LaGuardia Airport was forced to reroute planes, cancel flights, delay others and move to emergency generators after a massive transformer exploded at a Con Ed substation in the borough of Queens at around 8 pm Thursday night, lighting up the sky over New York City.
Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted a rundown:
What we know:
– Light was caused by electrical surge at a substation.
– No current fire, no injuries.
– MTA has power, but there are delays on the 7 train.
– Power coming back on at LGA, but expect delays.
– Con Ed evaluating outages now.
More soon.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor)
The explosion lit up the sky in blue colors over the neighborhood “for miles around, as far as Long Island,” said one eyewitness.
No injuries were reported, and by 11 pm power was partially restored at the airport.