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The New York Area Was Nearly Paralyzed by 6 Inches of Snow. What Went Wrong? New York Area Was Nearly Paralyzed by 6 Inches of Snow. What Went Wrong?
(about 2 hours later)
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Drivers were trapped on gridlocked, snowy roads for hours. Drivers were trapped on gridlocked roads for hours, hungry, desperate for a bathroom, their cellphones dying and their cars running out of gas.
Middle schoolers in New Jersey had to spend the night at school. Marooned by school buses that could not handle the snow, middle schoolers in New Jersey were forced to spend the night at school, sleeping on gym mats until their parents finally rescued them in the morning.
The upper level of the George Washington Bridge — one of the busiest bridges in the world — came to a standstill with drivers abandoning their cars. The upper level of the George Washington Bridge — one of the busiest bridges in the world — turned into a parking lot after an icy 20-vehicle crash, with drivers abandoning their cars.
The New York region was all but paralyzed by an early winter storm that led to recriminations and second-guessing on Friday about what exactly went wrong. The New York region was all but paralyzed by an early winter storm that led to recriminations and second-guessing on Friday about what exactly went wrong. Even some of the most grizzled commuters had never endured such a meltdown and vented their fury at those in charge of running the buses and the trains and clearing the highways.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was caught off guard by the ferocity of the storm after early forecasts predicted a light dusting. At Central Park, 6.4 inches of snow were recorded — the biggest one-day November snowfall in at least 136 years. Leaders in New York and New Jersey said they were caught off guard by the ferocity of the storm after early forecasts predicted a light dusting.
“We’re going to do a full review,” Mr. de Blasio said in an interview on NY1 on Friday morning. ”I’m not happy with the end result. It’s unacceptable.” The havoc that unfolded in the city and beyond highlighted the fragility of the region’s transportation network: An unexpected but not enormous storm brought the system to its knees, leading to countless tales of misery. In the last few years, the region’s aging infrastructure has become increasingly unreliable, from the subway to the buses to commuter rails to train and bus stations.
The havoc that unfolded in the city and beyond highlighted the fragility of the region’s transportation network: An unexpected but not enormous storm brought the system to its knees, leading to countless tales of misery. In the last few years, the region’s aging infrastructure has become increasingly unreliable, from the subway to New Jersey Transit to rail and bus terminals. On Friday, much of the criticism was aimed at Mayor Bill de Blasio and Philip D. Murphy, the governor of New Jersey. Mr. de Blasio said he understood why people were frustrated and would review the city’s storm response.
On Friday, much of the criticism was aimed at Mr. de Blasio and Philip D. Murphy, the governor of New Jersey. Mr. Murphy said that one person had died — in an accident that involved a train and a car — and that there had been about 1,000 car accidents. “I’m not happy with the end result,” Mr. de Blasio said in an interview on NY1 on Friday morning. “It’s unacceptable.”
Mr. Murphy joined in the finger-pointing, blaming weather forecasts for underestimating the storm and officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for their handling of overflow crowds at the bus terminal in Midtown Manhattan.
“Yesterday gave forecasting a bad name,” Mr. Murphy said at a news conference, calling the predictions of the storm’s intensity “lousy.”
Mr. Murphy said that one person had died in an accident when a car got stuck on train tracks.
Mr. de Blasio said a confluence of events — a “perfect storm” as he called it — had conspired to throw off the city’s snow-fighting efforts. The city’s Sanitation Department had performed miracles plowing roads in the past, but they did not have good access to the roads because they were clogged with vehicles.Mr. de Blasio said a confluence of events — a “perfect storm” as he called it — had conspired to throw off the city’s snow-fighting efforts. The city’s Sanitation Department had performed miracles plowing roads in the past, but they did not have good access to the roads because they were clogged with vehicles.
“They can’t levitate above the traffic,” the mayor said.“They can’t levitate above the traffic,” the mayor said.
If the city had known how bad the storm would be, officials could have encouraged people to stay home on Thursday, Mr. de Blasio said. Instead, hordes of commuters were stranded as they left work. At Central Park, 6.4 inches of snow was recorded — the biggest one-day November snowfall in 136 years. If the city had known how bad the storm would be, officials could have encouraged people to stay home, Mr. de Blasio said.
A long line of miserable commuters waited outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Thursday night, stretching for a full block, from Eighth Avenue to Seventh Avenue. Only about 232 buses arrived at the station to pick up passengers, of the 1,429 buses that were scheduled — an 84 percent drop, officials said. Instead, hordes of commuters were stranded as they left work on Thursday night. A long line of miserable commuters waited outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, stretching for a full block, from Eighth Avenue to Seventh Avenue. Only about 232 buses arrived at the bus station to pick up passengers, of the 1,429 buses that were scheduled — an 84 percent drop, officials said.
The weather improved by Friday morning, but the region was still recovering from the mess that unfolded Thursday evening. There were problems on the subway and commuter railroads, but some of the worst incidents happened on the roads, where cars and buses were stuck in snarled traffic.The weather improved by Friday morning, but the region was still recovering from the mess that unfolded Thursday evening. There were problems on the subway and commuter railroads, but some of the worst incidents happened on the roads, where cars and buses were stuck in snarled traffic.
“Our buses were held hostage to massive gridlock citywide,” said Jon Weinstein, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subways and buses. “Our bus operators and front-line employees fought through epic traffic and kept the subways moving — and we’re grateful for their dedication during a tremendously difficult commute.”“Our buses were held hostage to massive gridlock citywide,” said Jon Weinstein, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subways and buses. “Our bus operators and front-line employees fought through epic traffic and kept the subways moving — and we’re grateful for their dedication during a tremendously difficult commute.”
In the suburbs, the story was at least as bad with major highways turning into parking lots and side streets made impassable by icy conditions and countless accidents. The perilous road conditions crippled commuter bus service, causing the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the busiest bus station in the country, to do something it almost never does — close several floors. On Friday, Kathryn Garcia, the city’s sanitation commissioner, acknowledged that “the commute last night was really pretty atrocious.” Yet Ms. Garcia defended the snow-clearing effort in an interview on Fox 5.
There were widespread stories about people who were stranded — from drivers to school children. Across the region, students were trapped on school buses snarled in traffic for hours with no bathroom or food, according to parents and elected officials. “We were definitely prepared,” she said. “We had all of our spreaders out. They were all pre-positioned ahead of the storm.”
A bus carrying preschool students left a Harlem school for children with special needs around 2 p.m. Thursday and still had five students on board around midnight as it crawled through the Bronx, according to City Councilman Ben Kallos, who helped a mother track down the bus by calling the bus driver’s cellphone. Police officers were dispatched to escort the bus as it finished dropping off children in the early morning hours. Ms. Garcia said the department had started preparing on Tuesday morning, when the forecast was for light snow, by loading nearly 700 salt spreaders. The greatest challenge came in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, she said, where traffic from the George Washington Bridge snarled streets.
Jennifer Reynoso’s three-year-old son was on the bus for 10 hours. She was so worried that she got in her car around 6 p.m. to search for the bus. Finally, she caught up to the bus at midnight. “In all honesty, I am not sure what we could have done if we had added a tremendous amount of additional pieces of equipment, if they would just have been stuck,” she said. “That has been what I have been thinking about literally all night long.”
On the George Washington Bridge, there were two major accidents because of conditions on the upper level that shut down traffic in both directions, said Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. An accident in the eastbound lanes around 2:30 p.m. involved more than 20 vehicles. Another in the westbound lanes around 3:20 p.m. involved two tractor-trailers. It took a while to clear the crashes, and all of the lanes did not reopen until 6:30 p.m.
Mr. Cotton defended the agency’s handling of the storm, saying that eight trucks started spreading salt on the bridge before 1 p.m. and that crews removed the vehicles from the crash as quickly as possible.
“We intend to go back and look at those incidents and see whether there are ways the Port Authority can take actions to try to anticipate and prepare, to minimize those kinds of incidents,” Mr. Cotton said.
In the suburbs, the story was at least as bad, with major highways coming to a halt and side streets made impassable by icy conditions and countless accidents. The perilous road conditions crippled commuter bus service, causing the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the busiest bus station in the country, to do something it almost never does: close several floors.
In New Jersey, a 61-year-old woman was killed on Thursday evening when a New Jersey Transit train struck her car near the Murray Hill station in New Providence, N.J., according to Jim Smith, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit. The victim, Susan Brown of New Providence, was pronounced dead at Morristown Memorial Hospital, Mr. Smith said.
There were about 100 passengers on the train, none of whom reported any injuries, Mr. Smith said. He declined to comment on whether the storm was a cause of the collision.
There were widespread stories of people who were stranded — from drivers to schoolchildren. Across the region, students were trapped on school buses snarled in traffic for hours with no bathrooms or food, according to parents and elected officials.
A bus carrying preschool students left a Harlem school for children with special needs around 2 p.m. on Thursday and still had five students on board around midnight as it crawled through the Bronx, according to Councilman Ben Kallos, who helped a mother track down the bus. Police officers were dispatched to escort the bus as it finished dropping off children in the early morning hours.
Jennifer Reynoso’s 3-year-old son was on the bus for 10 hours. She was so worried that she got in her car around 6 p.m. to search for the bus. Finally, she caught up to it at midnight.
“It was horrible because I don’t know whether he was O.K.,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”“It was horrible because I don’t know whether he was O.K.,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
Ms. Reynoso said her son was exhausted and sleeping on the bus. He had not eaten since noon and had been in the same diaper all day. He was so upset that he did not speak to her until they got home. Ms. Reynoso said her son was exhausted and upset. He had not eaten since noon and had been in the same diaper all day.
“Parents shouldn’t have to wonder where their children are,” said Mr. Kallos, who himself has a young daughter. “I could never imagine being in that situation.”“Parents shouldn’t have to wonder where their children are,” said Mr. Kallos, who himself has a young daughter. “I could never imagine being in that situation.”
In West Orange, N.J., about 80 students who were stranded for hours on school buses sought refuge in the Chit Chat Diner until about midnight, said Leo Novakidis, the manager who was on duty Thursday night.In West Orange, N.J., about 80 students who were stranded for hours on school buses sought refuge in the Chit Chat Diner until about midnight, said Leo Novakidis, the manager who was on duty Thursday night.
The children, who ranged in age from 5 years old to teenagers, lined up for the bathrooms, then devoured chicken fingers and french fries, Mr. Novakidis said.The children, who ranged in age from 5 years old to teenagers, lined up for the bathrooms, then devoured chicken fingers and french fries, Mr. Novakidis said.
“That stuff is fast to make and they were starving,” he said.“That stuff is fast to make and they were starving,” he said.
Some fell asleep in booths before school officials took them back to a school around midnight to spend the night, Mr. Novakidis said. Some fell asleep in booths, Mr. Novakidis said, before school officials took them back to a school around midnight to spend the night.
The West Orange school district website said students stayed overnight in several schools, including at a preschool. The district, which closed its schools on Friday, said buses had taken the stranded students home on Friday morning.