As Snowstorms Go, This Was a Breeze

It is tempting to say something like it’s all over but the shoveling. 

 

Because in some places, that is true. The snowstorm that rolled across the city early Friday packed enough oomph for the city’s Sanitation Department to deploy 1,700 snowplows and 365 salt spreaders. At 10 a.m., the full force was still at work, said Keith Mellis, a department spokesman.

The storm added 4.2 inches to the post-Christmas leftovers in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service. The Bronx was hit harder, with about 5 inches, the Weather Service said. La Guardia Airport reported 3.6 inches and John F. Kennedy International Airport recorded 3.9.

Some places in Nassau County on Long Island measured as little as 2 inches. At the Weather Service’s own office in Brookhaven, in Suffolk County, the meteorologists put the total at 3.4 inches.

“Mother Nature was definitely on our side this time,” Mr. Mellis said. “The sun’s out, which is a good thing, and the streets are wet.”

Some remained slushy. But this storm did not stop bicyclists from cruising Manhattan streets. Nor did it create delays for subways. New York City Transit said buses were slowed because the streets were slick, and some express-bus passengers complained of long waits at cold bus stops.

“For a snow event, it was fairly uneventful,” said Charles Seaton, a transit spokesman. “We were asking customers to use mass transit, but we were also asking them to allow more time.”

The city suspended alternate-side parking. The sanitation commissioner, John J. Doherty, reminded building owners to shovel their sidewalks. He also reminded them not to dump the snow they shovel into the street.

The Sanitation Department’s Web site said the agency hoped to resume trash and recycling pickups later in the day, although it cautioned that there would be delays.

In New Jersey, driving was messy. Some communities along the Jersey Shore reported mostly rain, and Somerset Airport in Bedminster said light early-morning snow was accompanied by mist and fog. But Morristown Municipal Airport measured 6 inches of snow, and the morning-rush speed limit on the New Jersey Turnpike was only 35 miles an hour.