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City Warns New Yorkers to Stay off Roads as Drivers Skid on Slushy Streets

By  Aidan Gardiner and Trevor Kapp | February 3, 2014 7:00am | Updated on February 3, 2014 2:07pm

 The mayor warned drivers to stay off the roads as Mother Nature dumped 6 to 8 inches of snow on the five boroughs.
Snowy streets create road hazard
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MANHATTAN — Drivers were warned to steer clear of the hazardous roads on Monday as slushy conditions prompted the city to issue a hazardous travel advisory.

Mayor Bill de Blasio cautioned New Yorkers to stick to public transportation as the latest winter storm dumped 6 inches on the city by midday with up to 8 inches possibly headed for the city before tapering off by the evening.

By the afternoon the storm turned deadly when a 73-year-old Brighton Beach man was struck by a private plow in that was out in the storm, authorities said.

Subways and buses were experiencing delays and other disruptions throughout the morning, and riders were told to check the MTA's website for service updates before they travel.

On the Upper West Side, slick roads caused two cabs to collide at Central Park West and West 100th Street and crash into a scaffolding.

"It was slippery. There was ice," Mahtev Chowdury, 35, said. "The road is too slippery."

A Department of Sanitation spokesman said its salt spreaders and plows were at the ready and plow progress can be tracked on the city's PlowNYC website.

Those who were trying to fly home after visiting New York for the Super Bowl found airports hobbled by the snowy onslaught. More than 550 flights were canceled in to and out of JFK and LaGuardia airports as of 1 p.m. and arriving flights faced longer than 2 hour delays, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and FlightAware, a flight tracking website.

Though city schools remained open, all field trips were called off along with after school programs and PSAL activities, the Department of Education said.

Alternate side parking was suspended for Monday though meter rules were still in effect, according to the Office of Emergency Management.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning, saying the heaviest snow was predicted for the afternoon and will eventually taper off about 7 p.m.

But it was expected to be back Wednesday morning when another snowstorm could drop up to 4 inches, an NWS spokeswoman said.

"The Wednesday morning commute could definitely be messy," she said.

As the snow stops Monday evening, temperatures — which are forecast to be in the low 30s throughout the day — will drop into the upper 20s, a NWS spokesman said.

For more information about the weather in your neighborhood, check DNAinfo's weather page.