After the Storm, New York Digs Its Way Out
Simbarashe Cha for The New York Times
After a second day of snowfall — and there is still some chance of a last flurry or two this morning — New Yorkers grabbed their shovels and got to work clearing sidewalks and digging out cars.
In Inwood, Ken Ion had spent hours on Monday shoveling heavy snow outside the Church of the Good Shepherd. Mr. Ion, 62, had to start all over again Tuesday.
“I’m not 20 years old anymore. My bones are tired!”
he told Téa Kvetenadze as she reported for The Times.
The city had a thick sheet of snow after one of the heaviest winter storms in recent history.
Here’s what the aftermath looked like:
17 inches of snow covered New York City
The wet and heavy snow was perfect for snowmen and snowball fights, but difficult to clear away, Dominic Ramunni, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told my colleague Daniel Slotnik.
The snowstorm was the biggest since the record-setting blizzard of 2016 that dumped 27.5 inches of snow on Central Park. Still, this week’s storm pummeled other parts of the Northeast, like Bloomingdale, N.J., where the snow totaled 26.2 inches.
Last winter was mild in comparison, with just 4.8 inches of snow in New York City over the whole season.
Hours of shoveling for some New Yorkers
Clearing the snow on Tuesday was not for the faint of heart. Leindro Hernandez, 22, wielded a wide metal shovel outside a liquor store in Inwood.
“It’s kind of terrible. We did this seven times just yesterday!”
Mr. Hernandez told Ms. Kvetenadze.
On Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn, Jace Carter, 43, wanted to drive to the grocery store while his children were learning remotely. It took him an hour and a half to heave the snow off his car.
“I’m beat. But it’s New York. You gotta do what you gotta do.”
Mr. Carter told my colleague Emmett Lindner.
Subway service and outdoor dining restarted
The city resumed service Tuesday morning on aboveground subway lines and two commuter rail lines, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. The Open Restaurants program, which expanded outdoor dining, resumed Tuesday afternoon.
During a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio advised New Yorkers to keep staying off the roads as snow plows passed through.
“Thank God the vast majority is over now,”
he said.