What happens when one of the biggest cities in the world goes to the dark side? Star Wars fans get to steal a catchphrase from the superhero movie world: we get the heroes we deserve.
A failure at a substation was to blame for a New York City blackout that left 73,000 customers without power for three hours yesterday. The lights went out all the way from Times Square, to Broadway, to Rockefeller Center, so it’s pretty clear that a lot more people were affected. Plays were cancelled for the evening, air conditioning went out…it was a mess, to say the least.
That didn’t stop some good Samaritans and Star Wars fans from saving the day, though. As tweeted by Liam Stack, a reporter for the New York Times, the scene was like so:
“Now that it’s getting dark the civilians directing traffic in Hell’s Kitchen are using whatever light they can get, including cellphones and… light sabers”
Now that it’s getting dark the civilians directing traffic in Hell’s Kitchen are using whatever light they can get, including cellphones and… light sabers #NYCblackout pic.twitter.com/R4eEb7yXJa
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) July 14, 2019
And here’s a few more Tweets showing off the scene:
This Good Samaritan was doing in in style with a lightsaber! #nycblackout2019 pic.twitter.com/ZJTZT6R65C
— Steve Blake (@StevenBlakeLI) July 14, 2019
This guy is directing traffic with a legit lightsaber pic.twitter.com/Ewab6lRq9O
— Shawn Wu (@ShawnDWu) July 14, 2019
How awesome is that? And how anxious must fans be for Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, to come out and direct traffic with lightsabers? The police must have no doubt been overwhelmed, as despite the Padawan traffic directors’ lack of experience, their actions seem to have helped more than hurt.
Thankfully, the power was restored at about 10 PM and NYC governor, Andrew Cuomo, sent out a cautionary and congratulatory message from his Twitter account:
Power has been restored after today's #blackout, but New Yorkers should continue to exercise caution as everything returns to normal.
When things are at their worst, New Yorkers are at their best, and they were at their best tonight.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) July 14, 2019
Whether it be something as minor as a power failure or as major as 9/11, New York’s brotherly “you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us” attitude from Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man never ceases to amaze.
Want to see some real lightsaber action, though? The next and last installment in the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, hits theaters on December 20th.
