It was a hot summer and after a day of working, I went out
on a first date with a girl from work. We were in New York city
(she lived in the Bronx, I was in the East Village) and we
went to the movies. The "Big" movie that summer was the
"first" "Star Wars" movie which we went to see at the Loews
Astor Plaza in Times Square. I didn't care too much for "Star
Wars" or most Spielberg movies but my date thought it was
fun and that made it okay. After the movie, I suggested that
we go down to Greenwich Village and have dinner at a
restaurant that I knew. We caught a taxicab on 7th Avenue
and headed downtown.
Around 23rd street, I noticed that the building and street
lights were going out. Given that it was July, it was not too
unusual for a minor blackouts to occur in certain sections
of Manhattan and elsewhere but these were fixed in short
order. By the time we reached the restaurant, all of
Manhattan was dark. No street light, no traffic lights, no
lights anywhere. Even the World Trade Center was dark.
We got out of the taxi and asked if anyone knew what was
going on. A newsdealer in a newsstand by a subway station
had a portable radio on (the Mets were playing the Chicago
Cubs, losing 2-1, and darkness hit Shea Stadium just in time ;-),
and said that all of NYC was blacked out and there was no
word what caused it or when it would be over.
My date and I had to decide what to do. She couldn't make
it back home in the Bronx, so she would have to come home
with me. I was staying with my father at the time, actually,
visiting for the summer because I was in graduate school out
on Long Island at the time. We made our way eastward from
7th Avenue, past a crowded but dark Washington Square Park,
and finally home in the East Village. This blackout is mostly
remembered for the looking that occurred but we didn't see
any nor did we bothered by others -- the next day I was surprised
that there had been so much crime (there hadn't been much in
the 1965 blackout).
Things were still quiet when we reached my father's building.
We made up the stairs and I introduced my date to my father.
We stayed up for a while. listening to a portable radio but
there was not much new news. Since there wasn't much else
to do, we decided to turn in. My date got my bedroom, I got
the living room sofa, and my Dad was in his bedroom. It was
a hot night and I resisted the urge to "check in" on my date
to see how she was doing. Ultimately, sleep came and we
awoke to a city without power.
Breakfast would have to come later and my date said that she
could get an express buy up to her home, so she left after a
while. My dad and I waited for the power to come back and
learned about what happened while the power was out.
The next big blackout came in 2003 but that was a very different
world: Dad had died years ago, the woman from the "Big
Blackout" was just a memory, and 9/11 had changed NYC
forever. Still, this time I was prepared with portable radios,
flashlights and battery lanterns, candles and matches. It seems
that the rest of NYC was also prepared because there was
much less crime relative to 1977. And the next big blackout
after that was with hurricane/superstorm Sandy. Today,
I just remember to get fresh batteries, candles, and matches
for the next one.
The New York Times reproduces the July 14, 1977 front
page that features article on the blackout and has the main
article about it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0713.html#article
The Wikipedia entry on the 1977 blackout can be accessed here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
P.S. I still don't care for "Star Wars" or Spielberg movies. ;-)
Dad
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected].
To unsubscribe click here:
http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=45890
or send a blank email to
leave-45890-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
