NEW YORK (WABC) — New York City Public Schools reopened for in-person learning today in the aftermath of a historic blizzard that battered the region.
“You can still pelt me with snowballs when you see me,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said as he announced the reopening.
“Students may be excused for up to two hours for weather and transportation-related delays on Tuesday morning,” Mamdani said.
Many are critical of the decision to reopen schools so soon after the massive winter storm.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani provides an update on the reopening of public schools, road conditions and snow shoveler pay.
More than 169,000 New Yorkers signed an online petition asking Mamdani to switch to remote learning on Tuesday, citing safety concerns, hazardous roads and transit.
While crews worked overnight to clear snows from school grounds, and DSNY has been plowing city streets, getting to school safely remains the main issue.
“There’s no place to walk. Sidewalks, street, people are walking their dogs in the middle of the street, so how are the kids going to get to school if they have to walk?” parent Michelle Thomas asked.
“Given the fact that I’m going to have to take public transportation … and given how the roads have been looking these past 12-24 hours, it’s going to be a good ride,” said Luke Thomas, a junior at Tottenville High School.
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The teacher’s union also pushed back, maintaining reopening schools so quickly could pose a real challenge for some teachers saying, “no one should jeopardize their safety to report to work.”
“It’s very bad out here. It’s slippery. It’s a mess,” said parent James Lecce, Sr. “I think they deserve an extra day home. At least one more day.”
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Meanwhile, alternate side parking is suspended through the weekend.
New Yorkers can look up the last time their street was plowed at nyc.gov/plownyc.
On Sunday and Monday, New York was under a blizzard warning for the first time in nearly a decade, and Mayor Mamdani said the storm dropped 16 to 19 inches of snow on most parts of the city, with with parts of Eastern Staten Island reporting over 24 inches of snow.
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