![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/022326_blizzard-17.jpg\")
People board a bus in the East Village during a blizzard, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Gwynne Hogan\/THE CITY<\/p>\nA powerful blizzard dumped fresh snow across New York City Monday, knocking out power to thousands of customers.<\/p>\n
Transit, businesses and city meetings were all disrupted. But the break from routine will be short-lived for some. School will be back in session Tuesday, the mayor announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do have some tough news to share: School will be in person tomorrow,\u201d Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during an afternoon snow briefing. He told students they could pelt him with snowballs, a promise he made last month when he announced a remote learning day after the January snowstorm.<\/p>\n
Schools chancellor Kamar Samuels said 8,000 facilities staffers worked all day Monday to make sure buildings could open tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety and well being of our students and staff will be top priority, and we will continue to monitor conditions closely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
People board a bus in the East Village during a blizzard, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Gwynne Hogan\/THE CITY<\/p>\n
Some parts of the city saw two feet of snow, with up to 2.5 more inches still expected to fall through 8 p.m. Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deep piles of snow and wind gusts exceeding 50 m.p.h. hampered anyone who needed to commute, even as city officials implored people to stay home except for emergencies.<\/p>\n
The MTA suspended service on the C, the Rockaway Park Shuttle and the Staten Island Railway. Severe delays hit several other lines; express trains ran on local tracks, and buses slowed to a crawl as they navigated snowy roads and whiteout conditions.<\/p>\n
Service on the Long Island Rail Road was shut down, while Metro-North operated on a reduced schedule along its Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines. All New Jersey Transit rail, light rail, bus and paratransit service remain suspended.<\/p>\n
Some New Yorkers braved the elements despite the blizzard warning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Christian Magallanes, 28, lives in Woodside and was commuting to his job in food service in Long Island City on the 7 train.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI did leave extra time,\u201d he said, noting some train delays. But he felt the city did a good job so far of taking care of the snow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
MTA workers were clearing snow from the platform and laying down salt as he waited a few minutes for his train.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the Upper West Side early Monday, James Hammond, 86, was walking with the help of a cane along a narrow path on Columbus Avenue. He recently had a hip replacement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in these kinds of things before, it\u2019s not that bad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be a little more extra careful. It\u2019s annoying, that\u2019s all, it\u2019s annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Sanitation](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/022326_blizzard-24.jpg\")
Sanitation workers plow streets in Brooklyn during a blizzard, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n
By 1 p.m. Monday, Grassmere on Staten Island saw more than 24 inches of snow, the highest in the city, while Washington Heights and Williamsburg saw nearly 19 inches of snow, according<\/a> to the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n Central Park and John F. Kennedy Airport each saw 15 inches of snow.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mamdani said 65 additional pieces of sanitation equipment were sent out to Staten Island to help dig out the borough, and the NYPD tow truck task force went out to free trapped automobiles, including city buses.<\/p>\n Nearly all of the city streets had been plowed<\/a> at least once by Monday morning, Mamdani said, and multiple shifts of 2,600 sanitation workers were boosted by hundreds of emergency snow shovelers Sunday night and into the morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Workers cleared 1,600 crosswalks and 419 fire hydrants. They also dug out 900 unsheltered bus stops \u2013 a response to January\u2019s storm, where snow piles<\/a> made some bus stops treacherous<\/a>. The sanitation department created a database since the last storm to map out where there are unsheltered bus stops and crosswalks that could use clearing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The department also boosted emergency snow shoveler pay to $30 an hour and increased supervision capacity, so 1,800 workers could go out at one time.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to plowing the city streets, we\u2019ve also got geotags for the first time of every unsheltered bus stop and cross walk across New York City, so DSNY knows when it\u2019s getting to those sites, so New Yorkers can get around the city,\u201d Mamdani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n But he warned New Yorkers against going outside if they didn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way to stay safe in this storm frankly is to stay inside,\u201d he said on News 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n The heavy snow weighed down the city\u2019s trees, and the Parks Department\u2019s forestry crews worked 12-hour shifts to clean them up.<\/p>\n As of 12 p.m., they had received 712 reports of damaged or fallen trees, including 343 downed trees, although some of those calls could be duplicates, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Brooklyn had the highest number of tree-related reports, with 333 calls.\u00a0<\/p>\n New York City public school students had their first traditional snow day, without any remote instruction, since 2019, in part because Monday was the first day back after February break.\u00a0<\/p>\n The blizzard conditions also brought gusty winds in some parts of the city. Power to nearly 5,000 customers in Rockaway was knocked out before 5 a.m, according to PSE&G, which provides power to the peninsula. About 3,000 customers scattered around New York City were also without power, according to Con Edison \u2014 representing less than 1% of the total customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of that power was restored hours later.\u00a0<\/p>\n The heavy snow began falling Sunday, and the Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit paused service during the evening \u2013 which left Edward Eodgo, a 50-year-old delivery worker from Newark, stranded in Penn Station at around 11 p.m.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very worried. I don\u2019t know how to do this night,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The city opened warming facilities across the city, including 18 warming buses and more than 20 spaces run by the city\u2019s public hospitals or at schools. Mamdani also said more outreach workers would be dispatched across the city to try and get people to come indoors.<\/p>\n![\"MTA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/022326_subway_snow.jpg\")
MTA workers clear the 7-train platform at 61st-Woodside in Queens, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Katie Honan\/THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/022326_cab_snow.jpg\")
A cab is covered in snow in East Elmhurst, Queens during a blizzard, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Lilly Sabella\/THE CITY<\/p>\n
![\"Dog](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/022326_blizzard-23.jpg\")
Dog owners play in Fort Greene Park during a blizzard, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n