I lived in NYC during the 2001 blackout. It was the first power outage since 1977. The lights don't go out in NYC...it's a really big deal when they do.
Meanwhile, if you read the subway service advisories, there's always some sort of issue causing delays. I saw the notifications about the power outages today and thought absolutely nothing of it. If the entire system went offline, that's kind of a big deal. But it's one station without lighting.