After an electrical transformer supplying power to the downtown areas of New York City blew up on the night of Tropical Storm Sandy almost all businesses and residences, and all traffic signals, have been without power below 26th Street. The demarcation line between lower Manhattan without electricity and uptown with electricity can be seen in this picture where darkened high-rise apartment blocks merge into ones with electricity on 6th Avenue at 26th Street. The storm hit New York and other parts of the north eastern United States on the evening of 29 October 2012.