New York City residents woke up Tuesday morning expecting to see what Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) had warned would be a “potentially historic” winter storm with the potential to dump up to three feet of snow on the five boroughs.
Instead, New Yorkers — many of whom spent Monday evening frantically buying up emergency groceries — looked out their windows to see a more modest serving of seven to nine inches of snow.
While the storm was expected to dump record snowfall on the New York City region and New England, it failed to live up to forecasts in a number of areas.
“The storm was less destructive than predicted,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said at a Tuesday morning press conference. Cuomo defended his state’s decision to shutter roads, buses and subways, citing a recent snow storm that dumped around seven feet of snow on Buffalo.
Despite initial forecasts of two feet of snow or more in New York City, snowfall only totaled 11 inches at LaGuardia airport by Tuesday morning, according to The Weather Channel. Central Park saw 7.8 inches, while six inches had fallen in Newark, New Jersey. Only three to five inches fell in southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, The Associated Press reported.
One New Jersey meteorologist tweeted his “deepest apologies” for the overhyped forecast.
My deepest apologies to many key decision makers and so many members of the general public.
— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015
Parts of eastern Long Island did see greater snowfall totals, however. Nearly 15 inches had fallen in Islip by Tuesday and snow reached nearly 25 inches elsewhere in eastern Long Island, which was more consistent with forecasts.
Similarly, some areas of Massachusetts came closer to projected amounts, with certain parts seeing totals of two feet or more.
De Blasio imposed a travel ban on non-emergency vehicles in New York City starting at 11 p.m. Monday. The ban was lifted at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
And subway service — which Cuomo suspended on Monday night — “will begin coming online” at 9 a.m. Tuesday, the governor said. Sunday service, not peak workday service, was expected by noon.
As the storm blew into the city Monday night, a transit source told The Brooklyn Paper that Cuomo’s decision to shut down the city’s subway system was misguided, since empty trains would still have to run beneath the city in order to keep the tracks clear.
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Sacramento will instead return to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, March 3, adding an extra game to what was to have been a seven-game trip. The Trail Blazers-Nets game was rescheduled for Monday, April 6.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday afternoon that no non-emergency vehicles will be allowed on city streets after 11p.m. tonight.
“As of 11p.m., get out of the way,” the mayor told reporters at a press conference at the city’s Office of Emergency Management headquarters in Brooklyn. The ban on vehicles, the mayor said, is meant to allow plows to clear snow off 6,000 miles of city roads, and to allow ambulances to get to and from hospitals with ease, and without being blocked by stranded vehicles.
Those who choose to drive on the roads in non-emergency vehicles, the mayor added, “face the possibility of being stopped.” Violators could face a court summons, and in some cases, arrest.
The mayor said it’s not decided when the ban will be lifted, and emphasized the ban is necessary as the city is potentially facing one of the “worst storms” in its history.
Uber: Prices will not exceed 2.8x the normal fare in New York City. (Thank Eric Schneiderman for that) pic.twitter.com/AydQ6jpyHT
— Brian Ries (@moneyries) January 26, 2015
At a news conference on Monday afternoon, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to take the storm seriously.
“We want to put safety first in all we do, and that comes down to the decisions of every day New Yorkers, he said. “Recognize this as an emergency — it is not business as usual.”
He asked residents to “do the smart thing” and stay off the roads and sidewalks.
.@NYGovCuomo says extreme weather is part of changing climate. "It is something very costly … and very dangerous"
— Dan Goldberg (@DanGoldbergCNY) January 26, 2015
