NEW York City plunged into darkness on December 14 after a sudden mass power outage sparked by "explosion" at an electrical facility.
Firefighters rushed to rescue people trapped in elevators and subway carriages as travel chaos ensued in the Big Apple.
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What caused the power outage in New York?
A power outage in parts of New York caused lights to flickers across the city late Thursday night, December 14.
Witnesses described seeing an explosion and rising smoke at an electrical substation in Brooklyn.
"Looks like something small exploded at the ConEd plant in Brooklyn, sending a small fireball and smoke into the air, and causing a momentary NYC power outage," Sean Scott wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sean Scott, 30, a software engineer in Manhattan told NY Times: "The lights flickered twice briefly.
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"I looked outside and I saw some streetlights flickering.
"Then I felt a soft boom and saw a fireball and I saw the smoke."
What happened at Con Edison?
Con Edison is an energy company that provides electric and gas services to New York City.
The company stated that there had been "a fault on a high-tension transmission line" at a substation near the Manhattan Bridge at 11:55pm.
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"Customers may have experienced a dip or surge in power at that time," Con Edison said in a statement early Friday.
"Crews are investigating and working to make necessary repairs."
The utility said there had been no disruption of service, aside from the brief outage.
How long was the power outage in New York City?
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The electricity went out for a second, came back on, then flickered again.
The power outage plunged the city into chaos for a brief moment, with multiple reports of people stuck in elevators for up to 20 minutes.
Some motorists also reported blinking traffic lights.
Although the blackout was momentary, it caused all of the elevators and escalators to go out of service at Grand Central Terminal, a huge transit hub for NYC.
Firefighters were sent to rescue people trapped in elevators and commuters on subway.
There were no reports of injuries, criminal activity or other disruptions to any services, said New York Police Department to NY Times.
