The sun sets behind 42nd Street in Manhattan during a power outage in New York City on July 13, 2019. AFP / Johannes Eisele
New York: A power outage crippled the tourist-filled heart of Manhattan just as Saturday night Broadway shows were set to go on, sending theater-goers spilling into the streets, knocking out Times Square's towering electronic screens and bringing subway lines to a near halt.
The New York City Fire Department said a transformer fire at West 64th Street and West End Avenue affected hundreds of thousands of customers along a 30-block stretch from Times Square to about 72nd Street and Broadway.
The fire occurred just before 7 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
Con Edison officials later said they were working to restore electricity to customers and businesses primarily on Manhattan's Upper West Side by midnight.
The temperature was warm, above 80 even as the sun set, but not as steaming as Manhattan can get in July.
Power reportedly went out early Saturday evening at much of Rockefeller Center and reached the Upper West Side.
At Rockefeller Center, traffic lights were out. Some buildings in Rockefeller Plaza had lights on, others were dark.
The outage comes on the anniversary of the 1977 New York City outage that left most of the city without power.
