QUEENS — Workers at some Queens stores said Monday that they were planning to stay open despite the "historic" blizzard, which could dump up to 2 feet of snow by Tuesday evening.
Managers at Met Foodmarkets on Jamaica Avenue near 160th Street, in downtown Jamaica, and Walgreens on Queens and Yellowstone boulevards in Forest Hills said they were planning to keep the stores open.
An employee at Martha’s Country Bakery on Austin Street in Forest Hills also said that there are no plans to close the bakery.
Other stores said that they would be monitoring the situation and decide later about staying open.
"We are not sure yet, but we live in the neighborhood, so we'll see" said the manager at Thyme Natural Market in Kew Gardens.
Key Food store on Jamaica Avenue and 149th Street in Jamaica and La Boulangerie, a French bakery on 72nd Road in Forest Hills were also among the stores which said they may open on Tuesday, depending on the situation.
Others said that safety was their priority and they preferred to close the business, at least for some time.
Odradeks Coffee Shop in Kew Gardens will be closed Tuesday and CityRib, a barbecue restaurant in downtown Jamaica, planned to reopen Tuesday afternoon.
“The mayor said people should stay home [Monday night]," said Regan Uriarte, the manager at CityRib. "But we are planning to open Tuesday at 4 p.m. Hopefully it will be over by then."
As the snow started pounding the city Monday, customers waited impatiently in the long checkout lines, stocking up on bread, water and eggs.
“It’s crazy that have only three cashiers today,” said Barbara Malik, 72, who was buying six bottles water, several boxes of pasta and cans of tomato sauce at a Key Food in Briarwood around 8 a.m. “They knew there would be more people today."
Joe Baino, the manager at Trader Joe’s on Metropolitan Avenue in Rego Park, said the store would close after the governor announced a state of emergency.
“It’s been absolutely insane in the past two days,” Baino said. “As of Monday morning, we ran out of bread and eggs...People are stocking up on absolutely everything."
La Boulangerie sold out of its bread supplies for the entire day by 11 a.m. But the bakery said that it was planning to make at least two additional batches of baguettes Monday afternoon.