Snow Is Forecast, but Mayor Says New York City Won't Shut Down

Mayor Bill de Blasio warned New Yorkers on Sunday that more snow was expected in the city overnight, but he said officials were prepared to handle the storm and schools were expected to open on Monday morning. 

 

The latest forecast called for 2 to 5 inches of snow by Monday morning, with up to 7 inches possible, de Blasio said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon. The snowstorm comes less than a week after much of the city shut down for a storm that brought significantly less snow than predicted. 

 

The mayor said he would watch the forecast overnight and make a final decision about schools early Monday. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's subways and buses will run on Monday, he said, noting that commuters should take mass transit if possible because roads could be dangerous. 

 

"Based on what we know now, school will be open, MTA will be running pretty smoothly," the mayor said. "You will experience delays; people should give themselves extra time and should act carefully." 

 

De Blasio cautioned that snow could be unpredictable, as the city learned last week. Asked whether he felt sheepish for holding another briefing on a snowstorm a week later, de Blasio said he did not. 

 

"I make decisions for a living. That's what the people sent me here to do," he said. "We take the information we have; we make the best decision we can with it. I will always err on the side of safety." 

City and state officials were criticized last week for bringing the city to a halt when less than 10 inches of snow fell, much less than the two or three feet that had been predicted. The subway system was shut down because of a snow forecast for the first time in its 110-year history. 

 

On Sunday, the transportation authority said it planned to run a regular weekday schedule on Monday. Riders should expect weather-related delays on buses and trains, "especially on some express routes as we reposition trains that were stored underground tonight," the authority said in a statement. 

 

After Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last Monday that the subway system would shut down, de Blasio said he found out about the decision around the same time it was being announced to the public. 

 

Asked on Sunday whether he had since spoken to the governor about not being consulted, de Blasio said: "We've made the point clearly to the state that we think we can do a little better next time, and we think we have to learn from this situation what different options we may have in that kind of situation, and I think it's been a productive conversation." 

 

Meteorologists have also had to defend their forecasts. On Sunday, Bruce Terry, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said the latest storm was moving into the Northeast from the Midwest, calling it a "modest snowstorm." The Weather Service was not being more cautious now, he said, noting that parts of Long Island, not far from the city, did receive more than a foot and a half of snow last week. 

 

"There is always uncertainty in snowstorms," he said. "We aren't perfect - that's for sure."