A blizzard swept across the northeastern United States yesterday, dropping as much as 2 feet (60 cm) of snow across Massachusetts and Connecticut even as its impact on New York City fell short of dire predictions.
The governors of New York and New Jersey lifted travel bans they had imposed a day earlier and New York City’s subway system restarted after being closed for 10 hours, though officials urged people to stay off snow-covered roadways.
“YUP, IT SNOWED!” headlined New York’s Daily News tabloid, taking matters in stride, the way New Yorkers typically pride themselves on doing.
Police said a teenager died late on Monday when he crashed into a lamppost on a street where he was snow-tubing on Long Island, one of the hardest hit areas in New York state.
The National Weather Service lifted its blizzard warning for the New York City area, but throughout the region offices were closed, schools were shut, some roads remained impassable, and thousands of flights were canceled or delayed.
A blizzard warning remained in effect for much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where snow was expected to fall throughout the day at a rate as high as 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) an hour.
Boston could receive up to 25 inches (64 cm) of accumulation, approaching the record of 27.5 inches (69.85 cm) set in February 2003.
Some in New York criticized the aggressive warnings of officials including Mayor Bill de Blasio, who for the first time in history ordered the city’s round-the-clock subways to close for a snowstorm. Officials with vivid memories of disasters including 2012’s Superstorm Sandy defended their actions.
Stuck at home, Northeasterners spent their energy on social media, filling Twitter and Facebook with photos of snow drifts covering the doors of their homes and what appeared to be a person in Boston dressed as the Yeti, a mythical abominable snowman, on hashtags including “#snowmaggeddon2015” and “#blizzardof2015.”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joked with Twitter followers that it was “too cold” to wear the fleece jacket he had sported in photos after Sandy.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker broke with his predecessor’s tradition of wearing a fleece vest bearing a state emergency management agency logo, opting instead for a business suit he called his work uniform.
Some cab drivers in New York doubled fares and sought to pack additional passengers into their vehicles as office workers headed to their jobs.
The New York Stock Exchange, owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc, opened as usual. Nasdaq OMX Group, and BATS Global Markets also expected to stay open for normal operating hours on Tuesday.
New Yorkers were divided on whether officials had over-reacted in ordering dramatic shutdowns ahead of the storm.
“The mayor might have blown it this time but he was probably just playing it safe,” said Manny Martinez, 55, as he salted his driveway in New York’s Brooklyn borough.
Others were frustrated that de Blasio had preemptively shut the subway and ordered cabs off the roads.
“This made it a little difficult to go to my job. I usually take a taxi, but no taxis today,” said Greg Noble, 29, as he walked briskly to his maintenance job some 30 city blocks from his Manhattan home.
