New Yorkers are shoveling, digging and chiseling out Monday after the first major snowstorm in years dumped more than a foot of snow and sleet on some areas, left streets and highways slick like slalom courses, and may have contributed to six deaths.
Rising temperatures Monday – the forecast calls for an afternoon high of 30 degrees – offer a narrow window to aid snow removal, before temperatures plunge to 18 degrees on Tuesday and remain in the sub-20s until the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, helming his first weather emergency, along with Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, announced on Sunday that city public schools will be closed Monday, and students will join classes remotely.
Students in the high schools and 6-12 schools were already scheduled off for a teacher professional development day, but with the change most elementary and middle schools will switch to remote learning.
City Hall officials said the switch will affect approximately 500,000 students across more than 1,100 schools. Schools throughout New Jersey, where many communities were hit with more than a foot of snow, canceled school on Monday as well.
Snow accumulations in most New York City neighborhoods fell below the one-foot mark, though outliers throughout the area, including Queens and the Bronx, received significantly more.
New York City officials on Sunday were still looking into the circumstances of six deaths possibly tied to the extreme weather, which featured wind chill temperatures well below zero. All six victims, officials said, were discovered outside and either pronounced dead where they were found or in the hospitals where they were transported.
Mamdani referenced the deaths in a press briefing, while acknowledging the absence of details about the victims. The medical examiner is investigating each of the deaths.
“ We want every single New Yorker to make it through this storm,” Mamdani said. “As we contend with the snow and bracing cold, New Yorkers should rest assured, this is exactly what our city government has prepared for.”
Emergency Management First Deputy Commissioner Christina Farrell told WNYC on Sunday her team has been doing outreach across the five boroughs with an eye toward reaching homeless New Yorkers and encouraging them to come in from the old and use warming centers – two have been set up in each borough.
While road conditions throughout the region remain treacherous, the MTA said subways, buses, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad will all be in service. Commuters were advised to check ahead for any service disruptions.
Catalina Gonella
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