Grand Central Terminal in New York City experienced a blackout Thursday night, trapping MTA workers inside an elevator.

The blackout happened after rush hour and lasted approximately 30 minutes.

MTA officials said a drop in voltage to the feeder network caused the power to go out from about 8:28 p.m. to 9:17 p.m.

Footage circulated online:

More from the New York Post:

Grand Central Madison — the 700,000 foot extension of the historic station — did not lose power during the electrical lapse.

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“Grand Central Terminal experienced a drop in voltage to the feeder network that resulted in lights going out in portions of the facility,” MTA Communications Director Tim Minton said. “No train service was interrupted.”

“Power was restored to the upper level at 8:53 p.m. and the lower level at 9:17 p.m. No injuries were reported,” Minton said.

Five unlucky Metro North railroad employees got stuck in an elevator that was mid-lift when the lights went out — requiring a rescue by the FDNY, the Bravest and the MTA confirmed.

Witnesses said that a light panic broke out in the 33,000-square-foot terminal the moment it went dark.

ABC News shared additional footage:

“Last night’s blackout at Grand Central shows why NYC needs serious investment in infrastructure. Outages put safety at risk — from stalled elevators to crowded platforms. In City Council, I’ll push for oversight and upgrades so riders can trust our transit system,” Democratic NYC Council nominee Virginia Maloney commented.

Gothamist noted:

Photos and videos posted online around 8:30 p.m. showed commuters walking through a pitch black main hall.

Yvonne Ubillus, who works at Grand Brasserie inside the terminal, said the outage caught staff and customers by surprise.

“We were in the middle of service and then the lights just went off,” she said. “Some people got scared, so people started walking out of the station.”

She said power was restored around 9 p.m., roughly 30 minutes later, but not all systems were back online.

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“We still don’t have a gas line working,” she said.

Commuter Shola Adekola, who was traveling from the Bronx to Manhattan, said the darkness was unsettling.

“It was pretty dark. You could hardly see anything,” he said. “It was scary, but fortunately, people took out their phones and turned the camera on.”

 

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