Grand Central Terminal experienced a brief blackout on Thursday night that left some MTA workers trapped in an elevator and thousands of others left to navigate the cavernous halls with the glow of their cellphones.
Power went down throughout the upper and lower portions of the iconic midtown Manhattan terminal at roughly 8:28 p.m. on Thursday until 9:17 p.m., according to the MTA.
Grand Central Madison — the 700,000 foot extension of the historic station — did not lose power during the electrical lapse.
“Grand Central Terminal experienced a drop in voltage to the feeder network that resulted in lights going out in portions of the facility,” MTA Communications Director Tim Minton said. “No train service was interrupted.”
“Power was restored to the upper level at 8:53 p.m. and the lower level at 9:17 p.m. No injuries were reported,” Minton said.
Five unlucky Metro North railroad employees got stuck in an elevator that was mid-lift when the lights went out — requiring a rescue by the FDNY, the Bravest and the MTA confirmed.
Witnesses said that a light panic broke out in the 33,000-square-foot terminal the moment it went dark.
“The light went out of nowhere and … everybody was screaming and yelling and everybody looked like small ants coming out of the tracks,” Tartinery worker Stacy Orea, 18, told The Post.
“People were screaming and the police were telling people to get off the tracks and that they had to go upstairs,” Orea said in reference to the platforms for Metro-North.
Another worker at Luke’s Lobster said the restaurant equipment stopped working and employees panicked.
“It was dark and scary and then all the electronics and stuff in the store turned off,” Kenny Peterson, 23, told The Post.
“It was just chaos. Honestly, it was scary. My coworkers were ducking down because we didn’t know what was happening,” Peterson said.
Other terminal-goers had their meals at tony restaurants interrupted by the hiccup — but were unfazed in the way only New Yorkers can be.
“All of a sudden boom. The lights went out. It was fabulous,” Terry Hofler, a retired theater teacher who was having dinner at Grand Central Oyster Bar, told The Post. “Nobody reacted. It was like a total New York moment.”
Marvin Ander, Hofler’s husband, added, “People just went on with their dinner. The restaurant had some lighting. People put on their phones. Everyone finished dinner, talking.”
Footage shared to X showed the glow of cellphones fluttering in the otherwise pitch black hall as caught-off-guard commuters navigated their way through the station.
One traveler said the terminal was “totally dark” except for MTA employees frantically running around with flashlights.
More than 750,000 people pass through Grand Central Station each day, according to Travel and Leisure.
The MTA said it is working with Con Edison to investigate the cause of the outage.
Additional reporting by Joe Marino
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