NEW YOR (CBSNewYork) – One of the Tri-State area’s three major airports was forced to temporarily shut down late Thursday as an electric emergency at a Con Edison substation in Queens lit the night sky across much of New York City ablaze and spawned a flurry of social media reaction.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson tweeted that LaGuardia Airport was “temporarily closed due to a power outage resulting from the Con Edison explosion.” Mayor Bill de Blasio spokesman Eric Philips added that “scattered” power outages were reported.