The Great Blackout

On the evening of July 13, 1977 I was in Manhattan having dinner with friends after which we retired to their third floor apartment (elevator bldg.) There was maximum daylight in mid-July but around 9:00PM the power went out all over the city. This was long before cell phones so we were unaware of the scope or duration of the problem. After several hours waiting in the dark - with no air conditioning - I decided to walk to Grand Central Station - nineteen blocks from Gramercy Park - to see if the trains were running to Westchester. On the way up Lexington Avenue - wearing my straight sailor straw hat with briefcase - an arm came out of a darkened doorway attempting to invite me in. I shook her off and quickened my pace. The only illumination was from auto headlights and a few citizens with flashlights directing traffic.
When I arrived at Grand Central the station was completely dark with no trains running. My options were either sleeping on the station steps and risk another mugging or retracing my steps back to Gramercy Park which southbound is downhill. My friends took me in and I spent the night on their sofa. Daylight came early but still no power. The biggest inconvenience was there was no flushing toilet. I found buses running and made it to the office at the Battery but that was futile as there was nothing to do so I took several buses and finally made it home. As usual in these cases there was some vandalism and looting. While flashlights, candles and a battery radio would be valuable, the best advice would be to quickly fill up the bathtub before the pumps would quit to maintain a bucket brigade. I estimate the power was out at least fifteen hours - in a major city - in the middle of summer. The lights went on July 14th which happened to be Bastille Day so we could celebrate our return to "power."
tjs
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