Gov. Cuomo echoed those concerns, warning commuters to stay home Monday
in a statement made Sunday as the monstrous storm tracked an unfamiliar route
across the Midwest.
“As a result, roads including the Thruway, I-84 and the Long Island
Expressway, and public transit networks including the LIRR, PATH, Metro-North
Railroad, and MTA subways and buses, may be closed ahead of the evening
commute,” Cuomo announced Sunday night.
De Blasio, flanked by sanitation honchos at a department garage along
the Hudson River, also warned New Yorkers to stay indoors and off “treacherous”
city roads starting Monday.
“Now is the time to get ready for this extreme weather,” de Blasio
added. “Don’t underestimate this storm. Even walking should be kept to a
minimum.”
Schools will be open Monday, but after-school programs were
preemptively canceled. School will likely be closed Tuesday.
The prior all-time snow record for Jan. 26, 2011, when 12.3 inches
fell, followed the next day by another 6.7 inches, records show. The city’s all
time record occurred Feb. 11-12, 2006, when New York was blanketed with 26.9
inches, according to city officials.
“We are already forecasting more than that,” said National Weather
Service meteorologist Joe Pollina. “It is a potentially historic storm.”
Snow and rain were expected to start early Monday in New York. Snow is
expected to taper off late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, meteorologists
said.
The city plans to dispatch nearly 500 salt spreaders ahead of that
snowfall, according to de Blasio. There will be 2,100 snowplows deployed on
city streets after the first two inches of snow. Another 4,200 plows from
independent contractors are ready to be dispatched, he added.
The Transportation and Sanitation departments have also hired
additional day laborers for shoveling.
The storm is expected to increase in severity after 6 p.m. Monday,
according to the National Weather Service.
“The evening rush hour is going to be a huge problem,” Hizzoner said.
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