Credit: AP Photo/Candice Choi

A large swath of the Upper West Side and Harlem went dark early this morning.

At approximately 5:13 AM Eastern Time this morning, three networks in Manhattan’s utility transmission system suddenly lost their electricity, plunging approximately 130,000 New York City residents into darkness. The blackout lasted for approximately and hour and fifteen minutes, before power was restored at 6:30 AM.


The actual cause of the blackout is still under investigation, but the radius of its effects encompassed parts of both the Upper East and Upper West Sides, as well as Harlem. Subway schedules were delayed slightly by the blackout, with the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, N, Q and R trains, as well as the A, B, C, and D lines disrupted.

“Expect delays as we are getting reports of power outages in some parts of uptown Manhattan,” the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a tweet. “This is also affecting stations and third-rail power.”

According to Consolidated Edison, an energy provider for much of the city, this new loss of power compounded complications caused by Hurricane Isaias earlier in the week, the damages of which left approximately 42,097 customers without power. Many of those who lost power to Isaias have still not had it restored.

Many New Yorkers seem to take the power loss in stride, joking about the matter on Twitter. Several users from Connecticut, which also suffered large-scale power interruptions due to Isaias, commented on the situation as well.