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NYC-wide power outage blamed on explosion
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Dec 15, 2023
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Brittany Kriegstein/Gothamist
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Dec 15, 2023
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Electricity briefly went out across parts of New York City on Thursday night after a small explosion at a Con Edison substation in Brooklyn, according to the power company.
In a statement on X, Con Edison blamed a “fault on a high-tension transmission line” for the five or 10-second outage that residents noticed just before midnight.
“Our crews are investigating and making necessary repairs,” the statement said.
NYPD officials said Con Edison workers were restoring a transmission line at a substation on John Street in DUMBO when a disruption occurred and caused power to surge.
No injuries were reported, and officials said the brief outage that followed did not disrupt essential services at hospitals.
By Friday morning, it was still unclear how much of the city had been affected.
Residents from Manhattan to Staten Island took to social media to ask if others felt a power surge.
“So apparently that lil power surge wasn’t just my building and happened everywhere all the way to Brooklyn,” wrote user kimmyy.
A Dec. 14, 2023, power outage was caused by work at a Con Edison substation in Brooklyn, pictured here on Dec. 15, 2024.
Brittany Kriegstein/Gothamist
Other users shared videos of smoke billowing from the substation, which is next to the East River, and said they saw a small explosion.
Osiris Polanco said the blast shook him awake as he slept in the nearby basement of a building where he works as a superintendent.
“Big explosion. That’s it. The building moved a little….that’s why I’m coming out, to see what was going on,” he said.
The fire department said they responded to multiple calls in Brooklyn about residents stuck in elevators.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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