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‘People peeing in between the cars’: Power outage strands NYC subway riders during storm
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Dec 11, 2024
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Courtesy Anders Nelson
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Dec 11, 2024
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Multiple subway lines were suspended as heavy rain walloped the region on Wednesday night, sparking a power loss that left some commuters stranded for hours, the MTA said.
The A and C lines were “severely disrupted,” between Manhattan and Brooklyn while the G line was suspended between Church Avenue and Bedford-Nostrand Avenue, according to the MTA.
There were significant delays on the 6, E, B and D trains while the F train was also rerouted, officials said.
Anders Nelson, 42, said he had been stranded for two hours after venturing on what was an otherwise normal commute back home from work at the Jay Street-Metrotech station in Downtown Brooklyn.
But his commute took a different turn when what the MTA referred to as a "loss of third-rail power" caused his crowded F train to stop for hours. The air conditioning stopped working, causing some commuters to sweat from the heat and share water and food with one another, he said.
“Some people were kind of losing it,” he said. “Calling the conductor on the little call box and asking all these questions. The conductor kept coming on every 20 minutes or so and just saying there's a power outage, we can't move, we don't have AC, they're working on it."
Nelson said some straphangers had other business to tend to as they waited to get moving again.
“People were peeing in between the cars. People were passing out cookies. It became a little community thing,” he said.
The MTA did not immediately comment on what may have caused the disruption.
Brooklyn City Councilmember Lincoln Restler said on social media that the outage may have been related to a manhole explosion in the area.
The city fire department confirmed that two trains were stalled at the Downtown Brooklyn station. One person was taken to NYU Langone in Cobble Hill, officials said.
The National Weather Service said the city was on track to collect a few inches of rain amid heavy winds and possible flooding by Thursday.
Nelson, who has lived in New York City for 20 years, said this was the worst experience he’s had as a commuter.
“I’ve been stuck where they don’t move for 10, 15 maybe even 20 minutes, but never anything like this,” he said.
Tagged
new york city
transportation
brooklyn
Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
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