January Snowfall Record Set in Five Boroughs: Mayor

The city was blanketed with snow for the seventh time this winter last night, bringing this month’s total accumulation up to 36 inches and breaking a record set 86 years ago, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during a press conference today.

The mayor noted that the latest blizzard dumped as much as 19 inches of snow in parts of the city. The total amount of accumulation across the five boroughs was nearly twice as much as the National Weather Forecast had predicted.

“We have now had the snowiest January in New York City history,” the mayor said. “We have had 36 inches since Jan. 1, breaking a record last set in 1925.”

Alternate side parking and parking meters were suspended both for today and tomorrow.

City schools were cancelled for the day. The city has called off classes for public school students a total nine times during the past 32 years.

“This is not a decision we make lightly,” the mayor said. “We never want our kids to lose a day of school or their parents to lose a day of work.”

He said that schools and after-school programs would likely be open tomorrow.

State education officials are in discussion with the mayor’s office to determine how to reschedule Regents tests that were cancelled due to the storm.

The city’s emergency services, such as police and public hospitals, remained open, but the Metropolitan Transportation Authority cancelled bus routes for the day.

The mayor said a number of ambulances were stuck throughout the course of Wednesday night and this morning.

But the city’s Department of Sanitation had sent out an estimated 1,700 plows to clean streets across the five boroughs this morning.

Bloomberg said a record number of people called 311, the city’s emergency line, following the snowstorm.

“As of 8:30 this morning, 311 had received 145,000 calls since midnight – more than triple the normal number for a 24-hour period,” the mayor said. “And that puts us on track to match our highest total ever.”

More snow could be on the way this weekend but the sun is expected to come out by early next week, according to the National Weather Service.