‘Nothing was working.’ Thousands lose power in Brooklyn

Con Ed crews rolled onto East 38th Street here in East Flatbush just after noon. This comes after some neighbors say they heard sounds near this utility pole early this morning. Something fell on the ground. The FDNY telling us a call came in at around 8.20 this morning about smoke coming from a grate here. Firefighters say they put out a small transformer fire and notified Con Ed. Right now it's still unclear if that fire is connected to the wider outage. Open the basement and get them to go in to see if everything's okay. But from then, I don't have no light on the stove. I checked the lights, I checked my phone, nothing was working. The outage getting the attention of Mayor Mamdani, who said about 4,500 Con Ed customers in central Brooklyn lost power. New York City Emergency Management also reporting traffic light problems. Now, Con Ed says power started coming back around 11:30 this morning and that lightning may have caused the outage. However, it's still investigating. First time, first time, and 50 you got me at. Here on East 38th Street, that lack of power threw off plans. I can't go to the gym, but to see what happens. We're in 2026. Everything is based on electricity and power, phones, TV, lights. I work from home, so I can't really work. And neighbors here tell me it's been a while since they've had an outage like this. You can see crews here still working. Con Edison's outage map shows that power is expected to be restored sometime this afternoon. Those neighbors here are keeping their fingers crossed. In East Flatbush, Edrick Robinson, News 12.