All bridges and tunnels into the city will also close, he said.
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The budget has almost $5 billion in budget reserves, including $3.4 billion for retiree health benefits and $1 billion in general reserves in case the city has to “go it alone” during a recession, de Blasio said. “When the snowfall reaches a certain rate, the plows can not keep up. that is where we are”, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. All three were the result of auto crashes, police said. “Only in an emergency should a vehicle be out on the street at this point”.
Last year, 231 people were killed in New York City traffic, according to preliminary figures in the city’s Vision Zero Year Two Report, which was also released today [PDF].
The most intense parts of the snowstorm are heading north towards New York State on Saturday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said NY was expecting to receive up to 25 inches of snow, which would make the storm one of the worst to hit the city in 150 years of record-keeping.
Staten Island elected officials are looking for more borough investment in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $82.1 billion spending plan. Some areas could see even faster snowfall; LaGuardia Airport reported 3 inches of snow from 6 to 7 a.m. Saturday, a National Weather Service spokeswoman said.
“At a time when we are looking to increase density on the North Shore, we have transportation deserts, overcrowded schools, outdated hospitals and a lack of recreation facilities – and this is unacceptable”, Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said in a statement. De Blasio announced that alternated side parking would be suspended for the duration of the incoming blizzard, but warned that any vehicle blocking a roadway would be subject to towing. “That includes people who are attempting to drive, but it also includes people who are walking”, said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
At least two people were killed in accidents in North Carolina, where officials said ice was making roads treacherous.
Earlier that afternoon, Cuomo’s head of the MTA, Tom Prendergast, told reporters that he didn’t think a systemwide shutdown would be necessary. But Christie downplayed the danger of Sandy-style storm surges. He said there were some 17,000 power outages across the state as of Saturday morning.
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The storm pummeled much of the east coast, forcing tens of millions of residents from northern Georgia to New Jersey to shutter themselves inside to wait out the mammoth blizzard. Gusts along the mid-Atlantic coast will frequent 45-50 miles per hour.
