Pedestrians in New York City. Photo / AP
Local and state governments declared emergencies and urged drivers to stay off the roads. In New York City, which could get up to 60cm of snow, streets were largely empty. The subway system and buses were scheduled to shut. Authorities banned travel on all streets and highways in the city and on Long Island.
"This will most likely be one of the largest blizzards in the history of New York City," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio warned. The mayor, along with Governor Andrew Cuomo, urged New Yorkers to go home and stay put. In a news conference, the mayor encouraged businesses to take a day off. "I would say to employers that this is an act of nature and they should be respectful of that. They should give some leeway to their workers." On New York's Upper West Side, people were hustling to and from stores, shovelling and salting, and children were seen carrying sleds towards the hills of Riverside Park.
The preparations were a boon for Houseware and Hardware, a small store on Broadway. "Shovels are doing very well," said employee Conrad Wafiood. He pointed out the things that were being snatched up. "Windshield cleaner. Toboggans. Lots of salt."
Nabil Habib, who has been driving a cab in the city for four years, was navigating Manhattan's Upper West Side as snow began to fall more heavily. He, like nearly everyone else who was asked, identified the worst storm in recent city history as Hurricane Sandy. But he preferred driving in rain to driving in snow and was looking forward to the end of his shift. "Every snowstorm it's the same thing," he said. "You don't want to get hurt or get in an accident."
Habib picked up Susanne Ripple Welke, in town from Wisconsin visiting her daughter Augusta. The two were headed to Washington Heights, meaning a slow trip on increasingly bad roads. Asked if they were ready for the brunt of the storm, Welke said she thought so. "We might not have everything we want, but we probably have everything we need," she said. As the cab approached its destination, she realised that this was perhaps overly optimistic. "Are the lights on?" she said, peering at a nearby liquor store. "The only provision we're missing is a bottle of wine."
At a Gristedes market farther downtown, long lines of people plucked an impressively random assortment of items off the shelves. "I never go grocery shopping," Angel Kar said as he browsed the frozen foods. He was stocking up on his essentials: "Things to heat up, microwave stuff, TV food, comfort food."
Habib's last fare of the day was Hilda Contreras. At one intersection, his cab didn't catch the pavement as it tried to halt at the red light, skidding slightly into the crosswalk.
Contreras said she took cabs home from work "very rarely, unless I have an emergency". The day's weather counted. She left work at 121st St and Third Avenue and tried to get on the subway but the platform was closed because it was being cleaned so it would be less slippery. Then she tried to get the bus but missed it. When Habib picked her up, she was at least a kilometre away from work and counting change to ensure she could make the fare. Her son, Jayden, 3, was home, picked up from preschool by her husband, the superintendent in their building.
Snowploughs were spotted occasionally, orange blades affixed to the fronts of garbage trucks. Habib headed downtown to hand the cab over to his partner. He wasn't planning on working today. "They said it will be really bad at night-time," he explained. Like everyone else, his partner would just have to adjust.
- Bloomberg
