The infamous New York City blackout of 1977 The sun rises on the darkened Manhattan skyline during a citywide blackout. Below are some samples from the collection, which we think showcase the struggles that Bushwick residents faced after the 1977 Blackout, as well as the vibrancy and diversity of the neighborhood. A previous blackout, occurring in 1965, was starkly different to the New York blackout of 1977. Look back at the New York City blackout of 1977 In Bushwick, Brooklyn, firemen were spraying hoses on a building ablaze on Hancock Ave. when looters across the … In the background, you can see some damage to homes from the fires. But the people who live in Bed-Stuy and Bushwick have had their lives looted for years.” Bushwick after the blackout of 1977 (Brooklyn Historical Society) Desperation hit Bushwick harder than any other New York City neighborhood. The 1977 blackout that hit New York was a crisis that came amidst a sweltering heat wave, a financial downturn, rising poverty and inequality and an atmosphere of gloom that had already settled on the city. The city had been trapped in an insufferable heat wave for days, leaving residents of the poverty-stricken Brook… In contrast to 1965, The New York blackout of 1977 truly demonstrated how dangerous the city had become. On the evening of July 13, 1977, a massive blackout plunged New York into darkness. Photo by Vic DeLucia/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images A view of 34th Street during the 1977 blackout… There, destruction culminated in the loss several hundred buildings, including 124 structures along Broadway Avenue, Bushwick’s formerly vibrant commercial thoroughfare that has never fully recovered. During the earlier blackout, New York’s reported crime rate was the lowest it had ever been on any night since records had begun being kept. We were unable to verify the photographer (s). Article on Bushwick after the blackout; illus (M) Sections. T he blackout that hit New York on this day, July 13, in 1977 was to many a metaphor for the gloom that had already settled on the city. 1977. Shea Stadium during the 1977 blackout. The events in Bushwick are also notable because they continued into July 14, whereas most of the neighborhoods were calm by the end of July 13. It was a stifling July night in 1977, 40 years ago, and Bushwick was ready to burst. The photo of the week depicts children playing in the spray of a fire hydrant in Bushwick following the blackout of 1977. Finally, though, Bushwick burst into national headlines. Within minutes, residents began assembling in Bushwick’s streets, chanting “Broadway, Broadway,” before marching off to … Blackout 1977: Here Comes the Neighborhood “It’s an ugly thing to see all this looting, for sure. 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