Reporter yes. [ inaudible ]. Youre breaking up. You said you were at 43rd . Is that correct . I think were losing dan. Were losing dan. Hopefully well get him back. It sounds like he was in midtown where he lost some power. Tell us what youre seeing. It caused so many people to get on their mobile devices so the service in midtown, manhattan. You wont be getting a lot of service. Through south of midtown, you have people helping each other out. It has been a relatively light atmosphere. Certainly concerns about security at a hotel that im staying at. Three individuals have been stuck in elevators. The new york Fire Department immediately on the scene. Two people have been extracted. They have a third person theyre getting out. You see people hoping that it comes back on later tonight. For now, it is strange to see sole people moving about, striking up conversations. Certainly, a big change as you come from midtown and the lights do come back on. I believe 30 something street. So were tracking that as well. And you mentioned the could have been edison said they are attempting to get it back on by 10 30. That would be four hours after the lights went out. For people tuning in, as you watch this Blackout Taking place now, in its third hour here in new york city, wrap your head around the fact on this very day in 1977 was a massive, massive blackout that took out many,
many, many millions of new yorkers including in the burroughs. The Upper West Side is a place largely impacted by this. This is a 1977 picture. It when the lights went out for well over a day. Adam is joining us again on the Upper West Side. I know you were walking near lincoln center. No doubt going to be the scene of plenty of popular shows. Were watching your live pictures right now. I would not be able to tell who is in front of me based on those images right now. Are those people with candles . Reporter we are at 70th street. Weve made our way up from 63rd street. This is a cafe where people are having wine. Theyre doing the best they can. What i want to show you is something really interesting. Were making our way north. Were