OUT OF THE DARKNESS LIGHT

Fifteen years ago, the city lost power, but some New Yorkers found love, friendship and humanity

ON Aug. 14, 2003, just after 4 p.m., parts of eight states in the Northeast and the Midwest went dark, as the power grid supplying electricity to much of the US became overloaded.

In New York City, thousands of people had to be evacuated from outof-power subways, hundreds had to be rescued from stalled elevators, hospitals fired up backup generators and traffic lights and Times Square billboards flickered off.

It was less than two years after 9/11 and then-mayor Michael Bloomberg was quick to assure NYC’s 8 million powerless residents that this wasn’t a similar situation.

“The first thing that everybody should do,” he said, “is to understand that there is no evidence of any terrorism whatsoever.”

Bloomberg urged residents to treat the occurrence “like a snow day,” even though the temperature was a balmy 90 degrees.

Gothamites poured out into the streets, congregated with friends in parks and candlelit bars and walked or hitchhiked to get home. Then-borough president of Brooklyn Marty Markowitz greeted borough residents as they strolled across the Brooklyn Bridge, shouting “welcome home” with a megaphone.

By the time everyone’s power was restored later that night and the next day, at least six New Yorkers had died, the mayhem had cost the city roughly $500 million and everyone had a unique blackout story. As the 15th anniversary of this catastrophic event approaches, four locals with particularly remarkable memories share their tales.

Clockwise from left: Esty and Ezra Dershowitz were married the night of the blackout on Aug. 14, 2003, and say it made their nuptials uniquely memorable. Barbara Walker went into labor with daughter Liliana that same day, as friends rushed around the city to locate her husband Drew (not pictured). Maureen Farrell and Jason Kolbe first met during the power outage; they’re now married with two children.