NYC schools to go remote Tuesday as Big Apple braces for winter storm
New York City public schools will be going remote Tuesday as the Big Apple braces for a winter storm that is expected to wallop the area with up to eight inches of snow, coming on the heels of an unseasonably warm weekend.
“We’re expecting winter weather overnight tonight which could lead to 5-8 inches of snow with locally higher amounts by the morning,” Mayor Eric Adams posted on X Monday.
“As a result, all @NYCSchools will move to remote learning tomorrow. We will have more updates throughout the day.”
During a press briefing on snow preparedness, Adams defended the decision to pivot to remote schooling.
“If you are a parent, and you are not willing to navigate a computer for your child, that’s a sad commentary,” he said. “You can’t tell me… you are frustrated about logging on to a computer — that’s not acceptable to me. Our children fell behind during the pandemic. We need to catch up.”
Department of Education Chancellor David Banks said the public school system – the largest in the nation – is “more than prepared” for students to shift to online learning Tuesday.
“We’ve taken some time as a school system to do simulations and to prepare for this, and it’s one of the good things that in fact emerged from the pandemic – [it] was our preparedness to be ready for moments like this,” Banks said.
Alternate Side Parking regulations will be suspended as well.
The winter storm will start as rain around midnight, before shifting to snow by 6 a.m. in time for the morning commute Tuesday, Cody Braud, a meteorologist with Fox Weather, told The Post.
Heavy snow was expected to fall throughout the morning and afternoon at a rate of one to two inches per hour, with anticipated totals ranging between five to eight inches in the five boroughs.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber said the agency would be ready “no matter what happens.”
“If you are traveling, MTA will be operating,” said Lieber, noting that subways, buses and the Long Island Rail Road will be running with normal service, while the Metro-North will be operating on a modified schedule.
Transit officials said this would be the first time since February 2021 that the MTA had to put chains on buses in preparation for a storm, as the last two winters in New York have been so mild.
Temperatures will be in the low to mid-30s, with a high of 39 degrees by midday, all but guaranteeing that the snow will stick to the ground.
Gusty winds of 30 to 40 mph were expected Tuesday morning into the afternoon, reducing visibility due to blowing snow.
“The biggest danger will definitely be… travelers running into a big burst of snow catching them off guard,” Braud said.
The Post’s latest coverage on the Northeast Winter Storm
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- Nor’easter snowfall maps: How much snow is expected in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and other major cities
The city Emergency Management Department issued a travel advisory for Monday night into Tuesday, urging New Yorkers to stay off the roads to allow plow crews and salt spreaders to respond to the storm.
“We’re taking this storm extremely, extremely serious,” Adams said at the afternoon briefing. “We want New Yorkers to do the same. We expect slippery roads and limited visibility. So we are strongly encouraging New Yorkers: if you don’t have to go out – stay home.”
Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol echoed the mayor’s message, asking people to stay off the roads “to keep themselves safe” and to allow sanitation crews, as well as first responders, to get around the city.
Iscol noted that there is “low confidence in the forecast,” meaning that the storm could change overnight, bringing more or less snow accumulation, depending on how early it starts to fall.
“Yesterday, we were expecting about an inch of snow,” Iscol said. “Right now, we’re looking at five to eight inches.”
Jessica Tisch, commissioner of the city Department of Sanitation, said that beginning midnight, thousands of sanitation workers will be putting down salt on “every street, every highway, every bike lane in the city,” and plows will be deployed once accumulations reach two inches.
“Gone are the days of primary, secondary and tertiary streets for salt spreading and plowing purpose,” Tisch told reporters.
New York City and Long Island, which was also expected to get up to eight inches, were under a winter storm watch, which was expected to be upgraded to a warning Tuesday if the forecast shows snowfalls expected to fall on the higher end of the range.
There’s chance that snow accumulations could be lower if more rain falls earlier in the day.
The Capital Region could get two to six inches, while the Hudson Valley and Catskills was projected to see anywhere from eight to 12 inches — and even up to 18 inches in some areas, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday afternoon.
Parts of northern New Jersey could also be blanketed with up to 18 inches of snow.
The snowstorm was expected to be over sometime between 2-4 p.m., followed by a chance of sunshine late afternoon, according to Braud, the Fox Weather meteorologist.
“People have been accustomed to a fairly mild winter, so take all the necessary precautions,” Hochul warned. “Stay tuned to your news. If you can work remotely, that’s great. Make sure that our roads are clear for the plows as always. So, stay tuned for more details, but again, letting Mother Nature know she loves us by sending us a major snowstorm.”
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy and Vaughn Golden
