A travel ban for the NY area was lifted on Sunday but Washington was still at a standstill after a blizzard paralysed the northeastern United States, killing at least 19 people.
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In New York, Bruce Springsteen cancelled his Sunday concert at Madison Square Garden, but Broadway shows were resuming on the Great White Way after going dark at the last minute on Saturday. It will stay into effect until Sunday morning.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said that public schools in Washington would also remain closed on Monday.
Even so, many people were out in the street.
“It seems like they move really slow cleaning the snow here in D.C.”, said Qahwash, originally from MI.
Residents clear their street of snow in Union City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Midtown Manhattan, after the second-biggest winter storm in NY history, January 24, 2016.
The city was deploying more than 2,300 pieces of snow-clearing equipment and keeping sanitation workers on 12-hour shifts, it said. “It’s how it should look like”.
The fatalities occurred in Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia.
In Passaic, New Jersey, a 23-year-old and her one-year-old son died of carbon monoxide poisoning during the storm, while the family’s three-year-old daughter was hospitalized in critical condition.
Reinsurer Munich Re said it was too early to estimate losses from the storm.
In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie, a Republican presidential contender who left the campaign trail to oversee the emergency response in his state, asked people to take care.
State authorities said the enormous backup was started after tractor trailers approaching the Allegheny Tunnel jackknifed, adding that poor conditions and the backups prevented emergency crews from being able to clear these trucks.
New Jersey Transit, earlier on Saturday, suspended all bus, rail and light rail service.
Road crews are working around the clock to clear snow and ice from roads, runways and rail tracks from Georgia to MA.
A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange said the bourse planned to open as usual on Monday. City schools also were set to open on Monday.
The few people out and about trudged through slush and ice and picked their way through drifts left by plows.
The wind-driven snow at times appeared to descend sideways, making it hard to see.
The NWS said 22.4 inches (57 cm) fell in Washington at the National Zoo, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport notched a record 29.2 inches (74.2 cm). Accumulations in parts of Virginia and West Virginia reached 40 inches.
Washington’s subway resumed limited service on Monday, offering free travel in an effort to encourage the use of mass transit over driving. Forecasters were predicting a more forgiving outlook for the remainder of the weekend – blue skies and sunshine with temperatures hovering at about zero Celsius in NY and Washington.
In northern Virginia and Maryland, some of the main roads and highways were only partially plowed, with mountains of snow blocking whole lanes. Officials said public schools would be closed in Baltimore and Washington on Monday.
The House of Representatives cancelled its voting until February 1.
Many schools canceled classes for Monday, despite the fortuitous weekend timing of the storm.
“I cleaned this two or three times and they keep blocking me in”, Peter Quamina said as he shovelled out the front of his driveway in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. “And the best way to do it is on my bicycle with steel-studded snow tires”, he said.
“I knew people would be cooped up in their houses and wanting to come outside”, said Brazell, who was beaned by multiple blasts of perfectly soft but firm snow.
At Dupont Circle, hundreds gathered to pelt each other with snowballs.
Washington officials said the city has applied for federal disaster relief to help pay for the snowstorm’s costs, which they did not estimate.
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In New York, flights had begun landing again at John F. Kennedy International Airport and would soon start taking off from there, Cuomo told a news conference.
