WPIX Special Report: Blackout '77-City of Darkness 

The more of these old news videos i watch, the more it appears to me that people were a lot more mature and had a better sense of self awareness back then.

The store owner interviewed for a while from the 13 minute mark, is incredible articulate. He should have been a writer, not a store keeper, he has a real way with words

Wow I was there Age 16....luckily comfortably numb in my Dads east side apartment That was a crazy ass summer

I lived thru this in Brooklyn...I remember it quite well.

People would go in full blown panic if there were a blackout today. Can you imagine the amount of time most people would last with no cell phone, iPad or internet of any kind?

WPIX had a lot of class by including excerpts of rivals' TV coverage of the 1977 blackout. Likely, videotape shot by WPIX was probably loaned to other stations in return.

I was ten years old when the blackout happened.

I just turned 5 years old, approaching in my final year of preschool. And I was watching Bareta at that time. My brother was 4 years old.

I just turned 8 on that day when the blackout started. It was on my 8th birthday July the 13th 1977. My mother had a celebration for me.

I had just graduated High School when this happened. David Berkowitz known at that time was ‘The 44 Caliber Killer’ before he was caught. Yep, we sat outside of our house because it was a hot day. We didn’t go back inside until AFTER dark. Oh, such memories.

I remember running up and down the darkened hallway of the Grant Projects where my family lived in Harlem. Good Times.

I was almost 8 years old living in Greenwich CT I remember that night so well. We were at a club eating dinner and I remember watching this table umbrella outside blowing wildly in this massive thunderstorm! We did not lose power in CT but I had bigger problems... I was terrified that Son of Sam was going to come up and murder me! Ahhhhhhhh the summer of 1977 Good times!

It is interesting to see these reports about the 1977 blackout, & comparing them to reports about the 1965 & 2003 major blackouts.

Ed Koch, mayor of NYC 1978-89

45:10 Wow....amazing foreshadowing!!

Before the viral pandemic & the 9/11 terrorist attack, this was one of NYC's biggest disasters.

July 13, 2019. Happy Anniversary. Partial blackout in NYC. 1977 was a different time in NY. There was still actual native New Yorkers left in the city, as you can hear by the city accents.

13:52 This man was so eloquent and inciteful. Comparing to looters and arsonists to Nazi Stormtroopers in 1932. I see no difference. Both criminals victimizing the innocent.

Pat harper looks so cute

I was watching CPO Sharkey and thought my brother blew a fuse...lived in Spanish Harlem...the next day all hell broke loose.

all this craziness and a psychopath was on the loose!

6:02 7:05 if he was to say this in 2019 he would be forced to apologize demonized on social media and still cost him his job...

Cool! Thanks News Active for posting this. No doubt one of the low point eras of the 20th Century in NYC. Interesting watching this news special for first time here on the WPIX news, the night after the now infamous '77 blackout. Actually first full unedited look at any local NYC newscast the night after that histroic night. I was living in Brooklyn at that time and was 4 years old thus too young to remember. If you want guys a more detailed background of this time period, search for A VH1 documentary special made around 2005-'06 (i think it's still on youtube somewhere) called NYC 77: A Cool year in Hell. Great details from that period also at the height of the disco/punk rock era as well. PS off topic. The fonts/graphics of the WPIX newscasts of that era are now used even on a high school video broadcast. How has technology changed lol.

40 years ago today

It’s oddly coincidental that, exactly 42 years later to the date, there was another blackout in New York, albeit much less violent.

I’m speechless 😮

Owner explains how the mob looted his store. Idlot asks why didnt he come back

Wait till the WPIX Archives on Facebook gets wind of some of the old WPIX Action News footage.

Fast forward 30+years, Human behavior does not change😢.These newsreels should be seen by all & prepare for future events that are yet to transpire.🔥

Do You Have Any Audio Footage Of The 1977 NYC Blackout From 1010 WINS WCBS Newsradio 880 WOR Radio 710am?

It showed the BAD.But there was MORE GOOD.The new newsreporter of today should look at the new from the 70's and 80's and LEARN from Gabe Pressman.He was the BEST newsreporter.

As someone from New Jersey, I remember watching TV, and then everything turned to fuzz. I wound up watching an old Leave it to Beaver rerun on Channel 10 in Philadelphia...they were an affiliate of CBS (Channel 2 in New York). Having lost its network programming, Channel 10 relied on whatever they could dig up in its studio.

"in darkness there is no sin Light only brings the fear Nothing to corrupt the eyes There is no vision here At first you may find it strange But do not run away The darkness holds a power that you don't find in the day" -The Damned Wait For The Blackout

Meanwhile, the Son of Sam could have been anywhere...

Birth of Hip-Hop 🎤

I was 12yrs old during that time

Looks like Jim Jensen and Dave Marash were broadcasting from the "CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite" set, with Marash sitting in - and Jensen leaning on - Cronkite's horseshoe-shaped desk.

Time magazine AD is legendary!

Just like the Led Zeppelin song, "The Song Remains the Same."

4:26 I thought that was them having like, a makeshift cafeteria setup outside.

LoL @ 1:10 what NYU classes go past 930 at night??

Pat Harper was a dish!

This is so funny. We always think the present times are the worst.

How cool was ny in the 70s

where can I get one of those roll-o-matics?

Seriousy..can someone please tell the closest Woolworths where I can get a roll a matic? I live in West Hills CA

I remember this day, living on the water in N.J the city was black, I also have the Daily News paper from this day Mother kept hanging on my wall.

I. Remember that day. I was 6.

All this because the grid was built back when Moses was splitting the water. Now that's old !!!!

Tonight is the 40th anniversary.

Le'me guess - 3/4" Umatic, right?

Who is this Frank Casey? He is good at his job. Where is he Now?

All of that happened in just 25 hours. Picture what would happen today

Lol Prince Charles didn't get married until 4 years later..55:20

Typical NY Post (0:02) sensationalism.* *Nice to see somethings NEVER change.

did a Yankees game get interrupted?

At the beginning of the video where the newscaster refers to poor people as "have nots." Him saying that today would've gotten the guy fired. And Pat Doyle on camera, WITH A CIGAR! Yep. In todays snowflake environment, even a little thing as flashing a smoke on live television could cause a newsguy to lose his job!

Wow, look how weird the clothes and hair were!!!! Lmao! Can’t believe how ugly the late 70s were!!!!!