“The result is much less snow than previously predicted for the western
half of our region,” the weather service wrote
on its Facebook page.
Some New York and New England residents took to Twitter to questions whether
the snowstorm warnings had been overblown.
By 06.00am ET (11am GMT) 6.3 inches of snow had fallen on New York’s Central
Park in the past 12 hours.
The most heavily affected areas of the northeastern seaboard were northern
Long Island (10.1 inches fell in parts of Queens), southern Connecticut
(13.8 inches in Marlborough) and eastern Massachussetts (15.8 inches in
Pymouth).
Coastal flood warnings were issued, with tides in the New York metro area
expected to be as much 3 feet higher than normal early Tuesday morning.
city in a few hours while 30 inches could carpet Boston. (Alberto
Reyes/WENN.com)
Driving bans in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts brought the region to
a standstill amid near white-out conditions, with the George Washington
Bridge, Lincoln and Holland tunnels as well as major mass transportation
throughout the city closing at 11 p.m ET (0400 GMT).
States of emergency were declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
Massachusetts and New Hampshire and New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo
urged people to stay indoors.
Cuomo announced a travel ban for all but emergency vehicles on every road in
13 counties in southern New York state, including New York City, suburban
Westchester and Long Island, with the threat of a $300 fine for violators.
“If you are in your car and you are on any road, town, village, city, it
doesn’t matter, after 11 o’clock, you will technically be committing a crime,”
Cuomo said. “It could be a matter of life and death so caution is
required.”
Before roads closed, Uber, the app-based ride-hailing service that has been
criticized for jacking up prices at times of high demand, told New York City
customers it would charge no more than 2.8 times the usual fare for trips
during the snowstorm.
Earlier, as mass transit began curtailing service, Wall Street traders rushed
home or hunkered down in hotels. Exchanges, however, remained open.
The storm also poses the latest challenge to New York City Mayor Bill de
Blasio, who has been under fire in recent weeks from police who criticized
his support of public protests about white police violence against black
men. In the last major storm de Blasio was vilified for keeping schools
open.
The NWS issued a blizzard warning from New Jersey to Maine, with conditions
worsening overnight and wind gusting to over 50 mph (80 kph) in the New York
City area.
With Boston expected to bear the brunt of the storm with near hurricane force
winds predicted on Tuesday, Mayor Martin Walsh urged residents to report
homeless people who need shelter, check on elderly neighbors and stay inside
for the duration of the blizzard.
Retailers ran short of everything from shovels and snowblowers to basic
groceries. At a Shaw’s Supermarket in Somerville, Massachusetts, canned food
shelves were thinned and checkout lines long. In Brooklyn, grocery store
shelves were stripped of bread and bottled water.
“I’ve been to three or four stores and I can’t get any milk or eggs,”
said Marcy Rivers, waiting in the snow for a bus in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “I
don’t know what we are going to do now.”
The brutal weather paralysed the New York City metropolitan area, with a
shutdown of all subway, bus and commuter rail service on Metro-North
Railroad and Long Island Rail Road. It was the first time the city subway
system was halted because of snow.
New Jersey Transit said on its website it halted commuter trains and buses
late on Monday and would not resume service until “conditions permit.”
Amtrak suspended service on Tuesday between New York and Boston, and into New
York state, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine.
Vacationers and business travelers faced headaches as airlines canceled around
7,000 U.S. flights, with Boston and New York airports most heavily affected,
according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. New York authorities also
said “virtually all” flights at LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday will
be canceled and cancellations at John F. Kennedy International Airport will
be “significant.”
The blizzard knocked out entertainment events including Monday night Broadway
performances and home games for the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets and
shut New York City’s zoos, where snow leopards, puffins and polar bears
frolicked in privacy.
The United Nations headquarters gave itself a day off on Tuesday. East Coast
schools, including New York City with the nation’s largest public school
system serving 1 million students, and universities, including Harvard and
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, canceled classes for Tuesday.
“The beauty of this snowstorm is I have midterms this week,” said
Oliver Stoller, 13, after his school in Maplewood, New Jersey, was cancelled
for Tuesday and he spent Monday night turning his neighborhood sidewalk into
a sledding path.
