Daybreak in New York City on July 13, 1977, began in a normal way, but by the end of the day things would be anything but normal. At 8:34pm, a lightning strike hit the Buchanan South substation on the Hudson River, causing two circuit breakers in Buchanan, New York, to trip. This substation converted 345,000 volts of electricity from the 900 MW Indian Point nuclear generating station into lower voltage for commercial use. A loose locking nut and a delayed upgrade cycle prevented the breaker from reclosing, thereby stopping the power flow.
A second lightning strike knocked out two 345 kV transmission lines, leaving only one of them able to reclose, and caused a power loss at the Indian Point nuclear plant. The strikes also overloaded two other major transmission lines. Following protocol, Consolidated Edison, the power provider for New York City and parts of Westchester County, attempted to activate a fast-start generating station at 8:45pm, but the remote start failed as they were unmanned. Other staffed plants were successfully started, but some of the turbines were offline for routine maintenance and so they could not deliver their full capacity.
At 8:55pm, a third lightning strike hit the Sprain Brook substation in Yonkers, knocking out two more critical transmission lines. Since the system design focused on protecting the already-isolated Indian Point plant, only the north-south line automatically came back online. The poorly designed control-room displays at Con Edison failed to clearly show this issue to the operator at the time.
The second activation of a transmission line caused Con Edison’s system to lose connection with key generating stations across the Hudson River. As a result, power rerouted through cross-river lines in Newark or upstate New York before heading towards New York City. However, the remaining lines into the city couldn’t handle the extra power without surpassing their long-term capacity limits. As a result of repeated attempts and failures at restarting the systems, much of New York City was plunged into a blackout.
The blackout happened during a severe financial crisis in the city. To make matters worse, residents were already on edge due to the Son of Sam murders. The nation, especially New York City, was enduring a long economic slump, and the event was often compared to the more lighthearted “Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?” vibe of 1965. Some blamed the financial crisis for the chaos, while others pointed to the sweltering July heat wave affecting the East Coast. Additionally, the 1977 blackout occurred after businesses had closed for the day, unlike the 1965 blackout, which took place earlier when many merchants were still at their stores. And the looting in 1977 carried on into the daylight hours of the following day.
Looting and vandalism swept through New York City, affecting 31 neighborhoods. Crown Heights saw 75 stores along a five-block stretch looted and damaged, while Bushwick experienced rampant arson, with about 25 fires still burning the next morning. At one point, two blocks of Broadway in Brooklyn, separating Bushwick from 
Bedford-Stuyvesant, were engulfed in flames. A total of 35 blocks of Broadway were destroyed, with 134 stores looted and 45 of them set on fire. Thieves stole 50 brand new Pontiacs from a Bronx car dealership. In Brooklyn, a gang of kids used cars to pull down store grates before looting. The chaos, later called “The Night of Terror” left 550 police officers injured and led to 4,500 arrests.
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