New York City looked like a ghost town early on Tuesday, blanketed by a snowstorm that disrupted life for tens of millions of people along the US East Coast. Although the storm didn’t live up to expectations, New York had an almost eerie feel to it. No airplanes in the sky and no trains running underground made for an unexpected quiet. light snow fell steadily early on Tuesday in midtown Manhattan as a few municipal trucks rumbled down empty streets.
Forecasters originally warned the storm could be historic, bringing up to a metre of snow and punishing hurricane-force winds. But early on Tuesday, they downgraded most of those numbers, saying Boston and the northeastern New England region would fare the worst, but even then not as bad as expected.
More than 7,700 flights in and out of the Northeast were cancelled, and many of them may not take off again until Wednesday. Schools and businesses let out early. Government offices were closed. Shoppers stocking up on food jammed supermarkets and elbowed one another for what was left. Broadway stages went dark. Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service said Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, could get the most snow, about half a meter.