"Do you remember what you did on this dark and humid night, eight million people in the city without a light in sight / Where were you when the lights went out In New York City.”

—The Trammps, "The Night the Lights Went Out"

July 13th, 1977—an electrical blackout hits New York City and within 25 hours total chaos descended upon the city. New York was already in a financial crisis with high unemployment rates creating even more poverty and devastating many communities. The Bronx was literally on fire. Not to mention, there was a serial killer on the loose.

If you're interested in New York City history, the titles and resources below will help paint a picture of the city's economic, social, and cultural landscape during this time. Educators can use these resources to interest students in the city around them by looking at this turbulent time—the blackout, fear of the Son of Sam killer, the birth of Hip-Hop, mayoral politics, the financial crisis, and more—through books (including a few YA fiction titles set during this time), articles, documentaries, and interviews. You might also invite students to ask their own families where they were during the blackout of 1977 (or the blackout of 2003!).

BOOKS

Nonfiction 

Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A Hip-Hop History (Young Adult Edition)  by Jeff Chang with Dave "Davey D" Cook

Can't Stop Won't Stop is the story of hip-hop, a generation-defining movement and the music that transformed American politics and culture forever. Hip hop is one of the most dominant and influential cultures in America, giving new voice to the younger generation. It defines a generation's worldview. Exploring hip hop's beginnings up to the present day, Jeff Chang and Dave "Davey D" Cook provide a provocative look into the new world that the hip hop generation has created. Based on original interviews with DJs, b-boys, rappers, activists, and gang members, with unforgettable portraits of many of hip hop's forebears, founders, mavericks, and present day icons, this book chronicles the epic events, ideas and the music that marked the hip hop generation's rise.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City written by Jonathan Mahler

By early 1977, New York City was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam." And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in New York's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts—one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city—was the subtext of race. These braided stories tell the history of a year that became a year of survival but also of hope.

The Fires: How a Computer Formula Burned Down New York City and Determined the Future of Cities by Joe Flood

Contends that computer remodeling of 1970s-era New York City led to the withdrawal of fire protection services from poor neighborhoods that burned down and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

 

 

 

Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics by Kim Phillips-Fein

Presents a history of New York City's financial crisis in the 1970s and how the city was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy while analyzing the politics of austerity and how they are continuing to shape the world today.

 

 

 

Fiction
 

Blackout  stories by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackso, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon

Six critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teen love to this interlinked novel of charming, hilarious, and heartwarming stories that shine a bright light through the dark. A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks. A first meeting. Long-time friends. Bitter exes. And maybe the beginning of something new. When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths. Love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight.

 

Burn, Baby Burn by Meg Medina

It is the summer of 1977, and New York is suffering under a heat wave, a massive blackout, and a killer named the Son of Sam, while seventeen-year-old Cuban American Nora Lopez wants to escape her increasingly violent younger brother and worries about college applications and paying rent to spend her days working at the deli with the cute new Colombian boy and her nights at the disco dancing with her best friend Kathleen.

 

 

 

Documentary Films Available at NYPL

Blackout

Told through the memories of those who lived through the events, examines the 1977 power outage that caused monumental mayhem throughout New York City over two hot and humid days. In the documentary, American Experience explores the economic, political, technological, and social consequences of an event that led to both horrifying lawlessness and to innumerable acts of selflessness and generosity.

 

 

 

Decade of Fire

Bronx-born Vivian Vazquez exposes the truth about how her neighborhood was destroyed by fires and neglect in the 1970s, and reveals how her maligned community chose to resist, remain, and rebuild.

 

 

 

 

Digital Resources Available with an NYPL Library Card

• "The New York Blackout" written by Alan McGowan, Environment Aug/Sep77 (search for article using Academic Search Premier)
   
• "The Darkest Night" written by Jonathan Mahler forThe New York Times, Oct. 5, 2003
   
• Ed Koch interview in the NYTimes.com Video Collection, Feb. 1, 2013 (Koch became mayor of NYC in 1977)
   
• "Improbable Strikes by Lightning Tripped Its System, Con Ed Says" written by Victor K. McElheny for The New York Times, July 15, 1977
   
• "Con Ed, An Hour After the Blackout Started, Tried a Wide Restoration of Power in Vain" written by Victor K. McElheny for The New York Times, July  28,1977
   
• "The Night the Lights Went Out" written by James Dolan for Scholastic, May 5, 2006

External Resources

• In addition to being available through NYPL, the American Experience documentary Blackout is currently available to stream on PBS.
   
• The Son of Sam killings are the subject of an episode of The Lost Tapes series and can be viewed on the Smithsonian Channel website: The Lost Tapes: Son of Sam.
   
• Episode 31 of the Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main focuses on the blackout and its legacy. Listen here: The Blackout of 1977.
   
• You can view photos of NYC during the blackout on the websites Rare Historical Photos and Getty Images.
   
• The Netflix streaming series The Get Down is a musical drama set in 1977 in the South Bronx and centers on a group of teenagers coming of age amidst the beginnings of hip-hop and disco music.
   
• For a first person perspective on the blackout, read an interview with Christopher "Doc" Vanager on PBS who was a 12-year-old in Brooklyn during the '77 blackout and draws connections between that event and the birth of hip-hop.