24 inches of snow in some of NYC: What’s happening as we dig out

New York City remained in a state of emergency on Monday afternoon as it dug out from a blizzard that left more than 20 inches of snow in some neighborhoods, with the highest totals topping 24 inches in parts of Staten Island.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the worst of the storm had passed by the afternoon, leaving between 16 and 19 inches of snow throughout most parts of the city.

Grasmere in Staten Island had seen 24.1 inches as of 10:30 a.m., according to National Weather Service counts. Carlstadt, in Bergen County, New Jersey, had nearly 28 inches as of noon.

The region was digging out, even as roadway travel bans in New York City and New Jersey were lifted by midday. Mamdani noted that a hazardous travel advisory remained in place through midnight and urged New Yorkers to avoid traveling if possible, warning drivers of icy and dangerous conditions on the roads.

“We are plowing streets and doing everything we can to keep our roadways clear so that emergency vehicles can get through,” he said. “Every vehicle that stays off the road makes that work that little bit easier. These are dangerous conditions. Not only is snow continuing to fall, accumulated snowfall and refreezing have made it hazardous to travel. If you can remain indoors, if you must leave your home, please rely on public transit.”

NWS meteorologist James Tomasini said more snow would continue to fall throughout the five boroughs through mid-afternoon as the final band of the storm made its way past the area. Wind gusts were expected to remain at up to 35 mph through mid-afternoon as well, but slow after that.

Temperatures would drop into the low to mid 20s Monday evening, staying below freezing in the low 30s through Tuesday.

“The good news is that Wednesday, temperatures look to be back up into the 40s, and highs generally stay in the upper 40s, to upper 30s to lower 40s through the beginning or through the weekend,” he said.

‘Enhanced’ code blue through Wednesday morning

Mamdani said an enhanced Cold Blue was extended through Wednesday morning, ramping up outreach to homeless New Yorkers. He asked that New Yorkers call 311 if they see someone in need of warmth or shelter, adding that the calls will be rerouted to 911. Outreach workers had already brought 79 New Yorkers inside through the storm, Mamdani said.

An active Cold Blue means more than 50 NYC hospitals and Department of Homeless Services shelters are operating on an open-door policy to ensure all New Yorkers can stay warm.

Mamdani said the department accelerated the opening of another 100 stabilization beds in upper Manhattan, building on the already additional capacity that was added during the historic cold snap, during which more than 20 people died either on the street or at residences.

Schools back in person on Tuesday

After the first traditional snow day in New York City in years, Mamdani announced that schools would be back in person on Tuesday, telling students, “You can still pelt me with snowballs when you see me.”

Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuel said the safety of students and staff is a top priority, and said students can feel free to pelt him as well. He said school facilities and custodial teams have been working around the clock to remove snow and ice around schools in preparation for students’ return to the classroom.

MTA transit

MTA officials said the city’s subway system operated through the storm — albeit with some delays due to the occasional frozen switch, and a power outage that impacted service in the Rockaways. Buses also ran, though with delays and some incidents of buses getting stuck, said MTA head Janno Lieber. Long Island Railroad service, however, was suspended Monday morning.

“The last thing we want to do is have anybody stranded on route anywhere, and we’ve been clearing the snow with the work trains and running, actually running on the tracks at Long Island, just to keep the tracks clear of ice,” he said. “I’m glad there weren’t hundreds of Long Islanders who were on board those trains at risk of getting stuck.”

MTA officials said Long Island Rail Road service would resume with limited service beginning at 4 a.m. Tuesday on the Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Babylon, Oyster Bay, Montauk and Port Washington branches. The Port Washington and Ronkonkoma branches will run hourly, Babylon and Huntington will operate every 30 minutes and Port Jefferson trains will run about every 90 minutes, officials said.

Montauk service will operate between Speonk and points west, while Oyster Bay service will initially run westbound only before adding eastbound trains later in the morning, the MTA said. Service on other branches will resume on a rolling basis as conditions allow, the agency said.

Metro-North Railroad will operate an enhanced Saturday schedule on Tuesday, providing roughly two-thirds of regular weekday service on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines, officials said.

Some express subway service will run on local tracks for the morning rush, the MTA said, and shuttle trains will operate between Euclid Avenue and the Rockaways. Efforts to restore Staten Island Railway service were also underway.

The Staten Island Ferry was scheduled to resume regular weekday service at 5 a.m. Tuesday, after operating on a modified schedule on Monday evening.

NJ Transit

NJ Transit began restoring limited light rail service on Monday afternoon. The agency said bus service and commuter rail would resume on Tuesday with modified schedules.

Newark Light Rail and the River LINE resumed service in the 4 p.m. hour on Sunday schedules. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail was set to restart at 6 p.m. on a weekend schedule.

NJ Transit said all three light rail lines, bus service and Access Link service will operate on a regular weekday schedule on Tuesday.

Commuter rail service will resume on Tuesday on a holiday schedule, with several modifications, the agency said. The Pascack Valley, Main-Bergen and Port Jervis lines will operate on a regular holiday schedule and the Atlantic City Rail Line will run on a regular weekday schedule, according to officials.

Midtown Direct service on the Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton lines will operate to Hoboken instead of Penn Station, New York, officials said. Northeast Corridor trains will run between Trenton and Metropark, then operate express to Newark Penn Station for travel to Secaucus and New York Penn Station, NJ Transit said. There will be no service on the North Jersey Coast Line or the Raritan Valley Line, according to officials.

State transportation officials lifted emergency 35-mile-per-hour speed limits and commercial vehicle travel restrictions Monday evening, though drivers were urged to continue using caution.

Alternate side parking

Just three days after alternate side parking was unpaused following last month’s storm, Mamdani said side parking will again be suspended through the week.

Roadways

New York City and New Jersey both ended their travel bans for roadways at noon, but Westchester County officials said their own would continue until 6 p.m.

Overall, New York City saw a sharp decrease in tows for emergencies. The NYPD reported 15 tow requests, mostly for private ambulances — down from 52 during January’s major storm.

Power outages

Officials said the city’s largest outage during the storm happened in the Rockaways, affecting 11,000 New Yorkers, but service was largely restored by Monday afternoon, Farrell said. Nearly 3,000 Con Edison customers remained without power mid-day, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Christina Farrell said.

“We are coordinating with Con Ed on real-time power conditions,” Farrell said.

Mamdani urged New Yorkers without heat and hot water to call their landlord, and if they don’t hear back, to reach out to 311. For those without heat and hot water, the city has opened warming centers at Far Rockaway High School, Beach Channel High School and PS 43.

New Jersey has been hit the hardest so far, with tens of thousands of JCP&L customers without power on Monday, mostly around Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

PSE&G said it had restored power to approximately 54,000 customers since Sunday morning and reported about 1,400 customers remained without service as of 8 p.m. Monday. The utility said roughly 3,000 employees were mobilized to support restoration efforts and warned the recovery could extend for multiple days.

Damage and cleanup

Officials said the city has 2,600 sanitation workers operating 700 salt spreaders and more than 2,200 snow plows during every 12-hour shift, to clear streets, highways and bike lanes of snow. Plus, 1,400 emergency snow shovelers are also working both day and night shifts, focusing on crosswalks, sidewalks and unsheltered bus stops.

“Emergency snow shovelers began clearing pedestrian infrastructure last night, far sooner than in previous storms and they are continuing this work today and in the coming days,” Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan said.

After January’s snowstorm last month, the city issued around 4,000 citations to property owners for violating the requirements to clear sidewalks. Mamdani said the city is still hiring emergency snow shovelers and has increased pay to $30 an hour. New Yorkers can join the shoveling force by heading to any DSNY garage until 8 p.m. Monday, and again at 9 a.m. Tuesday with two forms of ID.

NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Christina Farrell said the city had received more than 300 reports of downed trees so far, and said more are expected as people head outside. She encouraged New Yorkers to report fallen trees by calling 311. They can also report them online here.

“The downed tree Task Force is hard at work with the parks department and emergency crews responding to reports of downed trees and hazardous conditions,” she said.

This story has been updated with new information.