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Blizzard's Havoc Continues as Commuters Urged to Stay Home

By Michael P. Ventura | December 26, 2010 10:03am | Updated on December 27, 2010 1:29pm

DNAinfo wants to post your blizzard photos. E-mail your horizontal photos in to info@dnainfo.com.

By Jordan Heller, Amy Zimmer, and Della Hasselle

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN — Manhattan began digging itself out of the snow on Monday morning as commuters tried to find their way to work amid subway and bus suspensions or delays that prompted the MTA to urge most workers to stay home.

The weather prompted subway service changes in nearly all lettered and numbered subway lines, including the 7 train, which ran briefly Monday morning before it was shut down around 9:45 a.m. Service on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road were also affected. 

"I have to get to work, the bus is stuck. Oh God, that’s not a good omen," said Madeleine Zellen, 70, of the Upper East Side who was trying to get from East 86th Street to work at St Luke's Hospital. "If I didn’t have to go to work today, I’d just be looking out the window at how pretty it is."

Union Square was barely recognizable under the blanket of snow Monday.
Union Square was barely recognizable under the blanket of snow Monday.
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DNAinfo/Jordan Heller

She expected her 45 minute commute would take at least twice as long.

Rafal Gusciora, 26, of Williamsburg, took the L train to Manhattan for his job as IT support for Citibank.

"Most of my colleagues live in New Jersey and have no way of getting into the city. Somebody has to be there." Gusciora said, adding, "I'm not happy about it. I'd rather be at home."

Other emergency workers had no choice but to head into work, including Dr. Damian Kurian, 39, of Greenwich Village. Kurian slogged to his cardiology practice Monday, saying, "I'm a doctor, so, I have to see my patients."

Alternate Side Parking rules were suspended Monday for snow removal, the Department of Transportation said. Meter rules were also suspended.

The blizzard left Manhattan buried under snowdrifts that made some streets impassable, and kept airports closed through Monday morning.

LaGuardia airport was slated to stay closed through at least 2 p.m. Monday, and Kennedy Airport could stay closed until 4 p.m., according to the FAA website.

The Port Authority provided cots to some stranded passengers, and a spokesoman said it was too soon to say when flights would resume. The Port Authority has assigned 200 snow-removal machines and 200 tons of salt to area airports to try to get them back in action.

"We're doing our best," said Port Authority spokeswoman Sara Joren, who encouraged passengers to call their airlines before setting out for the airports. "It's really the most important thing," she said.

All bus service in and out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal was also suspended Monday, Joren said.

Amtrak resumed some train service on Monday, with service between Boston and New York, according to its website, which warned of delays and service changes. Trains in the Northeast Corridor had been suspended since 5 p.m. Sunday. Trains are running between New York and Washington DC.

The snow also prompted a host of museums, libraries and other agencies to keep their doors closed on Monday, including the New York Public Library and the Rubin Museum, which had been slated to open.

But other museums, including The Museum of Modern Art, remained open on Monday and attracted so many people on monday that the line for tickets was out the door on Monday afternoon, a museum official said. The MoMA will also be open on Tuesday, when it's usually closed, because of the holiday week, officials said.

The National Weather Service had issued a blizzard warning for Manhattan through Monday and cautioned travelers of extremely dangerous travel conditions as it measured 20 inches of snow in Central Park at 7 a.m. Monday

The Fire Department asked New Yorkers to limit their 911 calls to extreme emergencies in light of the snow.

Seven-year-old Nicholas Ricardo and his dad take advantage of the Monday morning snow in Central Park.
Seven-year-old Nicholas Ricardo and his dad take advantage of the Monday morning snow in Central Park.
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DNAinfo/Della Hasselle

The Fire Department received 3,300 911 calls from midnight on Monday until about midday Monday, in what was "definitely a larger call volume than usual," a spokesman said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 4,800 sanitation workers were deployed throughout the storm. At 7 a.m. Sunday, 2,400 Sanitation workers showed up to work for a 12-hour shift, and would be relieved at 7 p.m. by another 2,400 workers, who would work through the night. Many workers were called in from their holiday vacations.

The mayor said that 365 salt spreaders and 1,700 snow plows were dispatched across the city.

“New York City was hit with a winter storm that was as strong as the meteorologists predicted," Bloomberg said in a statement Monday, "Our Sanitation crews worked through the night but road conditions are bad and there are service interruptions and delays on mass transit."

Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to stay off the roads to leave room for emergency crews and snow plows.

The mayor announced a "Snow Day" in city parks on Monday, where Parks Department officials will offer sledding and free hot chocolate to the city's children, whose schools were already closed Monday and through the week for winter break.

Many of the city's private schools were also closed for winter break. But Chapin and Allen-Stevenson, which weren't scheduled to be on break, announced they would be closed Monday.

This is the second blizzard to hit the city in 2010. In February, Manhattan was hit by a storm dubbed "Snowmageddon."

A snow plow getting ready to go to work on Avenue A.
A snow plow getting ready to go to work on Avenue A.
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DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro