Thousands of New York City residents have been left in the dark as power outages and energy cuts sweep through the five boroughs, with one key exception that many are calling an outrageous hypocrisy.
More than 80,000 New York City customers lost power during this week’s extreme heat wave, with outages on Thursday and Friday concentrated in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island as temperatures neared 101F.
Nearly 8,000 customers remain without power as of 10am ET on Friday, however, none of the outages have touched the heart of Manhattan, where Taylor Swift is holding her wedding celebration with Travis Kelce.
The major celebrity-filled event at Madison Square Garden (MSG), which is powered by the city’s only electricity supplier, Con Edison, was fully illuminated Thursday night and is expected to be running without restrictions Friday.
As MSG glowed without restrictions, Con Edison, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Governor Kathy Hochul came under fire for asking residents to conserve electricity during the extreme heat on Thursday.
Moreover, Con Edison strangely left Midtown and Lower Manhattan, New York’s financial nerve center, out of their public warnings to reduce power. The utility giant instead focused on telling residents in less affluent areas to decrease their voltage on Thursday.
Con Edison has acknowledged that it reduced the power sent to residents by 8 percent, but those cuts focused on the outer boroughs and neighborhoods in Northern Manhattan known for being economically challenged.
One outraged critic said: ‘Con Edison has cut a lot of power to the poor people in the Bronx. I bet Taylor Swift will have it nice and cool in Madison Square Garden, though.’
Madison Square Garden has been fully illuminated this week despite extreme heat warnings and New York City’s pleas to residents to reduce their power usage
Travis Kelce proposed to Taylor Swift on August 10 last year. Their wedding celebration in New York City is taking place during a major heat wave
The Daily Mail reached out to Mayor Mamdani’s office and Con Edison for comment on the outages and the exclusion of Midtown Manhattan from the power cuts.
On Thursday, outraged New Yorkers noted how both MSG and Times Square were fully illuminated, with bright billboards and giant television screens blasting despite power being cut to thousands of residents.
‘They turned the power off in the Bronx so @taylorswift13 could stay cool in NYC… You peasants, need to sacrifice,’ one person claimed on social media.
‘If we’re really concerned about the most vulnerable members of our communities, which is completely fair, then we should consider shutting down Times Square,’ another person added.
Thousands of spectators were seen crowding into Times Square to watch the World Cup Thursday night, with no signs of power being reduced like in the other four boroughs of New York.
Meanwhile, Swift and Kelce have also been slammed for renting out the nearly 20,000-seat arena in Midtown during the Fourth of July weekend, which has stretched the city’s security to its breaking point.
‘Hundreds of cops are going to be reassigned from today until the wee hours of Saturday morning to cover her wedding at the garden,’ one police official told the Daily Mail. ‘No one is investigating anything.’
Thousands of fans poured into a fully lit Times Square on Thursday to watch the World Cup
New York City facilities have turned off the electricity to escalators and other systems amid extreme heat and humidity, straining power usage
Adding insult to injury, New York taxpayers are estimated to be on the hook for over $1 million in order to pay for the couple’s NYPD security detail patrolling MSG, which has also banned the press from getting too close and threatened to arrest anyone who does not comply with street closures in the normally high-traffic area.
Both Mamdani and Hochul have faced nationwide criticism for telling everyday New Yorkers and local businesses to raise the temperature of their air conditioners to 78 degrees Fahrenheit in order to conserve power.
On Thursday, the Daily Mail spoke with officials at Madison Square Garden, who did not have a reply when asked what the arena’s air conditioning policy is or if the venue would be complying with the state and local leaders’ order.
New York resident Franko Agallio said: ‘It is so stupid to turn lights off and save energy while she is having her wedding, knowing that is where all the energy will be going.’
‘New York, it’s important to do your part during this heat/energy crisis. Please keep all thermostats at 78 degrees, better yet, don’t use AC at all. Please turn off all electronics, in fact, turn off all power. It’s important that Taylor Swift’s wedding attendees feel comfortable,’ another critic said sarcastically on X.
Con Edison reported that over 80,000 customers lost power between July 2 and July 3 in the New York City area. Nearly 8,000 were still without power Friday morning
More than 80,000 New York City electricity customers lost power on July 2 (stock image)
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The power crisis in the nation’s largest city comes as millions of Americans have been urged to remain indoors with the air conditioning running to combat a ‘mega heat dome’ that has blanketed over 30 states.
In the Northeast, southwestern and western Maine, New Hampshire, southern New England, the New York City metro area and parts of central New York and Vermont are expected to see the heat index reach between 100F and 115F.
The heat index is the ‘feels like’ temperature, which is hotter when the air is more humid. On a 90-degree day, high humidity can make the ‘feels like’ temperature reach 105F.
However, forecasters have predicted highs in several major cities, including New York City, nearing 100F on Friday, potentially pushing the heat index into a lethal zone for many residents susceptible to heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
In the Bronx, the New York Yankees are also scheduled to play a baseball game against Minnesota starting at 7pm ET, igniting their powerful lighting and digital billboards.
When the stadium was opened in 2009, it was estimated that Con Edison needed nine megawatts to power the ballpark. This is the equivalent of 9,000 New York homes.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Yankees and the Mayor’s Office on whether the team was asked to move the game to a different time that would not require the massive electricity demand while residents are without power.
