New York City blackout of 1977 facts for kids

The New York City blackout of 1977 was a huge power outage that hit most of New York City on July 13–14, 1977. Only a few places, like parts of southern Queens and some buildings with their own power, still had electricity. This blackout was different from others because it only affected New York City. It also led to a lot of looting and arson (fires), which didn't happen in other major blackouts.

How the Blackout Started

Lightning Strikes Cause Problems

The blackout began on July 13 at 8:34 p.m. A lightning strike hit Buchanan South, a power substation near the Hudson River. This strike caused two circuit breakers to open. A substation helps change high-voltage electricity into lower voltage for homes and businesses.

Another lightning strike then hit two major power lines. This caused power from the Indian Point nuclear plant to stop flowing. Because of these strikes, other main power lines became overloaded. The power company, Consolidated Edison (Con Ed), tried to start a backup power station, but it didn't work.

At 8:55 p.m., another lightning strike hit a substation in Yonkers. This took out two more important power lines. Only one of these lines came back on automatically. This made the power situation even worse for Con Ed.

Trying to Reduce Power

At 9:14 p.m., power operators told Con Ed to "shed load." This means they needed to reduce the amount of electricity being used. Con Ed tried to do this by lowering the voltage across the city. This was a slow process.

At 9:19 p.m., the last major power connection to Upstate New York also failed. This caused other connections to Long Island and New Jersey to become overloaded.

At 9:22 p.m., the Long Island Lighting Company disconnected its power lines to Con Ed. They did this to protect their own system from being overloaded.

At 9:24 p.m., the Con Ed operator tried to manually turn off power to some customers. But this attempt failed. Five minutes later, at 9:29 p.m., another major connection to New Jersey failed. The Con Ed system then started to shut itself down automatically.

The Blackout Happens

Power Goes Out Across the City

Con Ed could not make enough power within New York City. The few power lines that brought electricity into the city were completely overloaded. Just after 9:27 p.m., the biggest power generator in New York City, called "Big Allis," shut down. When it went out, all of New York City went dark.

By 9:37 p.m., the entire Con Ed power system had shut down. This was about an hour after the first lightning strike. Operators began working to restore power by 10:26 p.m. However, it took until late the next day for all power to come back on.

Shea Stadium in the Dark

Shea Stadium went dark around 9:30 p.m. A baseball game between the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs was happening. The Mets were losing 2–1. The stadium's organist, Jane Jarvis, played "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas." The game was finished two months later, with the Cubs winning.

Power Comes Back On

Power started to come back on the next morning. Around 7 a.m. on July 14, a part of Queens was the first area to get electricity again. Soon after, Lenox Hill, Manhattan, also got power.

By 1:45 p.m., half of Con Ed's customers had their power back. Most of these were in Staten Island and Queens. It wasn't until 10:39 p.m. on July 14 that the entire city had power again.

Many New York City television stations were off the air for most of July 14. This was because their areas were still without power. However, WCBS-TV and WNBC-TV managed to stay on the air using their own generators.

What Happened After

Music and the Blackout

There's a story that the blackout helped start the hip hop music style. Some people say that looters stole DJ equipment from stores, and this helped spread the music. However, many early DJs, like Afrika Bambaataa, say this story is not true. They believe the blackout had nothing to do with the start of hip hop.

The musician David Bowie said the blackout might have influenced his 1977 song "Blackout." He wasn't sure, but thought the image of the blackout might have stayed in his mind.

Other Effects

The blackout also caused problems for the movie Superman, which was being filmed in the area.

The city received over $11 million from the government to help pay for the damages.

After the blackout, New York City made many changes to prevent similar events. Despite these changes, there was another big blackout in August 2003. That one was caused by a power failure far away in Ohio.

On July 13, 2019, exactly 42 years after the 1977 event, a smaller blackout happened in Manhattan. It affected about 73,000 people.

See also

In Spanish: Apagón de Nueva York de 1977 para niños