Congratulations! With temperatures hitting 103 degrees in Central Park (106 in Newark) it is officially the hottest day of the year—and the hottest. July 22. Ever. And you know what that means? Those power outages that Con Ed warned us about? They're heeeeerrrreee. more ›

Last night, over three million Cablevision customers were able to watch Fox programming once again—right before Game 3 of the World Series—after Cablevision ended its dispute with News Corp. over transmission fees. According to Cablevision, it conceded because News Corp. is really mean and greedy and the FCC didn't do anything! Well, at least folks will be able to see today's Jets-Packers games on WNYW Fox 5, right? more ›

As Cablevision customers contemplate what bars to head to or which antenna to buy to watch the World Series tonight, Cablevision president and CEO (and Knicks owner) James Dolan sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski yesterday, saying that he could be in D.C. this morning for an FCC-run meeting with News Corp., because only with the FCC's involvement could good faith talks occur. However, News Corp., which served Cablevision a cease & desist letter (because the cable company's reps were allegedly telling customers how to illegally access Fox programming online) said that Dolan's letter was a "stunt." more ›

Cablevision customers who have been trying to see News Corp.-owned channels like WNYW 5 and WWOR 9 since last Saturday have instead been able to see Cablevision's "News Corp.'s transmission fees are too damn high" message (video). Cablevision claims that News Corp. is asking for too much money ($150 million, an increase from previous fees of $70 million) while News Corp. says Cablevision isn't even trying to negotiate! Well, Danny Spiegel & Guy Patton have a video up at UCB Comedy that examines the subtext of Cablevision's message: more ›

Blah blah blah three million Cablevision customers in NY, NJ and Pennsylvania remain without News Corp. channels, like WNYW 5, WWOR 9 and Fox News, for a sixth day as the companies have still not reached an agreement on transmission fees. The past few days, the two sides haven't really even held substantive negotiations, and FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said the FCC should "take a very serious look at whether ‘good faith’ negotiations are indeed occurring" and "move promptly to protect consumers" if they are not. more ›

Glee was a repeat last night, but next week's episode is the Rocky Horror Show tribute—and at this rate, it seems doubtful that Gleeks with Cablevision will be able to see it, since the cable company and Fox parent company News Corp. are still at odds over transmission fees. News Corp. removed its channels, including WNYW 5 and WWOR 9, from Cablevision early Saturday morning; Cablevision claims that News Corp. is demanding more than double its previous fees while News Corp. says that the fees are fair and Cablevision hasn't been attempting to negotiate. more ›

NJ elected officials expressed their concern over the continuing blackout of News Corp. channels—like WNYW 5, WWOR 9, Fox News—on Cablevision's systems as the media company and cable provider remain far apart during transmission fee negotiations. NJ Governor Chris Christie said he was worried that Cablevision wasn't "fulfilling the obligation" to customers by not cutting a deal while Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez sent a letter to the FCC, "We ask that the FCC take immediate action to move the parties to a prompt resolution of this dispute and to minimize the impact of future disputes. " more ›

Harlem residents are relieved this morning now that power has been restored to them after many hours without electricity. Around 10 p.m. last night, a number of high voltage underground feeder lines failed on 140th Street near 7th Avenue, according to WCBS 2, which adds, "Police were on scene with streetlights and the Office of Emergency Management was also there helping residents cope with the heat." Con Ed is working to "install a temporary above-ground line" while the underground feeder lines are repaired. more ›

With demand for electricity soaring along with the heat index, about 1,200 Con Edison customers have lost power in the Bronx, around East 237th Street. A company spokesman tells City Room they hope to restore power to those customers by 2 p.m. As we noted earlier, Con Ed officials are expecting New Yorkers to demand more power than ever before, breaking 2006's peak demand record of 13,141 megawatts. more ›

Uh oh: As the city endures a sweltering heat wave, after 11:30 p.m. last night, power lines in the Corona section of Queens were sparking and on fire. WCBS 2 reports they were "falling down on parked cars and causing power outages" and "homes were evacuated in the middle of a swelteringly-hot night because of the dangerous fire conditions." more ›

Starting last night, power went out in parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, and Con Ed is still working to get the juice flowing again so that customers can continue paying through the nose for the supplier's slapdash service. Yesterday afternoon Con Ed kindly requested that customers in parts of Brooklyn and the Upper West Side turn off all non-essential appliances to avoid a brownout, but the brownout "voltage reduction" began anyway within hours. Con Ed reduced voltage to the area by 8 percent, making it difficult to operate A.C. during the summer's first heat advisory. (This handy map shows where the power outages were.) more ›

A young woman got frightened and died yesterday after being trapped in an elevator for two hours during a blackout. Danielle Goldberg was traveling up to her sixth-floor apartment around 11:35 a.m. when all of a sudden the power was cut. "She was scared because the lights were out and couldn't get out of the elevator," explained her brother, Steven. The 26-year-old who suffered from congenital heart defect had a panic attack and used her cell phone to alert a relative. "She called my mom to calm down, but it didn't work," he said more ›

Six years ago today, parts of the Northeast, Midwest and Canada suddenly suffered a blackout. In New York City, the blackout occurred in the afternoon and after initial worries that it was terrorist-related, people just concentrated on figuring out how to get home—and how to survive without cell service, because most of the circuits were jammed up! And the city came together, with people helping direct traffic, throwing impromptu parties (thanks to restaurants who gave out food since it'd have to be thrown away anyway), being buddies during walks home and offering to let friends and co-workers crash at their place. more ›

As noted in our newsletter today, 32 years ago tonight, at 8:37 p.m., the blackout of 1977 began. On its 30th anniversary, we did a full recap of the night. The evening has been well-documented elsewhere as well—here are some more images—but the LIFE database actually has plenty photographs from other blackouts in the city's past (1942, 1959, 1965 and 2003). In 2003 the NY Times looked at how the '65 and '77 ones shaped our history. While the former showed people coming together, proving "reassuring and exhilarating," they sum up the latter with a quote a priest named Gabriel Santacruz from St. Barbara's Church in Bushwick. He said the Sunday after the '77 blackout: "We are without God now." more ›

Hey Queens residents, about that blackout two years ago that left thousands of you without electricity or hot water for nine sweltering days? Con Ed is sorry! Also, here's one hundred dollars off your next Con Ed bill. Happy? Don't do anything rash like switch to a different electric company, okay? (Hahaha!) City Room reports that Con Ed is finally sending out letters of apology for the disruption, which the company agreed to do as part of a controversial mea culpa, which is Latin for "a slap in the face." The blackout was caused by a serious failure in the electricity delivery system in the Long Island City network; afterward CEO Kevin Burke bought an advertisement in the Times that fell far short of today's historic apology, which will surely smooth things over once and for all. more ›

Around 4:10 p.m. on August 14, 2003, electrical transmission lines running through Ohio disconnected--thanks to toppled trees that forced Cleveland area power lines to draw more energy--and blackouts started to cascade across the system. NYC was left, along with other parts of the Northeast, Midwest, and Canada, without electrical power. more ›

Typical: Con Ed has decided to offer victims of the 2006 blackout a measly $100 each. To businesses, such as restaurants and markets, that lost thousands of dollars of merchandise, it's an insult. Mezzo Mezzo restaurant owner Charlie Kourakos told the Daily News, "We lost, I can say, around $50,000. It's ridiculous for them to even offer us a hundred bucks." more ›

Rufus Wainwright is calling for a self-imposed blackout. The musician proposes that we all set our sundials to noon on June 21st to signal a group shut down of all electric lights, appliances and anything else that plugs in...for 12 hours. His hope is to call attention to global warming and energy conservation. more ›

Notwithstanding a massive steam explosion that horribly burned some New Yorkers and shut down a large section of midtown Manhattan for weeks, neighborhood blackouts that have left thousands in the dark and without air conditioning in the heat of summer, and occasional stray voltage leaks that have electrocuted people and pets, Mayor Bloomberg feels that Con Ed is doing a decent job and customers should be willing to pay extra each month to the utility. Aides insist that Bloomberg wasn't formally endorsing a $1.2 billion rate hike, which would boost customers' bills by an average of 17%. He was just pointing out that the company doesn't make that much money and that it needs additional funds to upgrade the city's energy infrastructure. more ›

The State Public Service Commission is fining Con Ed $18 million for failing to meet reliability standards during the nine-day Queens blackout last year. PSC Chairwoman Patricia Acampora said, "Hopefully, this order today will send a message to Con Ed that they must be diligent in their efforts to maintain a reliable network, or they will face financial consequences." As far as we're concerned, it seems like Con Ed got off easy. Especially when they... more ›