Blizzard-driven service disruptions on the three railroads that serve Penn Station turned the country’s busiest rail hub into a place better suited for transit tumbleweeds.
With the Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak’s New York-Boston corridor all shut down by the city’s largest snowstorm in a decade, the sprawling complex that moves 600,000 riders daily experienced a rare Monday morning without swarms of commuters.
“It’s just a weird feeling,” said Daniel Ausserladschieder, manager of Le Café Coffee in the lower-level LIRR concourse. “It’s so strange to see Penn Station being so calm, with the tracks closed and the signs saying no passengers.”
Le Café Coffee manager Daniel Ausserladschieder was working at one of the few businesses open during a blizzard, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Jose Martinez/THE CITY
The MTA commuter railroad for Long Island and parts of Queens and Brooklyn suspended service at 1 a.m. Monday, in advance of the blizzard that hit the city with upward of 18 inches of snow. Officials said service likely will not resume until winds die down later in the day or possibly into Tuesday.
Janno Lieber, MTA chairperson and chief executive, said during a Monday morning appearance on PIX11 News that the transportation authority “did the right thing” by not operating trains during the blizzard.
“Everybody knows on Long Island, especially out east, that this is no day to be moving around,” he said. “They’re really taking a heavy hit.”
The town of Babylon in Suffolk County reported close to 30 inches of snow by late Monday morning.
But after an emergency Sunday night shift at his IT job in Manhattan forced him to stay overnight in the city, Calvert Davidson optimistically stationed himself near a LIRR concourse that was blocked off by barricades.
“I want to go home, I want to sleep, I’m stuck, no service,” said Davidson, who lives in Bellmore, Nassau County. “But honestly, it’s not their fault — it’s a blizzard.”
Calvert Davidson waits for LIRR service to resume so he can get back to his home on Long Island, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Jose Martinez/THE CITY
New Jersey Transit shut down all rail service by 9 p.m. Sunday, while Amtrak suspended all service between Moynihan Train Hall and Boston South Station, though soundbound service kept rolling.
Amtrak passengers who could travel through Penn Station were among the few travelers on the move Monday.
“I’m heading for work down south and I’m pretty shocked that I can even get there,” said Nick Miller, who was traveling to Baltimore Penn Station. “It’s honestly kind of idyllic, to be honest — I get overwhelmed usually coming here and it’s kinda nice and different, peaceful.”
With city officials urging New Yorkers to stay home during the blizzard, many Penn Station retail spaces were closed or short-staffed.
At Le Café, which is between the Seventh and Eighth Avenue subway lines, that meant two fewer employees to handle the trickle of customers on Monday.
“We would be much more busy,” Ausserladschieder said. “Obviously, not too many traveling.”
But the force of the blizzard did turn Penn Station’s corridors into a safe haven for the unhoused, with many resting against station beams or closed storefronts even as the city set up multiple warming spaces and warming buses in the blocks near the transit hub.
“I live outside, but I can’t do much outside because the storm has been going terrible,” said Justine Charlot, a 57-year-old homeless woman. “Between here and the subway, I won’t be going far.”
People head into Penn Station during a blizzard, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Jose Martinez/THE CITY
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