Episode 510: Blackouts, A Knickerbocker History

at were not plugged into walls.” Things change when the lights go out, but while the blackout of 1965 was a moment that brought the city together the one in 1977 became a signal moment in the narrative of its decline. Nearly a half century later, it remains the largest mass-arrest event in New York City history — one that helped set the city on a long journey into ever more prosperity and austerity. In the debut episode of FAQ NYC’s new limited series, A Knickerbocker History of America, Katie Honan, Harry Siegel and guest co-host Asad Dandia, the Brooklyn borough historian, sat down in front of a live audience at P&T Knitware to discuss the city’s 1965, 1977, 2003 and 2012 blackouts — and how each was understood at the time and in hindsight.