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Power outage at Rochdale Village in Queens throws thousands into dark, traps people in elevators

Photo via www.rochdalevillage.com

Thousands of Rochdale Village residents are without electricity at this hour after a power outage throughout the south Queens apartment complex.

The 20-building campus lost power at about 9:33 a.m., according to the Fire Department. The cause of the blackout — which Rochdale Village management described as “temporary” on its Twitter account — is not known and under investigation.

All of the elevators in each of the high-rise buildings came to a halt after power was disrupted. Firefighters are checking the elevators in each building to see if anyone is trapped; it is not known how many people might be stuck.

Once the elevator searches are completed and any trapped individuals are rescued, a Fire Department spokesperson noted, the power should be restored.

Rochdale Village, which spans about 120 acres near Springfield Gardens, generates its own power through a plant located on campus and is completely independent of the local power grid. On the complex’s website, the plant is described as “the first of its kind in the world when it was created in 1963.”

The plant also powers the complex’s air conditioning system, which is also offline as a result of the power outage, and temperatures are expected to reach the mid-80s today.

Rochdale Village management advises residents to text any problems to 347-480-9479.

A QNS reporter is en route to the scene; check back later for further details.