A large power outage in New York City hit much of Manhattan's midtown and part of upper west side on Saturday evening.

According to power service company Con Edison, more than 44,000 people have been affected by the outage by 8:30 p.m. (0030 GMT on Sunday).

The impacted area stretched from 40th Street in the south to 72nd Street in the north, and from Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River.

Many of the famous Times Square billboards went black as a result. Local media reported that all restaurants have gone dark in Hell's Kitchen. There are also no working street lights in those affected sections of the city.

The U.S. biggest city's subway system is affected to a great extent as four stations are without power and closed to public.

Signals on the Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue are affected, thus disrupting services of D, F, M, A, C, E lines, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said on the social media platform Twitter. It added that there is only limited service on the numbered lines.

"Our entire system is affected by the Con Edison outage. In Manhattan, the bus is your best bet," MTA tweeted.

Several Broadway and off-Broadway shows said they have cancelled performances this evening, including the well-known Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, Waitress, and Mean Girls.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that NYC Emergency Management is working with the police and fire departments and other city agencies to respond to power outages due to a manhole fire.