190714-1945 EDT
The reporting on this problem is interesting.
It has been said that about 70,000 customers lost power. I am not in the power industry and have little knowledge about it. But searching for a few tidbits and knowing what my power consumption is I can make some assumptions.
During a day I am in the range of 1 to 2 kW for a load. So assume these NYC customers are at 1 kW, then they represent a load of 70,000 kW or 70 MW. How big are large distribution transformers? Possibly 100 MVA or more. These apparently take 6 months to several years to make, and many may not be made in the US. Also very expensive, and many units could not be sitting as spares. Also they very heavy and difficult to transport.
It seems that the outage occurred all at once. An all at once event, like the great eastern blackout, has to have some common point of origin. However, it might be something small that cascades to a big event.
I doubt one large transformer failed. Power was restored too quickly.
In one report mention was made that the fire department responded to transformer fires. Implies more than one transformer. Why would more than one transformer fail at about the same time, possibly at different locations?
Another report mentioned a mechanical failure, that likely does not mean electrical.
It is clear that the politicians are technically ignorant as are the reporters. Most of the reporting is of an emotional nature.
Can some of the power people comment on their thoughts.
.