Travel ban lifted; Mass transit to operate by 9 a.m today on a Sunday 60% Schedule; Normal service to resume by Wed a.m.
All bridges and tunnels reopened.
Heavy flight cancellations still being reported.
While noting at the outset of a press conference that “it is fair to say the storm has been less destructive than what has been predicted,” Governor Cuomo asserted that the precautions taken for 13 Counties were the right call and ultimately positive. “There was less snow than anticipated…. But because roads were empty we could actually plow the roads; we did a good job clearing the roads because they were empty. Train lines got back on track more quickly…”
‘At the end of the day, it may have brought us up to snuff sooner than later.” He noted that Suffolk County was the hardest hit (much harder than Nassau) with still “blizzard like conditions” and that state equipment is being redeployed to Suffolk, though travel ban lifted there too.
Cuomo noted that on the theory of live and learn, weather forecasters do the best they can.
“If there was a lean one way or the other, lean toward safety. I’ve seen the consequences the other way… we’ve had people die in storms. Much rather be in a situation where we say, we got lucky, then say, we didn’t get lucky and someone died.
Cuomo thanked NJ Gov. Christie and CT Gov. Malloy for coordination efforts. “We can’t open the traffic ban in one state unless you coordinate with the other,” he said.
Cuomo also announced the state would invest in a state in the art forecasting system though “weather prediction remains an imperfect science.”
He pointed to Buffalo’s recent storm and a decision not to close… “we had people stranded on roads for 15-20 hours.”
While the roads are open, Cumo noted, “I also don’t want to give people a false sense of security…. that while they may be passable, they could still dangerous that even with salting, etc., a layer of ice can exist under the snow. Also, unnecessary cars on the road cause significant traffic and clean up delays if they are out in any volume. — Grace Bennett
