8/11/2013
By Ivan Pereira and Rebecca Ungarino
When the lights went out on Aug. 14, 2003, in the middle of a muggy afternoon, New Yorkers didn’t panic, complain or become violent, like many did during the previous major power outage in 1977.
In fact, the city’s Office of Emergency Management, Con Edison and residents say the 29-hour outage made the Big Apple stronger.
“In 2003 … we got through that with flying colors,” said Kelly McKinney, OEM’s deputy commissioner for planning and preparedness. “We keep getting by like that in every situation.”
Jose Perez, 32, who was living in the same Lower East Side public housing complex that he resides in today, said his time in the dark wasn’t too stressful.
“We were on the fourth floor at the time, fortunately, so we had all right water pressure,” he said. “It wasn’t very good, but we had some.”
New Yorkers had to cope with life sans electricity and, most important, their air conditioners. The mercury reached a high of 93 degrees.
“I was in shock,” said Anna Nagy, 68, an East Village resident of 30 years. “All my frozen food was thawed.”
With the subway halted and buses jammed, many New Yorkers had to walk home.
Some New Yorkers who lived in the city during the blackout said it helped them grow closer to their fellow city residents.
“People went with the natural flow of things,” said Yael Ryzowy, 31, of Brooklyn.
“I always say I’m going to be prepared for another one,” he said while laughing.”
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Major Blackouts in NYC history
Nov. 9, 1965
New York, along with six other states, goes dark for 13 hours.
Feb. 2, 1971
An explosion at a Con Ed facility caused a blackout in parts of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.
July 13-14, 1977
Another Con Ed failure caused the entire city to go dark and resulted in widespread looting, arson and other mayhem.
Aug. 14, 2003
A computer glitch at an Ohio utility company caused eight states, including New York, to lose power for 29 hours. During this blackout, there were no wide reports of criminal mischief.
July 17, 2006
Astoria and Long Island City lose power for 10 days due to severe power usage during the hot weather.
Oct. 29, 2012
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, including half of Manhattan, after Superstorm Sandy destroyed power transformers.
