N.Y. Gov. Hochul orders review of power surge that disrupted subway service

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has directed a review of the electric system breakdown that led to a disruption in subway service in New York City over the past weekend.

In a review with Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials, Hochul discussed the recent Con Ed power outage and how it affected subway service.

At 8:25 p.m. Aug. 29, Con Ed reported losing a feeder, which resulted in a voltage dip across New York City. At about the same time, two power plants and generators went offline. Then, an "unprecedented" surge occurred that resulted in the subway losing signals and communications between the command center and trains throughout MTA New York City Transit's system, Hochul said in a news release.

A disruption of that magnitude — caused by a confluence of events that hadn't happened before — can be catastrophic for the city, she said.

"What we experienced was a lot of anxiety for the citizens of the city who happened to be on the trains, and on the five trains in particular that were between the stations over 550 people were affected," said Hochul. "This is a scary situation, something we don't want New Yorkers to ever have to experience again."