The Real Story of the New York City Blackout of 1977

New York City, NY during the blackout of 1977. Photo By AP.

The citizens of the Big Apple lived in sheer terror during the sweltering summer of 1977. No, not because of the looming fear of a possible attack from the “.44 Calibur Killer” aka “Son of Sam” or the team of gangsters under the direction of the most feared mob boss, Carmine Galante. It wasn’t because of the rampant wave of crime and skyrocketed unemployment rate that hit the city. Nor the increase in record-breaking poverty. New York’s darkest hour came on the evening of July 13th when the city experienced one of the biggest blackouts in history. An event that catapulted the already deteriorating city into an utter breaking point.

The city during the blackout. Photos By AP.

July 13th was a sultry, humid day that met an uncomfortably hot evening. The skies over New York City roared throwing out hundreds of lightning bolts that lit up the skies surrounding the island of Manhattan.

At about 8:37 PM lightning struck at Buchanan South, a substation on the Hudson River, which tripped two circuit breakers in Westchester County. Five minutes later, a second lightning strike caused the loss of two 345 kV transmission lines and the loss of power from a 900MW nuclear plant at Indian Point. Seven minutes later, Con…