When the power was out after Hurricane Sandy, there is no backup generator big enough to power the subway system, including lights and all that. Also, there was a big flood of sea water into the subway, onto the tracks and wires. Salt water, which is what sea water is, will eventually corrode the wires. Probably they closed it for a bunch of reasons: safety of workers, safety of riders, not wanting to deal with potential power outages, wanting the workers to be able, as much as possible, to be home with their own families during the storm, not wanting people to be all over NYC partying which is what they do when there’s no work the next day. This way it sent a message that this was serious, stay the f home, don’t put others including emergency workers at risk because you were foolhardy and restless. It is also nice to have a mayor who cares about the safety of the employees by not wanting to have them be out working.
I have close relatives who live in NYC, one who works in Hoboken and I am not sure if she went to work today, because I think she takes the ferry and I’m sure it was not running. The others live in Murray Hill section, who are wealthy enough that they are never on public transportation except maybe occasionally Metro North (which is the regular commuter train, not a subway).
Everyone that I know agrees that the storm was a dud. It is really cold out in my neck of the woods. Very cold and windy. The snow is light and powdery, blowing all over the place. Boston and Long Island got hit hard. I got about 8 inches. It was about 5 or 6 this morning and then it started back up from around 8 to around 11 this morning.
@Dutchess_III: I don’t believe @LuckyGuy lives near the storm area. This was one snow that missed him.