This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Tempers rose with the heat in New York as a Central Park festival and a Times Square moon landing commemoration were cancelled because of the dangerous weather. Things reached boiling point in the Friday evening rush hour, when seven subway lines were suspended for more than an hour.

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The subway outage was not caused by the heat, authorities said, but it caused commuters to sweat nonetheless as the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that high temperatures across the east and midwest could threaten the elderly and young children.

The NWS said the “dangerous heatwave” was expected to break record highs in some places, particularly for nighttime. Daytime temperatures were to hit the mid- to upper 90sF (about 34C to 37C), with high humidity making it feel considerably hotter.

In New York on Friday night, a computer system failure stranded some subway passengers underground, led to dangerous crowding on platforms and sent riders searching for alternate ways home. The stoppage affected the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 trains that serve swaths of Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn. It also halted the S shuttle that links Grand Central Terminal and Times Square, two of the city’s busiest stations.

In a tweet, Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “This kind of meltdown during a heat wave is UNACCEPTABLE. The [Metropolitan Transit Authority] owes every single New Yorker an explanation for this. We’ve known about this dangerous weather for DAYS. There’s no excuse for why they aren’t prepared.”

The MTA blamed the suspension on a failure in the computer system that powers the signals on those lines. Spokesman Tim Minton said there was no indication the stoppage was related to a loss of power or to the heat.

Nonetheless, the temperature above ground was still above 90F (32C) when trains stopped at around 6pm. Meteorologists estimated that it felt like 100F.

Minton said it did not appear that trains lost power. But on one line that was running, passengers packed into a car that did not appear to have air conditioning. Sweat glistened on riders’ skin as they sought relief, fanning themselves and one another.

“This is dangerous,” one woman said.

De Blasio directed owners of office buildings over 100ft (30m) tall to set thermostats to 78F (26C) through Sunday to conserve energy.

The mayor also canceled OZY Fest, an outdoor festival featuring soccer star Megan Rapinoe, musician John Legend and Daily Show host Trevor Noah, because of the heat. OZY Fest had been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Central Park.

A De Blasio spokeswoman said a Times Square commemoration of the 1969 moon landing had been canceled as well. Officials earlier announced the cancellation of the New York City Triathlon, scheduled for Sunday.

At Yankee Stadium on Saturday, the home team was set to face the Colorado Rockies. Hydration stations were set up in all three decks and the bleachers and announcements reminded fans to keep drinking water.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he was mindful of the heat, too. “You tend to monitor guys a little more closely, want to see how your pitchers are doing,” he said.

Across the river in New Jersey, the Monmouth Park horse racing track canceled six races and pushed back until early evening its stakes races, including the $1m Haskell Invitational headlined by Maximum Security. Animal rights activists protested outside the New Jersey Shore track before the first race was to run.

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Amid pressure over a series of horse deaths in California, several tracks canceled their Saturday races, including Saratoga Race Course and Finger Lakes in New York and Laurel Park in Maryland.

In Philadelphia, several hundred people were evacuated from a retirement community due to a partial power outage, though it wasn’t immediately clear whether the problem was heat related. Residents were taken to a nearby shelter, and police said some went to a hospital for evaluation.

In Chicago, heat forced organizers of the Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series to cancel one of three races, a Saturday 5km. A 10km and half-marathon were expected to go ahead Sunday.

Cities in Vermont and New Hampshire were opening shelters where people could cool off.