Large swaths of Manhattan and Brooklyn went dark tonight because of Sandy, reports DNA Info. Con Ed deliberately shut down power stations to prevent damage from flooding, including one that services the area of the New York Stock Exchange. The AP says more than 250,000 in Manhattan alone lost power because of the move. "We're doing that to reduce the likelihood of damage to both our equipment and our customers' equipment," says a Con Ed official. Sandy made landfall earlier this evening on the Jersey coast and is now classified as a post-tropical cyclone. (More Hurricane Sandy stories.)