When The Lights Go Down in the City

Notes on the Blackout of '03

As I write now it's been nearly 72 hours since power was restored in Hoboken, after 11 hours, due to the Blackout of '03. Here, in no particular order, are my reflections in this, the largest mass power outage in U.S. history:

- The blackout began at 4:18 p.m. on Thursday the 14th, right after I had left work early, and was on my couch, typing up the Bill O'Reilly/Al Franken post that can be found below. I was about to press "publish" when the lights went out; I first figured it was just my building, or perhaps just my block, so I figured it would come back on moments later and I could publish then (with my laptop switching to battery power). Unfortunately, the lights stayed out long enough that my computer ran out of power too, with my router of course not working either; by then I'd heard people outside yelling "the power's out!" With no computer or TV working I figured I'd take a nap; after an hour down I heard my cell phone beep that I had a message, but couldn't get my messages, leading me to think maybe something was up region-wide. That's when I turned on my portable radio, heard the phrase "Blackout of '03" for the first time, and realized that it wasn't just my building or my block or Hoboken- but rather much of the Northeast and Upper Midwest.

- Soon after that I went outside, and (minus the crying and panic), it was an eerie echo of 9/11- about five times the normal number of people on the street in Hoboken, wandering aimlessly from all directions, wondering how they'd get home. I walked over to Pier A in order to watch the sun go down on Manhattan without light and- much like September 2001- there were next to no lights on in the city, with the exception of conspicuous floodlights, downtown. I was also stuck in Hoboken for the entire ordeal, much like 9/11, though once again a part of me wishes I had been somewhere in the city, experienced the event along with the rest of New York and come out with stories to tell for the rest of my life.

Article Author: Stephen Silver

Visit Stephen Silver's author page — Stephen Silver's Blog