NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- On a hot, humid Aug. 14, 2003, the power grids in the Northeast went down, sparking a blackout that stretched to Detroit. In New York City, this stalled the subways, stranded commuters at Penn Station, closed beaches, and threw the entire "City That Never Sleeps" into darkness.
The power was slowly restored in the next two days, until everything was back up and running on Aug. 16. Twenty years later, the images of a New York without power endure, looking just as impossible now as in 2003.
Vendors outside Penn Station scoop out ice cream for stranded commuters.Matthew Peyton/Getty Images
Buckets of ice came in handy during the power outage, as two vendors sell beer during the 2003 blackout.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Stranded travelers at Penn Station wait on the street during the massive blackout.Matthew Peyton/Getty Images
People walk down Brooklyn Bridge during a massive blackout Aug. 14, 2003 in New York City.Jonathan Fickies/Getty Images
All lights were out in Times Square during the East Coast blackout.Matthew Peyton/Getty Images
Cars head over the Brooklyn Bridge beside a blacked-out New York City skyline.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In the dark of a night without power, people in New York walk down the street holding candles.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
A flare sits on a curb in New York City as people pass by.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Philip Wilentz of Brooklyn Heights watches television powered by his car cigarette lighter.Robert Giroux/Getty Images
Commuters stand in a bus displaying "Not in Service" during a massive blackout on Aug. 15, 2003 in New York City.Mario Tama/Getty Images
New York wasn't the only city that blacked out in 2003. Here, a family of tourists from Dorset, England is stranded in Toronto's Union Station without air conditioning.Deborah Baic/Getty Images
A man sleeps in Times Square on August 15, the second day of the blackout.Matthew Peyton/Getty Images
Stranded travellers gather in Grand Central Station on the second day of the blackout.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Two people sleep in New York's Bryant Park during the blackout.Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images
People sleep on the sidewalk outside the Renaissance Hotel during the blackout on Aug. 15, 2003.Matthew Peyton/Getty Images
A woman holds up a sign as the Good Morning America show tapes in Bryant Park on the second day of the blackout.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Hundreds of people stand outside Grand Central Station during a blackout on Aug. 15, 2003.Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images
