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Black-out newspaper... World Trade Center photo...
Black-out newspaper... World Trade Center photo...
Item # 631993
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July 14, 1977
THE NEW YORK TIMES, July 14, 1977.
* Rare issue from the famous New York City blackout
This is an unusual issue which was published the day of the "black out" in New York City. A note on the front page explains that
* This is a special blackout edition...
which had to be taken to the Hackensack "Record" presses across the river in New Jersey to be printed, with other details of this special edition noted.
The only photo on the front page shows the New York City skyline in darkness, however the World Trade Center is eerily lit up (see photo).
This is the complete 40 page issue in nice condition save for some browning at the central fold.
source: wikipedia: The blackout came at a low point in the city's history, with New York facing a severe financial crisis as well as a serial killer, and commentators contrasted the event with the good-natured Where were you when the lights went out? atmosphere of 1965. Some pointed to the financial crisis as a root cause of the disorder, others noted the hot July weather. Still others noted that the 1977 blackout came after businesses had closed and their owners went home, while in 1965 the blackout occurred during the day and owners stayed to protect their property.
Looting and vandalism were widespread especially in the African American and Puerto Rican communities, hitting thirty-one neighborhoods, including every poor neighborhood in the city. Among the hardest hit were Crown Heights where seventy-five stores on a five-block stretch were looted, and Bushwick where arson was rampant with some 25 fires still burning the next morning. At one point two blocks of Broadway, which separates Bushwick from Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, were on fire. Thirty-five blocks of Broadway were destroyed: 134 stores looted, 45 of them set ablaze.
In all, 1,616 stores were damaged in looting and rioting. 1,037 fires were responded to, including 14 multiple-alarm fires. In the largest mass arrest in city history, 3,776 people were arrested. Many had to be stuffed into overcrowded cells, precinct basements and other makeshift holding pens. A Congressional study estimated that the cost of damages amounted to a little over US$300 million.
Shea Stadium went dark at approximately 9:30 p.m., in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Lenny Randle at bat. The New York Mets were losing 2-1 against the Chicago Cubs. Jane Jarvis, Shea's Organist and "Queen of Melody", played Jingle Bells and White Christmas. The game was completed on September 16, with the Cubs winning 5-2.
By 1:45 p.m. the next day, service was restored to half of Consolidated Edison's customers, mostly in Staten Island and Queens. It was not until 10:39 p.m. on July 14 that the entire city's power was back online.
Category: The 20th Century
No Longer Available
