Travelers at La Guardia Airport were left stranded for hours with no place to go. Most ended up sleeping on that very sidewalk until flights were resumed.
Many stranded passengers could not even call home that day because most cell towers were not working and those that were, were extremely congested.
The Blackout caused gas pumps to shut down putting the millions of people that fill up daily out of gas. Many police officers ended up siphoning gas right out of tanks.
As power was restored, lines similar to those of the gas crisis in the 70's formed all over the city.
While traffic lights were out during the rush hour commute, the Auxiliaries were directing traffic assuring everyone a safe ride home.
While, everyone was scrambling to get home to their families, most Auxiliaries of the 111th Precinct scrambled to get to the precinct to help out. Almost all members of the unit showed up that day.
APO Dimtri is seen here in the wee hours of the night directing traffic at his post.
APO Stephen is seen here next to his flares wearing a traffic vest directing traffic on Springfield and LIE.
Around 1am, our supervisors showed up to relieve us at our post. ASGT Charlie is shown in front of AP-111, our vehicle.
That night, Auxiliaries aided safe passage of both vehicles and pedestrians to their homes.
From the left ASGT Charlie, ALT Jay, and APO Dimitri standing in front of AP-111.
By the end of the night, each Auxiliary who had a traffic post averagely went through a whole box of flares.
The next day, the power was restored in most parts of the city. Newspapers tell the story.
The Blackout of 2003 started approximately 4:16 pm on August 14, the blackout lasted for over 14 hours in many parts of the city, when power was restored the next day around 5am.
That day, the many Auxiliaries that showed up showed how dedicated we our to helping our community. The first Auxiliaries started coming in at approximately 4:20, just minutes after the Blackout occured. Some stayed until the power was restored.
