We’re having a bitterly cold, stormy winter on the East Coast, which I can only presume is Mother Nature’s commentary on the national political climate. Winter Storm Fern swept through an astonishing large swath of the US on the last Sunday of January. Fern kicked up enough wind and snow and ice “freezing rain” to knock out power lines and leave heaps of snow to be shoveled. Here in NYC, Fern disrupted transit systems enough that Mayor Mamdani declared all public schools would be remote the Monday after (while my office declared no worries, please struggle to be in-person; I was as salty about that as the streets I was mucking through to get to work).
A month has passed, and we were just getting to the final small piles of snow left on street corners… and we got what the National Weather Service labeled a “classic bomb cyclone nor’easter,” aka a blizzard. Not wanting to be outdone by Fern, this blizzard dropped 19.7 inches of snow in NYC, making it the ninth biggest to hit the city, according to records that go back to 1869. This time around Mamdani declared a full no-learning snow day for schools on Monday (while my office relented and told us all to work remote), in addition to declaring a state of emergency and travel ban.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani banned most travel across the nation’s largest city from 9 p.m. Sunday through noon Monday, an extraordinary measure reflecting the test a historic blizzard hitting the region poses.
Mamdani also canceled classes for the city’s public schools on Monday with no remote learning.
The incoming weather is Mamdani’s second major snowstorm since becoming mayor on New Year’s Day. Once again, the 34-year-old former state assemblyman’s decisions, and how they’ll affect 8.5 million New Yorkers, will be closely watched by supporters and detractors alike.
He drew some questions for having remote learning during the January snowstorm, given the difficulties virtual classes pose for many families. With this storm, he made the announcement of a snow day by posting a screen recording of a FaceTime call with a New York City student named Victoria. In the video, he greeted her with a cheerful “Hi, Victoria,” and shared the news.
“No online school, no remote learning, full classic snow day,” he told her as she cheered. “My only ask to you is that you just stay safe, stay indoors during the height of the storm. Once that has passed, feel free to go out and sled.”
Other nonessential city offices and services, including libraries, will also be closed to the public.
Transportation will also be affected: The Staten Island ferry service will be suspended starting 5 p.m. Sunday and is expected to resume late Monday morning.
At least 18 people died during the January snowstorm and following cold snap.
“We’re going to be doing everything within our power, across all of the city government, to respond to the storm as quickly as possible,” Mamdani said during a press conference on Sunday.
The city has issued a state of emergency and amplified its sanitation response, with more than 2,000 snow plows set to hit city streets as soon as 2 inches of snow accumulates, with more than 2,600 sanitation employees working 12-hour shifts.
The travel ban was lifted Monday afternoon, meaning the public school students of NYC (and I) returned to in-person learning (work) today. However, there’s still A TON of snow on the ground! So Mamdani is still “urging” New Yorkers to avoid all unnecessary travel and, hilariously, he made a point of asking us to try and not order delivery food. Normally I would take a directive like that personally, but even I know to curb my takeout orders amid blizzard conditions! Even though our local transportation is quote-unquote “operational” again, thousands of air traffic has been delayed or canceled. Flight Aware has a helpful “MiseryMap” to track how airports are doing, and as of this writing the NYC area is still in the red. And speaking of misery, I feel like my dog My Guy is holding me personally responsible for this new snow dump. He’s a dandy princeling who likes to be clean and dry, thankyouverymuch! And again, I cannot stress enough that we were just finally saying goodbye to last month’s snowfall.
Here’s your evening update:
Snowfall: Potential for non-accumulating flurries overnight.
Forecast: Temps expected to drop to 22-23 degrees.
Wind: Max gusts around 25mph.
Roads: Open but please proceed with caution.
Get the most up-to-date information by texting…
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) February 24, 2026
Photo note by CB: With apologies to Kismet, the photos at the top of this post and in the gallery are from Jersey City. They’re from February 23 though! Getty images are from NYC Photos credit: Imago/Vanessa Carvalho/Avalon, Getty Images, Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
My kid is at college in Providence. They got a record breaking 37 inches. No idea where they are going to put all that snow.
NYC got more snow from this one storm than Denver has gotten all winter.
My instagram feed populated with scenes from NYC that brought me to tears. Central ParK magic, a kind mayor, neighbors helping each other and throwing snowballs at Washington Park. This Kansas girl appreciated it.
Mayor Mamdani has done an AWESOME job so far~I wish he was America’s Mayor!!