1977 New York Blackout

[MisterGrey]

I'm doing a project right now that partially covers the 1977 New York Blackout and was wondering if a few Loungers with more knowledge of the city than I could help me out. Essentially everything I know is culled from books and odds and ends I've been able to dig up, and essentially all of that involves Brooklyn and the Bronx; for my own purposes, I specifically need information on how the blackout effected people in and around Times Square and SoHo. Did any looting occur there? What was the environment like? I've gotten some scant information about people getting pickpocketed/mugged coming out of theaters on 42nd Street, but that's about it, and I could really use some more detailed information beyond that. Since many Loungers experienced the era and I thought a few may have even experienced the blackout itself, I was hoping someone (or even a few people) could lend me some tidbits.

 

[The Good]

I was not personally around during the time, much less New York. I guess good old Wikipedia could be of some help, to get started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977

I never cite directly from Wikipedia itself, but what I do for my own research projects, is that I quote from what they cite themselves. There are links below to a couple of pages. Hopefully this could help you out.

 

[MisterGrey]

Believe me, I've already checked Wiki. I've kind of gotten to the end of my rope, which is why I'm hitting people up instead of doing my own research. As I said, I've done that, but all I've come up with is references to Brooklyn and The Bronx.

 

[dhermann1]

I was here, and darned if I remember much about it. That must have been the time I walked all the way home, along with about half a million, literally, other Manhattanites. I'd say I walked at least seven miles from lower Manhattan to upper Manhattan. Luckily I was young. But my feet were KILLING me when I got home. Now that I think of it, I remember that vividly.
As I recall there was a good deal of rioting, or rather looting. One of the worst hit areas was Bushwick, in Brooklytn. Bushwick had some especially gorgeous brownstones. Many of them were trashed, as well as stores, etc. This led to many years of abandoned buildings and decay. It was like it was bombed out. Very tragic. Very long lasting effects.
I do remember walking through the Times Square area. I was not aware of anything but the huge mass of humanity slowly migrating north.

 

[SgtRick]

It was caused by an EA6B Electronic Warfare aircraft. Just kidding.......maybe.

 

[flat-top]

I was a 7 year old in the Bronx and remember it vividly.

 

[Rathdown]

The blackout of July 1977-- what it was like

I was staying at the Biltmore Hotel and had just returned following dinner. I was in the elevator going up to my room when the power went out. There were four of us in the car, and we were stuck in darkness for about two or three minutes while one of the ladies fumbled in her purse for one of those pen-sized flashlights. Once we had a bit of light the other gentleman pressed some sort of release button on the top of the door frame and then slid the door back. We were only about a foot or so below floor level, so it was easy to step out into the corridor which was dimly lit by battery powered emergency lanterns.

I made my way down the corridor to my room, went in, and took stock of the situation. Looking out of my window it was obvious that the whole city was blacked out. Remembering the looting and burning that occurred during the Watts Riots I decided that being on the 8th floor of a hotel was probably not as good an idea as being on the ground floor, and resolved to head down to the lobby. In my luggage I had a heavy duty flashlight, my ID as a Deputy Sheriff and a small revolver. I stuffed these, along with all of my cash, a toothbrush, tooth paste, and a spare pair of socks, into my pocket and headed to the stairs.

Surprisingly the stairs were better lit than the corridors and I encountered only a few people there, mostly trudging up from the streets below. In a few minutes I made the lobby and found myself a ringside seat at the bar. The lobby wasn't terribly crowded and there were about twenty cops standing just inside the door. Every few minutes or so they'd rush out into the street and beat the tar out of anyone they could lay hands-- or billy clubs-- on. As it turned out they were thumping looters, gangs of muggers, and some very dodgy looking types trying to get into the hotel. Between forays to "kick ass and take names" as one of the officers put it, they'd take turns having a bottle of beer and a sandwich at one end of the bar.

During a lull in the activities-- I almost wrote festivities-- I went outside with four of the cops and we walked to the corner. It was amazing how quite it seemed to be; I had expected all sorts of noise, but instead there was only the background hum of the traffic, and the plaintive wail of distant sirens as fire engines and ambulances raced through darkened streets, blocks away from where I was standing.

Back in the lobby things were pretty quiet, and I hung out with the cops, swapping war stories, and making small talk, until sometime around 5AM when I decided to head back to my room and get some shut eye. When I woke up around 6PM the power was back on, and things were pretty much back to normal.

 

[MisterGrey]

Wow; great stuff! Thanks!

 

[I Adore Film Noir]

MisterGrey,

Have you seen this?

http://blackout.gmu.edu/highlights/blackout77.html

I only found it because your post caused me to remember the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965:

http://blackout.gmu.edu/highlights/blackout65.html

during which I was temporarily stranded in an elevated subway car leaving Boston.

 

[vitanola]

My family was visiting my aunt and uncle, who lived in Astoria (Queens), directly under the Hell Gate Bridge, at the end of the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit elevated line (Ditmars station). Their neighborhood, at 32nd St (the former Park Place) and 31st Ave. turned into something of a block party, as all of the neighbors spent the evening and much of the night on their stoops. Most of the ladies emptied their refrigerators and cooked great amounts of food to share, for although the private houses all had gas stoves, there were a couple of apartment buildings on the block that had just been modernized and fitted with electric ranges, and whose tenants could not cook. On the Avenue several of the store owners remained open. The news stand/ Bodega was able to stay open as the Welsbach gas lamps hanging from the ceiling were still connected, though they had not been used since the LAST blackout. the same was true of the hardware store, which did quite a business in flashlights and batteries. The Greengrocer's shop was open to the street, anyway, and was adequately lighted with a few Tiki Torches borrowed from someone's backyard and an improvised auto head light in the back of the shop. I remember the blackout as a wonderful party!