An explosion in Astoria, Queens just after 9:00 PM made the NYC skyline appear a bit brighter.
The explosions lit up the sky in shades of blue visible as far as Manhattan and New Jersey.
According to the NYPD’s 114th Precinct, a transformer explosion occured on Astoria East & North Queens at Con Edison’s power plant.
Investigating a transformer explosion at Astoria East & North Queens Con Ed power plant. Please avoid 20th Ave & 31 st.
Con Edison Backed that claim.
Fires broke out after a “couple of transformers tripped offline” at the intersection of 20th Avenue and 32nd Street in Astoria, Con Edison spokesperson Bob McGee told CNN.
Con Edison says a couple of transformers tripped offline at the substation at 20th Avenue and 32nd Street, sparking a fire.
The explosion lit the sky so brightly that it briefly appeared to be daytime in neighborhoods like Astoria and Queens, residents reported. Smoke arose from the source of the blue light, visible from as far as Manhattan.
The tremors shook buildings and rattled windows, sending people running into the streets.
The NYPD is asking people to avoid the area of 20th Avenue and 31st Street in Astoria while they investigated the transformer explosion at the Con Edison power plant in Astoria East and North Queens.
The NYPD tweeted an update at 10:13 PM ET on Thursday evening:
LaGuardia Airport was shut down temporarily as the borough of Queens was lit with a blue light.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson tweeted that LaGuardia Airport was “temporarily closed due to a power outage resulting from the Con Edison explosion.”
Eric Philips, spokesman for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stated that “scattered” power outages were reported elsewhere.
Due to a power outage in Queens, there is partial flight operations @LGAairport. Many flights are departing, some are not. Please check flight status with carrier.
Mayor de Blasio later briefed everyone on the happenings.
What we know:
– Light was caused by electrical surge at a substation.
– No current fire, no injuries.
– MTA has power, but there are delays on the 7 train.
– Power coming back on at LGA, but expect delays.
– Con Ed evaluating outages now.
More soon.
LaGuardia Airport was fully functional again by 11 PM Thursday evening.
In the meantime, social media posts from New Yorkers were quite interesting:
Evidently there were flashes of light in the sky of New York City and it look eerily similar to this…..
Manhattan neighbors in Edgewater, New Jersey were just as worried:
Why is the sky over #NYC #NewYorkCity #Manhattan #Brox #Queens Teal Blue?!!!! #EdgewaterNJ
Here’s a closer look in Long Island City Queens: