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CHRISTMAS EVE BLACKOUT: ACT OF TERROR?

UPDATED ON: DECEMBER 25, 2019 / 1:04 PM / CBS NEWS

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — 'Twas the night before Christmas... when one of the most iconic symbols of the holiday season in NYC went dark. When a Manhattan power outage plunged thousands of New Yorkers into an unexpected blackout around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday night, darkness consumed the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

A wave of confusion and panic seized the city. For the next two hours, thousands of New Yorkers and tourists navigated the dark streets of Midtown in icy temperatures, descending into a cold chaos.

Shortly after midnight, when the power was restored, a flood of social media posts revealed a stunning discovery to the world—the reason for the intentional blackout. The recently unveiled 900-pound star that sat atop the 2019 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, crafted from 3 million Swarovski Crystals, was gone.

"This is being treated as an act of terrorism," Mayor de Blasio assured New Yorkers in a formal statement early Christmas morning. Con Ed has not responded with any new information about the targeted power outage.

One suspect is in custody, according to the NYPD.

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**OH BABY. This is gonna be fun. ⭐️