I am from Louisiana but was 19 and visiting NY with a friend in August 2003 when this happened. The millions lining the streets, the silhouette of lower Manhattan black against a sunset. The stars over NY…I’ll never forget that day for the rest of my life.
@@christophereverett276 it’s not about that it’s the fact that because all of the power was out it was the wild Wild West people was getting robbed stabbed all types of stuff it was also fun stuff going on also
Man I remember when this happened. I was just a kid at the time but this event was so memorable for me. I just remember when my household family was complete and we just stayed together at home completely at peace with each other. Back when my family had all it's members.
In terms of blackouts (and the duration or severity). However, this is only for those who believed in urban legends or idk. I just overreacted about creepy. That would be a disaster and... 2001 is the start of the 21st century i mean.
This had to be one of the greatest days I had as a kid. Being the age of 6 years old, I remember just drawing all day when this happened. Yeah it was hot as balls, but everyone came together. I'll never forget this day.
Crazy how not having a "necessity" like electricity, brings people together. And to think that thousands of years, humans have survived just fine without it at all. Makes me wonder.
@@Justfillintheblank We have electricity for our electric heat, water heater, fridge, chest freezer, lights and garage stuff. No cable, internet, TV. Just an AM/FM radio for entertainment. We spend more time "together" not wasting time.
I was in line to go to the top of the Empire State Building. I was about 10 feet from the elevators when the power was cut. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be stuck in an elevator car halfway up that building. Or to be stuck on the observation deck, being forced to walk down all those stairs in the dark.
The best thing about this footage is that went may never have another era of footage that looks like this again. The 00s slowly ushered in HD quality and more and more broadcast were picking up on HD. I don't think anyone shoots in SD anymore, and not many people own old SD CRT TVs these days. But I'm even surprised how old some stuff between 2010-2012 look now. I remember being kid around this time and seeing old news broadcast from like the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s and think wow that looks old. So it's crazy now to look back at a time when you were a teenager and see the past through that same lens.
A lot of local TV news programs used standard definition and didn’t upgrade to HD cameras until the late 2000s. That’s why the quality of news programs from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s all looked the same.
@@Gadget-Walkmen Late 2000's to early 2010's. It came simultaneously with the dawn of the second to third generation of smartphones (iPhone 3 and up).
You can easily open the doors from inside and then pop open the outside doors. I may have been a mischievous kid, but I wouldn’t get stuck in an elevator.
Who would have thought that a tree branch in Ohio slightly touching a single power line caused a chain reaction that causes a massive power outage in the northeast part of the country and a part of Canada for 30 hours.
Well, sorta. It was a huge series of design flaws and human errors that caused a cascade of parts of the grid being overwhelmed. But yeah, that was the event that set the series of failures in motion.
@@RevoltOfAges The best thing about this footage is that went may never have another era of footage that looks like this again. The 00s slowly ushered in HD quality and more and more broadcast were picking up on HD. I don't think anyone shoots in SD anymore, and not many people own old SD CRT TVs these days. But I'm even surprised how old some stuff between 2010-2012 look now. I remember being kid around this time and seeing old news broadcast from like the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s and think wow that looks old. So it's crazy now to look back at a time when you were a teenager and see the past through that same lens
I remember this night as one of the funnest nights I had as a child growing up. Everyone broke night outside in my neighborhood in the bronx, listening to music, eating food from the local food trucks. My friends and I even started playing manhunt in Mullally Park, across the street from where we lived. A time b4 electronics was the main source of fun.
@@SnoopEastwood Yup. MP3s and iPods were already around. Plus the 2nd generation of video game consoles (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox) already released. People just weren't as connected to the internet yet. It was even 2 years before UA-cam would be created.
I was deploy to Iraq when the blackout hit the city couldn’t get a hold of my family and was freaking out they were My lifeline to sanity. Wow time flies
I live in a small farming community in Michigan that was one of the only towns in the state with power. It was bizarre seeing mile long gas station lines, fast food places completely packed, nonstop traffic, etc. I wont ever forget that day.
I remember going to my grandparents in Cass City where they had power, and remember nearly running out of gas until we found an open gas station in Caro. It was crazy
Thank you for your comment! We all thought this was another terrorist attack. I remember the lights in my office blinking a few times and then that was it...computer down, lights down...Time to walk down 34 flights of stairs with everyone else. It was a hot day too..
I remember this well, and fondly. The entire eastern seaboard was affected, and places further afield were without power for days. I lived in a small town in Ontario-cottage country. The power went out a lot where we lived, usually due to trees falling on power lines, but it was often fixed within an hour or two. This time was different-our power was out for 3 days. It was a hot summer, and fortunately we lived right by a lake, so we spent most of the time swimming. The village was full of cottagers, so there were plenty of people around, and everybody was outside. Fridges weren't working, so people hosted big communal barbecues and invited all the neighbours over, to use up all the food that would go bad. My parents would idle the car in the driveway to hear news reports on the radio-I remember that clear as day. No TV, no video games, no lights at night. It would have been miserable and boring as a kid if the village weren't packed with people and other kids my age. I remember clearly when the power came back on after a few days. I was sitting in my room with some friends, taking a break from the sunshine. There was an oscillating fan in our room-and as we were talking, the fan suddenly turned on, resuming just where it left off days before. It took us all a second to process what that meant. I think we were all outwardly excited, but inwardly I felt a bit of a loss when the power came back on.
I was 23 around this time and me and my wife who was my girlfriend at the time was in midtown Manhattan when it happened we had to walk all the way back to Harlem because that’s where I’ve live at the time and Jesus Christ we got on a bus and it was CROWDED and sweaty it was crazy! We had to get off that bus.
I was about 4 or 5 when this happened. I remember walking on one of the main streets with my mom and her talking about how the traffic lights were out. When we got home, I remember something about my dad going out and she wasn't happy that he was driving around, but he was picking random people up and taking them home.
2003 was a special year for me. It’s the year I came of age. I had just graduated high school and was months away from leaving for the Marines. I was living in New Jersey at the time, about an hour outside of New York when this happened. The lights flickered and the power went out momentarily. Luckily the lights came back on for us so we weren’t affected. Me and dad were to fly out the next day out of JFK. We got to JFK early the next morning only to come back home later on that day. I remember seeing people sleeping on the curb, the floors in the terminal, on the baggage carousel, etc. We went back to JFK the day after and caught a flight out.
You know what i found interesting? 2 years before the blackout of 2003 which affected new york, there were the 9/11 attacks. And 2 years before the blackout of 1965, which also affected New York, there was the JFK assassination 🤔
I was 8 when this happened and I can still remember what we did: we had a BBQ in the neighbors yard, watched TV in their car (they had a mounted DVD player) and I slept in the living room because it was too hot in my own room.
I was on the subway when the power went out. The train I was on, was just about to pull out the station and then stand still. Looked out the train and it was complete darkness. At first just thought the power went out on the station. Once outside noticed that no traffic lights on where, and then everyone started yelling blackout. I had to walk back home, which took three hours, and then had to walk up 14 flights to my apartment in a pitch black stairway. The only ight I had was from my cellphone.
Most New Yorkers didn't see this live because the power was still out at the time, and there was no live streaming on smartphone back then. Most people just listened to radios for news. There was nervousness in the early moments because 9/11 was still fresh in New Yorkers' minds. At the time I was working at a midtown Manhattan office. I saw it happen first hand: the lights in the office going off suddenly, and everybody saying oh my god. Then our building told us what was happening and told everyone to leave the building (due to security, because the security system couldn't run without power). I sat at the sidewalk pondering what to do, just like the people in this video. At 7pm, luckily a co-worker drove by and offered me a ride back to Queens where I lived. Normally a one-hour commute, it took me 3 hours to get home due to heavy traffic. During the ride home I heard the radio say this was just a blackout, not a terrorist attack. I rang my home's doorbell and my family couldn't hear me on the 3rd floor because the doorbell had no power! I had to use a pay phone to tell them to come downstairs to let me in. I believe we got power back at 10am next morning.
@@timeddie3134 I was in my 30s then. I left my keys at the office so that was why I had to ring the doorbell. I didn't grab my keys because my office building practically kicked us out to the streets because all the security systems went down with the power. That was why the video shows everyone sitting in the streets. If this happened today, same thing would happen. Even when the power is on, the buildings may still forbid entry in high-alert situations, such as New Year's Eve at Times Square.
Was 12 when this happened. Folks were freaking out yet very social with each other, streets was crowded, weather being HOT as a oven. And the 🍴barbeques were lit🔥
Weird how this got randomly put in my feed. However, it is so crazy that it’s been 20 years since this happened. I’ve lived in Indiana since 2001, thank goodness my family and I didn’t have to deal with this. I was 8 years old at the time this blackout happened
I was there with my mom. I was 6 years old. We got separated, and she couldn't find me. She went to my school, but it was closed. She did not know where I was. But the only thing she could think was that my afterschool program nanny picked me up, so she went to their house, and there I was. I'll never forget the relief on my mom's face.
I was living at the Hotel Chelsea at the time. It was boiling hot. When the power was finally restored, there was a lot of cheering from apartment windows.
Summer of 2003 was brutal. *I was 16 and I had to go days without the internet and my mom was on vacation* Oh yeah and it was very hot out that summer.
That year was super hot Everywhere in the world I'm from europe and as kids we weren't allowed outside (during that summer/autumn period of time ) It killed a lot of people (old mostly ) I remember the sky having no clouds for so long Just blue Then we saw the new york blackout on tv I have this memory of people lying down on steps of big white stairs (i don't remember what building it was )
I was there that day. It happened in the day and we went to the park to hang out. The bars started to give out free beer because their beer was getting warm. Then when it got dark, it was a little hairy. There was a restaurant cooking and serving food through an open walk up window with someone holding a flashlight while they cooked. Finally the trains started to run again to NJ.
I had to take a "command " bus, which was like a touring bus, I ended up in Bay Ridge, & I took a bus all the way to Flatbush where I lived. Reminded me of 9/11 & the madness of getting home.
I was working as a messenger at the time, I went back to the office in the lower East side, & we were all let go for the day. It was an awesome time in Tompkins Square Park, we had free pizza. It was like the '60s,people were singing, playing guitars.
I remember it was like 96 degrees farenheit in New Jersey that day. Once that A/C went off the heat was insane. People looting from the corner store. Oh that also meant a cold bath. :)
I was working in Jersey City, had to take a ferry to Manhattan, then walk north to get to the 59th street bridge to get to Flushing. When I got to Forest Hills I was able to get on a bus, saving me 40 minutes of additional walk, after walking 3 hours. My legs were in pain the next day. I had a similar experience from 9/11.
@Caroline Pahl Hi Caroline. Thanks for your interest. Looking back I don't remember much of all that walking, and the pain long resided. Many 1,000s of peoples experienced similar long distance walks that day. I don't have much else to add.
@@anthonydefex I was working in Jersey City, had to take a ferry to Manhattan, then walk north to get to the 59th street bridge to get to Flushing. When I got to Forest Hills I was able to get on a bus, saving me 40 minutes of additional walk, after walking 3 hours. My legs were in pain the next day. I had a similar experience from 9/11
I was 9 when this happened, my brother stayed at home in the city but the rest of us were staying with our cousins in staten island just before the blackout. I remember seeing this on the news the first time. It looked crazy!
People freaked out over one day without power. They will go insane if we ever have an EMP event or prolonged power outage when the lights don't come back on for days, weeks, or months. We need to strengthen our grid infrastructure.
I remember being 9 years old when this happened I was watching men in black animated series on TV then boom everything went out and I had to go to Fordham Road the same day with my mom that afternoon
I was on vacation in Costa Rica with my mom and siblings. Remember watching it on the news in Costa Rica and my dad stayed home. My dad slept in the car for the entire night because the apartment was too hot.
I remember this blackout. It reached Jersey City and it was timed so poorly too! My childhood home had an electric garage and it was open when the power went out so my dad sat on a chair in the driveway with a baseball bat making sure no one tried to sneak in 😄
Spent the night in front of our building. We had battery backup for the stairs. We ran cords from the engine room to the street and plugged in a radio with 1010WINS on.Everyone hung out with us listening to the radio.Even the police stopped to get news.We took our tables and chairs from our engine room to the sidewalk.We lined the whole curb with candals.I remember the 77 blackout...too
2003: The most powerful flashlights available was the xenon lamps running off of D cells and producing around 100 lumens. 2023: Now we have handheld lights producing over 100,000 lumen running on high capacity 21700 batteries.
I don't remember this at all, but I remember going through something like it early in July. That one was caused by an overnight microburst that blew through my residence. I stayed in the dark for at least a few days.
Something similar did happen in the northeast. October of 2011(?) we got a snowstorm right before Halloween but the trees hadn’t lost all their leaves yet so they couldn’t handle the weight of the snow and broke. Lost power for days. No street lights either. It was nuts. My apartment didn’t have power for a week
@@BM-fz9yc I remember that! I'm from Connecticut and we lost power for almost a week. It also happened a few days before Halloween and they had to cancel Halloween for all the trick or treaters.
I am from Michigan and our part of the state got swept up in the blackout. I remember me and my brother were playing video games when the power went out. I didn't think it would be part of something bigger.
My one Uncle used to live in NJ at the time, He worked in Manhattan for 10 years I believe and I was born on 8/15/2003, and I see that day in pictures him, my aunt and my cousins came to see me in the hospital so I assume that’s why he didn’t go into work that week!!! And he said that during 9/11, he was on the highway and he ended up not going into the city that day thankfully!!
I was like 8 when this happened, I was in Dominican Republic for vacation seeing this on the news. Was scared for my mom. Crazy cause DR was going through a storm that caused blackouts the same day but thank god we had generators.
September 11 just happened 2 years this. I was driving on Staten Island expressway heading into Manhattan. I don’t remember how we knew something was happening/going wrong but I do remember I was like NOPE to continue driving towards Manhattan & made UTurn back to NJ. Since I was in NYC on 9/11 & got scared not knowing what was happening
I was working in NYC and living in NJ when this happened. My coworker (who took the same train as I) and I quickly and safely powered off the servers (running on battery) and left the office to try to head home. Path train of course wasn't running. Waited a few hours for the Ferry in blistering heat. We made it to NJ and eventually to Hoboken. At Hoboken no trains were running but we had the choice of standing outside the terminal to wait for a bus with 10k people in the heat - or - we could wait it out for the trains to start and the small bar in Hoboken terminal had generator backup and were serving nice cold beverages. We chose to wait it out for a few hours at Hoboken terminal at the bar and gradually made it home. Quite an afternoon / evening!
Wow I was young when this happened and I’d never heard of this! Very interesting footage. Strange to see now a world that didn’t have cell phones so I can imagine not being able to contact family members was very stressful. But it’s also nice to see the people who made the most of it, seems like a mix of people celebrating and others kind of panicked lol.
Since the power was completely out, I think that even if people had mobile phones, they would still have a hard time getting in contact with family and friends because The cell towers could’ve been affected as well.
I remember this like it was yesterday. I was about to turn 31 the following month. I worked 29 blocks away from my apt. I was lucky enough to catch a bus home. But almost got hit by a bus catching that bus. Blackouts during the summer are the worst. 🤮
I remember that I lived in Syracuse and we had a brown out. It was weird and creepy in a way. It really sucked cause it was so hot and no AC. My friend worked at the toy store at the mall and the gate closed when the power went out so he was trapped in the store like a prisoner lol. We went and kept him company
i was 6 when this happened. im 27 now. i remember it like it was yesterday. had to sleep in the basement for 6 days because it was so hot. EVERYBODY was outside in my neighborhood looking out for one another. great times
Lol. Some parts of the city just dealt with a blackout that lasted like 20-30 mins. It totally reminded me of the 2003 one. Hard to believe it's gonna be 20 years old soon 🤣. I was 11 years old at the time and turned 12 in October.
I remember this so well because I was taking a summer class at Polytechnic University during that time and the subway was shut down and had to carpool with someone to get back home.
@Caroline Pahl Nothing I just remember I was taking a C++ class during summer of 2003 during the month of August. After leaving the 6 metro tech center building I head straight to the station and as entering the station you can see the panic where the trains stopped working and people were just leaving the station and trying to figure out a way to get home. I was just asking around if anyone is heading back to Brooklyn, NY and by shear luck someone said they were heading back and carpooled with him via taxi. That's what I remember. It's been a while. The last blackout in NYC happened way back in 1968.
I remember this, I was 8. I was in church with my dad to watch a christening when suddenly all the lights went out. Can’t believe it’s been 20 years now this year
I remember this. We was all at my grandma house in the projects. Had to go all the way down stairs in the exits from the 9th floor to go to the store and get water. People was at the corner store going crazy for water.
My neighbors and I in my apt bldg (Upstate NYS) had a blackout party on our front steps. I was supposed to pick up a new car after work that day but the route to the dealership was a giant parking lot. The salesman at my dealership also happened to be one of my neighbors and he said it took him over an hour to make a 10 min drive home. Fortunately, our power came back on after about 7 hours.
Was about 6 when this happened in Akron Ohio. Happy I was just old enough to remember this. Me, my brother and my mom were outside in our pool in the backyard. We left a game of Super Mario Bros paused on the original Nintendo inside. Came inside to use the bathroom to find we had no power, we all then looked out front to see no power anywhere. Lived on a main road, could tell even the stop lights were out. We found out over AM radio what was going on and how widespread it was. I was more upset about us losing our place on the game at the time lmao. Then we had around 5 days without power. I remember before it turned on, I had to crawl through my uncles house's window essentially breaking in as they were out on vacation at the time, and I was the only one who could fit through the window. I had to get inside to turn off the power in breaker box, as they recommended unplugging all heavy appliances before power came back on. Crazy time. Will never forget it. Kept our house powered with the an 80s Dodge minivan as the generator for a few good days
I picked out. I made it back to the LES by 8 PM, got a 12 of beers and kicked iron the street which was the biggest party in LES history as far as I'm concerned. I count the blackout as one of the funnest times of my life!
They could have used their phone flip screen light , and some phones had a camera flash, lol. Some Kyocera phones at the time had a flashlight on them as well
I am from Louisiana but was 19 and visiting NY with a friend in August 2003 when this happened. The millions lining the streets, the silhouette of lower Manhattan black against a sunset. The stars over NY…I’ll never forget that day for the rest of my life.
Stars over NYC would be a good documentary name
It wasn’t that bad right?
@@Ceo2323ue people cant survive without light bulbs in NY LMFAOO
@@christophereverett276 it’s not about that it’s the fact that because all of the power was out it was the wild Wild West people was getting robbed stabbed all types of stuff it was also fun stuff going on also
@@Stonecoldalston ohhhhhh gotchu, that makes a lot more sense. from just this video I never assumed that
It’s amazing how different things were just 20 years ago. Even 15 years ago
You ain’t lying….steady decline since, whole different culture for most now days 🎻
@@mikerob2134 are you kidding? When I last visited NY it was a complete craphole. It's a respectable city nowadays.
@@Ventuura I'm moving in for my job when I graduate. I'm making $190k. NYC is great.
@@Ventuura NYC has vastly improved over the past 10-20 years. It's not even funny. Crime used to be so fking bad in EVERY part of the city.
@@Ventuura all people who never should of been here in the first place..
They are freaking out because 2 years before that was the 9/11 attack so I can't blame them at all.
After 911
@@pablitoperez9109 they said two year before this was 9/11. Two years after would be 2005....
@@DemolitionLovers905 What? you know 9/11 happened in 2001 right? 2001 + 2 = 2003, where are you getting 2005 from?
Math is hard
What a dumb comment, if not written by a child.
Man I remember when this happened. I was just a kid at the time but this event was so memorable for me. I just remember when my household family was complete and we just stayed together at home completely at peace with each other. Back when my family had all it's members.
really is nice sometimes when that happens, no electronic to distract people from each other nearby
@@storminmormon8195 at the time there still really wasnt anything, just TV and some people had computers, but phones or tablets didnt exist
@@storminmormon8195 the same thing could be said about covid, since you were essentially stuck inside a shelter with people you were around with.
would have been nice to see the silhouette of the twin towers if they were still up
@@alter112 Cell Phones were already a thing
I was 9 years old when this happened. The streets were so quiet and it was hotter than the gates of hell. I remember it so well
I was 8
Same here
@@nachocheeseastronaut6267 this is the east
so u been to hell how hot was it
@@elishasfire1969 words couldn't describe
Respect to those that helped their fellow citizens
Imagine if this happened on 1/1/2000 at 12:00:00 AM
Would be either creepy, or that would make this as the disturbing New Year, and the terrible start of the 21st century.
@@ROBLOXGamingDavid u what mate?
In terms of blackouts (and the duration or severity). However, this is only for those who believed in urban legends or idk.
I just overreacted about creepy. That would be a disaster and... 2001 is the start of the 21st century i mean.
Then that would be the Millennium bug a computer virus what they said was going to happen but it never
Y2K
2003 looks like 1992 in this video.
Ye
That's how it was good ol day
It looked different to me too.
Time flies fast when your in the dark :(
We switched to DTV in 2009
This had to be one of the greatest days I had as a kid. Being the age of 6 years old, I remember just drawing all day when this happened. Yeah it was hot as balls, but everyone came together. I'll never forget this day.
@carolinepahlkeep us posted on what you make 😁
@Caroline Pahl how are you a documentary filmmaker if you have 0 videos 😂
Crazy how not having a "necessity" like electricity, brings people together. And to think that thousands of years, humans have survived just fine without it at all. Makes me wonder.
@@Justfillintheblank right.
@@Justfillintheblank We have electricity for our electric heat, water heater, fridge, chest freezer, lights and garage stuff. No cable, internet, TV. Just an AM/FM radio for entertainment. We spend more time "together" not wasting time.
I was in line to go to the top of the Empire State Building. I was about 10 feet from the elevators when the power was cut. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be stuck in an elevator car halfway up that building. Or to be stuck on the observation deck, being forced to walk down all those stairs in the dark.
Freaking out thinking about being at the very top of an unnecessarily tall building.
its not "unnecessarily" at all. what a weird thing to say. 🙄
Emergency power gets you to a safe floor
Ohhhhhh my goodness. Thank you for sharing that's crazy
perfect excuse to get to spend the night at the top of the empire state building
The best thing about this footage is that went may never have another era of footage that looks like this again. The 00s slowly ushered in HD quality and more and more broadcast were picking up on HD. I don't think anyone shoots in SD anymore, and not many people own old SD CRT TVs these days.
But I'm even surprised how old some stuff between 2010-2012 look now. I remember being kid around this time and seeing old news broadcast from like the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s and think wow that looks old. So it's crazy now to look back at a time when you were a teenager and see the past through that same lens.
Think about how easy deepfakes were for the gov when standard definition was the standard
The reason why this kind of footage is better than modern footage is because it looks like how we remember things in our heads.
tbf, At the time this news was played on TV, it probably looked pretty good and not as aged as it does look now.
Professionally yeah this probably won't ever come back. But loads of people independently shoot in standard def
We think exactly alike !
*Man, even though 2003 was 20 years ago, the production quality of this clip looks like something straight out of the 80s.*
A lot of local TV news programs used standard definition and didn’t upgrade to HD cameras until the late 2000s. That’s why the quality of news programs from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s all looked the same.
@@maroonedexplorer6622 That makes sense. When did HD cameras even become a thing tho?
@@Gadget-Walkmen Late 2000's to early 2010's. It came simultaneously with the dawn of the second to third generation of smartphones (iPhone 3 and up).
@@Gadget-Walkmen HD cameras existed as far back as 1999 but nobody had them
@@visionist7 but I just meant in the mainstream! And when did everything started to become HD primarily. That’s what I’m saying!
I was on Jamaica Ave when this happened
Someone yelled black out and immediately you heard all the store gates coming down 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol
Yup. Sounds about right for the Ave🤣
The young girl stuck on the elevator is very courageous. I would have had a severe panic attack which most likely would have lead to a heart attack.
You can easily open the doors from inside and then pop open the outside doors. I may have been a mischievous kid, but I wouldn’t get stuck in an elevator.
@@johnp139 yes but not if you're stuck in between floors...
bro would live for 3 minutes in a stuck elevator lmaooooooooooooo
I was 5 year old at that time..you could see the milky way at night.. we were the first one to get hit by the blackout in michigan
Must have been nice to see that. The last time I saw the milky way was years ago in the middle of nowhere
It would’ve been good to see the milky way over the city unfortunately i was 4 months old at the time
10, in metro Detroit. I remember it going out. Unfortunately I didn’t look up at the sky. It was a crazy time!
I was 19 at the time this happened and lived about 20 minutes west of Detroit it was crazy
Who would have thought that a tree branch in Ohio slightly touching a single power line caused a chain reaction that causes a massive power outage in the northeast part of the country and a part of Canada for 30 hours.
Well, sorta. It was a huge series of design flaws and human errors that caused a cascade of parts of the grid being overwhelmed. But yeah, that was the event that set the series of failures in motion.
And in my hometown of Parma.
@@johnp139 I knew it was somewhere in the Cleveland area, I didn’t know it was parma
@@RevoltOfAges The best thing about this footage is that went may never have another era of footage that looks like this again. The 00s slowly ushered in HD quality and more and more broadcast were picking up on HD. I don't think anyone shoots in SD anymore, and not many people own old SD CRT TVs these days.
But I'm even surprised how old some stuff between 2010-2012 look now. I remember being kid around this time and seeing old news broadcast from like the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s and think wow that looks old. So it's crazy now to look back at a time when you were a teenager and see the past through that same lens
I remember this night as one of the funnest nights I had as a child growing up. Everyone broke night outside in my neighborhood in the bronx, listening to music, eating food from the local food trucks. My friends and I even started playing manhunt in Mullally Park, across the street from where we lived. A time b4 electronics was the main source of fun.
This sounds awesome!
It wasn't a time before electronics it was a time before smart phones and social media
@@SnoopEastwood Yup. MP3s and iPods were already around. Plus the 2nd generation of video game consoles (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox) already released.
People just weren't as connected to the internet yet. It was even 2 years before UA-cam would be created.
Sounds like a fond time. Glad to see you lived it in the good days.
I was deploy to Iraq when the blackout hit the city couldn’t get a hold of my family and was freaking out they were My lifeline to sanity. Wow time flies
Thanks for your service brother
What branch and what was your MOS?
@@ameridesign Army I was a 92A with the 3rd Armor Calvary Regiment.
thankyou sm for your service sir
thanks for signing up to kill people for the government
I live in a small farming community in Michigan that was one of the only towns in the state with power. It was bizarre seeing mile long gas station lines, fast food places completely packed, nonstop traffic, etc. I wont ever forget that day.
Yeah that day was very unpleasant.. that 24 hours felt like a week. That traffic and lines to get gas, ice and water were brutal.
I remember going to my grandparents in Cass City where they had power, and remember nearly running out of gas until we found an open gas station in Caro. It was crazy
I remember this I was 9 years old. Me and my dad walked around our town located in state of NY. I found it fascinating for some reason.
God bless New York City. You had tragic events just 1 1/2 to 2 yrs earlier then a major blackout. You New Yorkers really are different and resilient.
I survievd. Non New Yorker.😀👍 .....from a small place there in Germany
Thank you for your comment! We all thought this was another terrorist attack. I remember the lights in my office blinking a few times and then that was it...computer down, lights down...Time to walk down 34 flights of stairs with everyone else. It was a hot day too..
There’s an old saying “New Yorkers are strong”. Coming from someone who’s from California
and given that 9/11 had occurred only recently then, a lot of people understandably were freaking out that it was another terrorist attack
Na it trash city!
I remember this well, and fondly. The entire eastern seaboard was affected, and places further afield were without power for days. I lived in a small town in Ontario-cottage country. The power went out a lot where we lived, usually due to trees falling on power lines, but it was often fixed within an hour or two. This time was different-our power was out for 3 days. It was a hot summer, and fortunately we lived right by a lake, so we spent most of the time swimming.
The village was full of cottagers, so there were plenty of people around, and everybody was outside. Fridges weren't working, so people hosted big communal barbecues and invited all the neighbours over, to use up all the food that would go bad. My parents would idle the car in the driveway to hear news reports on the radio-I remember that clear as day. No TV, no video games, no lights at night. It would have been miserable and boring as a kid if the village weren't packed with people and other kids my age.
I remember clearly when the power came back on after a few days. I was sitting in my room with some friends, taking a break from the sunshine. There was an oscillating fan in our room-and as we were talking, the fan suddenly turned on, resuming just where it left off days before. It took us all a second to process what that meant. I think we were all outwardly excited, but inwardly I felt a bit of a loss when the power came back on.
Can’t believe this was 20 years ago. Felt like yesterday.
I was 23 around this time and me and my wife who was my girlfriend at the time was in midtown Manhattan when it happened we had to walk all the way back to Harlem because that’s where I’ve live at the time and Jesus Christ we got on a bus and it was CROWDED and sweaty it was crazy! We had to get off that bus.
I was three life was better
I was about 4 or 5 when this happened. I remember walking on one of the main streets with my mom and her talking about how the traffic lights were out. When we got home, I remember something about my dad going out and she wasn't happy that he was driving around, but he was picking random people up and taking them home.
The way Jim Dolan ended that segment is writing at its best. One of the best beat writers in the city.
I arrived for vacation the day this happened. I had such a great time. Met a lot of cool people.
2003 was a special year for me. It’s the year I came of age. I had just graduated high school and was months away from leaving for the Marines. I was living in New Jersey at the time, about an hour outside of New York when this happened. The lights flickered and the power went out momentarily. Luckily the lights came back on for us so we weren’t affected. Me and dad were to fly out the next day out of JFK. We got to JFK early the next morning only to come back home later on that day. I remember seeing people sleeping on the curb, the floors in the terminal, on the baggage carousel, etc. We went back to JFK the day after and caught a flight out.
You've joined the Marines? Did you fight in Afghanistan or Iraq?
I grew up in South Jersey. So close to all of this. Never heard of it until I played Watchdogs 10 YEARS later.
2003 was a special year for me as well -- it was the year I was born lol
@@okamijubei yes I went to Iraq in 2005
You know what i found interesting? 2 years before the blackout of 2003 which affected new york, there were the 9/11 attacks. And 2 years before the blackout of 1965, which also affected New York, there was the JFK assassination
🤔
I was 8 when this happened and I can still remember what we did: we had a BBQ in the neighbors yard, watched TV in their car (they had a mounted DVD player) and I slept in the living room because it was too hot in my own room.
I was on the subway when the power went out. The train I was on, was just about to pull out the station and then stand still. Looked out the train and it was complete darkness. At first just thought the power went out on the station. Once outside noticed that no traffic lights on where, and then everyone started yelling blackout. I had to walk back home, which took three hours, and then had to walk up 14 flights to my apartment in a pitch black stairway. The only ight I had was from my cellphone.
Lived in Queens at the time. It was HOT that night
I walked from Manhattan to BK and it was surreal. So many people walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and helping each other get home.
Most New Yorkers didn't see this live because the power was still out at the time, and there was no live streaming on smartphone back then. Most people just listened to radios for news. There was nervousness in the early moments because 9/11 was still fresh in New Yorkers' minds. At the time I was working at a midtown Manhattan office. I saw it happen first hand: the lights in the office going off suddenly, and everybody saying oh my god. Then our building told us what was happening and told everyone to leave the building (due to security, because the security system couldn't run without power). I sat at the sidewalk pondering what to do, just like the people in this video. At 7pm, luckily a co-worker drove by and offered me a ride back to Queens where I lived. Normally a one-hour commute, it took me 3 hours to get home due to heavy traffic. During the ride home I heard the radio say this was just a blackout, not a terrorist attack. I rang my home's doorbell and my family couldn't hear me on the 3rd floor because the doorbell had no power! I had to use a pay phone to tell them to come downstairs to let me in. I believe we got power back at 10am next morning.
this was honestly a fun and interesting read. how old were you when it happened? the doorbell not ringing was a funny part lol
@@timeddie3134 I was in my 30s then. I left my keys at the office so that was why I had to ring the doorbell. I didn't grab my keys because my office building practically kicked us out to the streets because all the security systems went down with the power. That was why the video shows everyone sitting in the streets. If this happened today, same thing would happen. Even when the power is on, the buildings may still forbid entry in high-alert situations, such as New Year's Eve at Times Square.
its amazing to see how unfazed the locals are. Everyone else trying to leave as the locals are just directing traffic and attending block parties.
Wow even 2003 was so different than how it is now.
Wow. This video is hostorical, like living it in real-time. That’s one of the cool things about UA-cam: it’s a Time Machine
agreed. the only type of social media platform im always fine with.
A time machine with adverts
Loads and loads and loads of adverts
historical.
Actually the electricity went out in North East of USA & Canada: NYC, Albany, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal
Was 12 when this happened. Folks were freaking out yet very social with each other, streets was crowded, weather being HOT as a oven. And the 🍴barbeques were lit🔥
I was 10 when this happened and remember using candles for dinner, it being hot, etc. It was definitely a day I'll never forget.
Weird how this got randomly put in my feed. However, it is so crazy that it’s been 20 years since this happened. I’ve lived in Indiana since 2001, thank goodness my family and I didn’t have to deal with this. I was 8 years old at the time this blackout happened
I spent the night in Tompkins Square Park with friends & my lady friend at the time, didn't get home until 4 in the morning.
I was there with my mom. I was 6 years old. We got separated, and she couldn't find me. She went to my school, but it was closed. She did not know where I was. But the only thing she could think was that my afterschool program nanny picked me up, so she went to their house, and there I was. I'll never forget the relief on my mom's face.
I was living at the Hotel Chelsea at the time. It was boiling hot. When the power was finally restored, there was a lot of cheering from apartment windows.
Everyone looks sweaty af lol
It was a heatwave everywhere
Grande Braga
It was 96° F that day.
Summer of 2003 was brutal.
*I was 16 and I had to go days without the internet and my mom was on vacation*
Oh yeah and it was very hot out that summer.
That year was super hot
Everywhere in the world
I'm from europe and as kids we weren't allowed outside (during that summer/autumn period of time )
It killed a lot of people (old mostly )
I remember the sky having no clouds for so long
Just blue
Then we saw the new york blackout on tv
I have this memory of people lying down on steps of big white stairs (i don't remember what building it was )
I was there that day. It happened in the day and we went to the park to hang out. The bars started to give out free beer because their beer was getting warm. Then when it got dark, it was a little hairy. There was a restaurant cooking and serving food through an open walk up window with someone holding a flashlight while they cooked. Finally the trains started to run again to NJ.
@carolinepahl yes certainly. You have an email I can send it to?
@carolinepahl will do !
who's here after nyc blackout 2019?
Patrick Vanegas it wasn’t much of a blackout only a 25% outage I was down at the seaport it was like nothing was happening.
@@MikeJ2023 if you were at midtown, it was a pretty darn scary site mate!
Patrick Vanegas I was in Times Square area after the seaport 80% of the lights we on.
Patrick Vanegas The 2003 Blackout was bigger. It affected North East USA & Canada.
Patrick Vanegas wow, part of manhattan lost lights for a few hours. Must have been like the purge out there.
I was 13 and I remember my family being freaked out. And the stars that night were really something.
I had to take a "command " bus, which was like a touring bus, I ended up in Bay Ridge, & I took a bus all the way to Flatbush where I lived. Reminded me of 9/11 & the madness of getting home.
The command busses are present day B100, B103, BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BM5 busses
I was 6 years old living in Harlem with my mom and my grandma when the blackout happened. I was watching Arthur until the all of the lights shut off.
I was working as a messenger at the time, I went back to the office in the lower East side, & we were all let go for the day. It was an awesome time in Tompkins Square Park, we had free pizza. It was like the '60s,people were singing, playing guitars.
I remember it was like 96 degrees farenheit in New Jersey that day. Once that A/C went off the heat was insane. People looting from the corner store. Oh that also meant a cold bath. :)
Did it hit New Jersey? I can’t remember
@@garden0fstone736 what does remember mean?
@@V00doo1Xim i forget
Just imagine how it was Florida.
I was working in Jersey City, had to take a ferry to Manhattan, then walk north to get to the 59th street bridge to get to Flushing. When I got to Forest Hills I was able to get on a bus, saving me 40 minutes of additional walk, after walking 3 hours. My legs were in pain the next day. I had a similar experience from 9/11.
@Caroline Pahl Hi Caroline. Thanks for your interest. Looking back I don't remember much of all that walking, and the pain long resided. Many 1,000s of peoples experienced similar long distance walks that day. I don't have much else to add.
you were in new york back in 2001?
@@CannibaLouiST yeah
@@anthonydefex I was working in Jersey City, had to take a ferry to Manhattan, then walk north to get to the 59th street bridge to get to Flushing. When I got to Forest Hills I was able to get on a bus, saving me 40 minutes of additional walk, after walking 3 hours. My legs were in pain the next day. I had a similar experience from 9/11
I was 9 when this happened, my brother stayed at home in the city but the rest of us were staying with our cousins in staten island just before the blackout. I remember seeing this on the news the first time. It looked crazy!
My boyfriend is a native Staten Islander, too.
People freaked out over one day without power.
They will go insane if we ever have an EMP event or prolonged power outage when the lights don't come back on for days, weeks, or months.
We need to strengthen our grid infrastructure.
I remember being 9 years old when this happened I was watching men in black animated series on TV then boom everything went out and I had to go to Fordham Road the same day with my mom that afternoon
i was playing xbox when this happen. then i went out to the park and played with my friends. i miss being a kid.
I was on vacation in Costa Rica with my mom and siblings. Remember watching it on the news in Costa Rica and my dad stayed home. My dad slept in the car for the entire night because the apartment was too hot.
What a brave little lass stuck in the lift and brave fireman.
I remember this blackout. It reached Jersey City and it was timed so poorly too! My childhood home had an electric garage and it was open when the power went out so my dad sat on a chair in the driveway with a baseball bat making sure no one tried to sneak in 😄
Spent the night in front of our building. We had battery backup for the stairs. We ran cords from the engine room to the street and plugged in a radio with 1010WINS on.Everyone hung out with us listening to the radio.Even the police stopped to get news.We took our tables and chairs from our engine room to the sidewalk.We lined the whole curb with candals.I remember the 77 blackout...too
@Caroline Pahl yes i would share my story
2003: The most powerful flashlights available was the xenon lamps running off of D cells and producing around 100 lumens. 2023: Now we have handheld lights producing over 100,000 lumen running on high capacity 21700 batteries.
I don't remember this at all, but I remember going through something like it early in July. That one was caused by an overnight microburst that blew through my residence. I stayed in the dark for at least a few days.
It was massively lucky this didn't happen in winter, or I feel like a lot of people would've died from the cold
Something similar did happen in the northeast. October of 2011(?) we got a snowstorm right before Halloween but the trees hadn’t lost all their leaves yet so they couldn’t handle the weight of the snow and broke. Lost power for days. No street lights either. It was nuts. My apartment didn’t have power for a week
A lot of people did die but it definitely would’ve been much worse in the winter
@@BM-fz9yc I remember that! I'm from Connecticut and we lost power for almost a week. It also happened a few days before Halloween and they had to cancel Halloween for all the trick or treaters.
Dude. We take science and technology for granted everyday. Without it we will all suffer and die.
Bout 2 years after 9/11 couldn’t imagine how terrified everyone must’ve been
I am from Michigan and our part of the state got swept up in the blackout. I remember me and my brother were playing video games when the power went out. I didn't think it would be part of something bigger.
The audio quality of the mic at 1:12 is better than some nowadays
That type of microphones are designed for that
That last guy. I aspire to that level of chill.
My uncle walked from 145th st (Harlem) to Kings Plaza Brooklyn.
Yikes! 😳 Thats a mission
Word???
That’s a good 5 to 10 pounds lost
If this happened today, stores would be looted and people would beat each other up
I remember that day in the Bronx. It was so weird to experience the city in total darkness. We just had the moonlight. It was kinda cool.
Can't believe it's been 19 years already. I was 8 with my mom and sister while my father went to bury a relative in Virginia. 2003 is so ancient lol.
Ikr 🤦🏽♂️
My one Uncle used to live in NJ at the time, He worked in Manhattan for 10 years I believe and I was born on 8/15/2003, and I see that day in pictures him, my aunt and my cousins came to see me in the hospital so I assume that’s why he didn’t go into work that week!!! And he said that during 9/11, he was on the highway and he ended up not going into the city that day thankfully!!
The streets were so quiet.
I was like 8 when this happened, I was in Dominican Republic for vacation seeing this on the news. Was scared for my mom. Crazy cause DR was going through a storm that caused blackouts the same day but thank god we had generators.
@Caroline Pahl sure!
September 11 just happened 2 years this. I was driving on Staten Island expressway heading into Manhattan. I don’t remember how we knew something was happening/going wrong but I do remember I was like NOPE to continue driving towards Manhattan & made UTurn back to NJ. Since I was in NYC on 9/11 & got scared not knowing what was happening
I was working in NYC and living in NJ when this happened. My coworker (who took the same train as I) and I quickly and safely powered off the servers (running on battery) and left the office to try to head home. Path train of course wasn't running. Waited a few hours for the Ferry in blistering heat. We made it to NJ and eventually to Hoboken. At Hoboken no trains were running but we had the choice of standing outside the terminal to wait for a bus with 10k people in the heat - or - we could wait it out for the trains to start and the small bar in Hoboken terminal had generator backup and were serving nice cold beverages. We chose to wait it out for a few hours at Hoboken terminal at the bar and gradually made it home. Quite an afternoon / evening!
Wow I was young when this happened and I’d never heard of this! Very interesting footage. Strange to see now a world that didn’t have cell phones so I can imagine not being able to contact family members was very stressful. But it’s also nice to see the people who made the most of it, seems like a mix of people celebrating and others kind of panicked lol.
Since the power was completely out, I think that even if people had mobile phones, they would still have a hard time getting in contact with family and friends because The cell towers could’ve been affected as well.
I remember as a kid just staying outside all day in the shade.
I remembered I went to work that day. Until my supervisor called me and said go home. How did I get home ok, drove home.
Did anyone else have no idea that this happened and are just now hearing about it?
I remember this like it was yesterday. I was about to turn 31 the following month. I worked 29 blocks away from my apt. I was lucky enough to catch a bus home. But almost got hit by a bus catching that bus. Blackouts during the summer are the worst. 🤮
I remember that I lived in Syracuse and we had a brown out. It was weird and creepy in a way. It really sucked cause it was so hot and no AC. My friend worked at the toy store at the mall and the gate closed when the power went out so he was trapped in the store like a prisoner lol. We went and kept him company
i was 6 when this happened. im 27 now. i remember it like it was yesterday. had to sleep in the basement for 6 days because it was so hot. EVERYBODY was outside in my neighborhood looking out for one another. great times
Lol. Some parts of the city just dealt with a blackout that lasted like 20-30 mins. It totally reminded me of the 2003 one. Hard to believe it's gonna be 20 years old soon 🤣. I was 11 years old at the time and turned 12 in October.
Imagine if this happened on 23:59:30, December 31.
Joe T haha, Y2K
The weirdest time ever going into a new millenium
Imagine if it happened at midnight on January 1, 2000
I would love for this to happen :) I WILL HAUNT EVERYONE!
Y2K bug, also called Year 2000 bug or Millennium Bug
I was a baby when this happened so I don’t remember anything about this lol.
Nobody asked
@@wendellinigo3644 I did
Me too
So was I, I was 2 when this happened. Born in ‘01 I’m turning 20 next June 🙌🏻
@@Lexithesupreme2101 We're getting old bro...
I walked for HOURS and HRS and HRS 😩
I remember this so well because I was taking a summer class at Polytechnic University during that time and the subway was shut down and had to carpool with someone to get back home.
@Caroline Pahl Nothing I just remember I was taking a C++ class during summer of 2003 during the month of August. After leaving the 6 metro tech center building I head straight to the station and as entering the station you can see the panic where the trains stopped working and people were just leaving the station and trying to figure out a way to get home. I was just asking around if anyone is heading back to Brooklyn, NY and by shear luck someone said they were heading back and carpooled with him via taxi. That's what I remember. It's been a while. The last blackout in NYC happened way back in 1968.
@@Brook11223 your name says your indian stop capping
I remember this, I was 8.
I was in church with my dad to watch a christening when suddenly all the lights went out.
Can’t believe it’s been 20 years now this year
I remember this. We was all at my grandma house in the projects. Had to go all the way down stairs in the exits from the 9th floor to go to the store and get water. People was at the corner store going crazy for water.
It's "We Were." Not "We was." Moron.
That happend 15 years ago
Thanks for the math
16 years ago
lol I wasn't even born yet or even conceived. I was born in 2004 in April
17 years ago*
This day is completely unforgettable!
Who else is here after our little mini blackout in ny?
Oscar Fulano My cousin was in the blackout area
BRO THIS WAS WILD
My neighbors and I in my apt bldg (Upstate NYS) had a blackout party on our front steps. I was supposed to pick up a new car after work that day but the route to the dealership was a giant parking lot. The salesman at my dealership also happened to be one of my neighbors and he said it took him over an hour to make a 10 min drive home. Fortunately, our power came back on after about 7 hours.
Was about 6 when this happened in Akron Ohio. Happy I was just old enough to remember this. Me, my brother and my mom were outside in our pool in the backyard. We left a game of Super Mario Bros paused on the original Nintendo inside. Came inside to use the bathroom to find we had no power, we all then looked out front to see no power anywhere.
Lived on a main road, could tell even the stop lights were out. We found out over AM radio what was going on and how widespread it was. I was more upset about us losing our place on the game at the time lmao.
Then we had around 5 days without power.
I remember before it turned on, I had to crawl through my uncles house's window essentially breaking in as they were out on vacation at the time, and I was the only one who could fit through the window. I had to get inside to turn off the power in breaker box, as they recommended unplugging all heavy appliances before power came back on.
Crazy time. Will never forget it. Kept our house powered with the an 80s Dodge minivan as the generator for a few good days
I picked out. I made it back to the LES by 8 PM, got a 12 of beers and kicked iron the street which was the biggest party in LES history as far as I'm concerned. I count the blackout as one of the funnest times of my life!
I feel so old watching this.
What’s also wild is that no one had cellphone flashlights to get out of the buildings. I’m so used to having it so it’s kinda weird to think about.
They could have used their phone flip screen light , and some phones had a camera flash, lol. Some Kyocera phones at the time had a flashlight on them as well