New York City ground to a halt Sunday evening as Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered a complete shutdown of the city’s transportation network in anticipation of a historic blizzard. The ban on travel, encompassing streets, highways, and bridges, went into effect at 9 p.m. Sunday and is scheduled to remain in place until noon Monday, impacting the more than eight million residents of the city.
“NYC, we’ve declared a local state of emergency ahead of this blizzard. Stay safe, New York,” Mayor Mamdani posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, as the storm approached. The unprecedented move comes as the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of a severe winter storm bringing heavy snow, strong winds, and coastal flooding across the northeastern United States, stretching from the mid-Atlantic to Maine.
The NWS predicted snowfall rates could reach up to 3 inches per hour, with accumulations of 12 to 24 inches expected in many areas. These conditions are forecast to create “nearly impossible travel conditions,” according to the agency. Gusts of up to 60 mph were anticipated late Sunday and into Monday, further exacerbating the danger.
The storm’s impact was already being felt across the region. As of 7:30 p.m. Sunday, over 22,895 customers in New Jersey were without power, according to poweroutage.us. Blizzard warnings were issued for New York City and Long Island, as well as Boston, Massachusetts, and coastal communities in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Rhode Island.
Emergency declarations were issued in both New York and New Jersey as officials prepared for the storm’s arrival. Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center, described the storm as a significant event for the Northeast. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a major nor’easter and major blizzard of this magnitude across the Northeast,” Snell told the Associated Press. “This is definitely a major winter storm and a major impact for this part of the country.”
The NWS office in Boston issued a stark warning, describing the approaching storm as “Potentially Historic/Destructive” and expressing “very concerned” about the potential for heavy snow and strong winds to cause widespread power outages. The warning covered the area southeast of the Boston-Providence corridor.
By Sunday evening, the storm had already begun to impact visibility in New York City, reducing it to the point where the city’s iconic skyscrapers were barely discernible from across the East River in Brooklyn. Despite the travel ban, some residents expressed concern that workplaces remained open, creating a dilemma for those who needed to commute to maintain their employment.
“It’s gonna be difficult for most New Yorkers to get around as we still have to go to work. It’s unfortunate [roads] are suspended as jobs are not gonna stop calling us in,” Brooklyn resident Brandon Smith, 33, told AFP. The city’s travel ban excludes essential workers and those with emergency travel needs.
Natural gas prices rose as the storm approached, reflecting increased demand for heating fuel in the face of the frigid temperatures, according to CNBC.
