Grand Central Terminal in New York City experienced a sudden blackout Thursday night, trapping MTA workers inside an elevator during the incident. The power outage occurred after rush hour and lasted approximately 30 minutes, according to MTA officials.
A drop in voltage to the feeder network caused the loss of power from around 8:28 p.m. to 9:17 p.m., affecting parts of the terminal but leaving Grand Central Madison—its 700,000-square-foot extension—unaffected. MTA Communications Director Tim Minton stated that no train service was disrupted during the event. Power was restored to the upper level by 8:53 p.m. and the lower level by 9:17 p.m., with no injuries reported.
Five Metro North railroad employees became stranded in an elevator mid-lift when the lights went out, prompting a rescue operation by the FDNY. Witnesses described moments of panic in the 33,000-square-foot terminal as darkness enveloped the space.
Online videos and photos from around 8:30 p.m. captured commuters navigating the pitch-black main hall. Yvonne Ubillus, an employee at Grand Brasserie inside the terminal, said the outage caught staff and customers off guard. “We were in the middle of service and then the lights just went off,” she recounted. Power returned by 9 p.m., though some systems, including a gas line, remained nonfunctional.
Commuter Shola Adekola described the darkness as unsettling. “It was pretty dark. You could hardly see anything,” he said. “It was scary, but fortunately, people took out their phones and turned the camera on.”
