New York, NY – The city has been walloped by yet another heavy snowfall, but kids are still gonna have to get to class on time.
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Schools Chancellor Cathie Black declared that public schools will remain open early this morning, with the city so far being hit with between 6 to 8 inches of snow across the five boroughs.
School field trips scheduled for today have been canceled, however. A handful of private schools have closed.
Those looking to catch a flight today will be stuck waiting out the storm. Most domestic flights at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports were canceled until early Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for The Port Authority told CNN.
Mayor Bloomberg declared a “weather emergency” well before the snow began to fall in New York City at approximately 9 p.m. ET.
The bad weather offered an opportunity for redemption after city officials bungled the Dec. 26 blizzard that left buses, ambulances and plows stranded.
“We recognize that we did not do the job that New Yorkers rightly expected,” he said. “We intend to make sure that does not happen again.”
In the boroughs outside Manhattan, where streets went unplowed for days last month, there was skepticism as the storm barreled up the Interstate 95 corridor on Tuesday night.
“Once they do a big boo-boo like last time, you can’t trust them anymore,” grumbled Katherine Ischia, 87, a retired sewing machine operator sweeping snow off her Park Slope, Brooklyn, porch.
“The last time, they did absolutely nothing. They just sat down on their you-know-whats.”
With the Christmas weekend storm, city officials failed to declare a snow emergency – even though the forecast called for up to 20 inches.
They didn’t declare one this time, either, but invented the new term “weather emergency” to discourage people from driving and alert people to the crisis. It stops short of a snow emergency, which bans cars without chains or snow tires from major roads.
The city also secured extra plows and equipment, hired temporary workers and beefed up its ambulance fleet.

Rigs have been outfitted with snow traction straps, emergency crews will work longer hours, and Emergency Medical Service supervisors will get towing gear.
These are all moves city officials agree should have been made last time.
“I don’t think you get do-overs in life,” said Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson, Bloomberg’s political guru.
“But I do think this is an opportunity to once again, as we have consistently before Christmas, demonstrate why we have the best snow-fighting force in the country.”
City brass have spent much of the past two weeks explaining what went wrong Dec. 26 – apologizing at a City Council hearing Monday for a host of blunders and unveiling a 15-point action plan to respond to future storms.
A day later, even critics of the administration said this storm response seems different.
“There’s power in redemption,” said City Council Sanitation Committee Chairwoman Letitia James (D, WFP-Brooklyn).
“I came home for lunch today and have already seen salt trucks, plowing trucks. I’ve seen at least five pass my windows.”
City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) predicted New Yorkers will “be able to eat off the streets.”
Bloomberg has been under fire for being out of town on Christmas Day as the city prepared for the last blizzard.
The mayor has refused to confirm his whereabouts and dismissed a published report that his private plane was spotted in Bermuda that day.
“I don’t know where you got that,” Bloomberg said.
“But I can tell you this: I was totally in communications and in charge and accountable all the time, and that’s the way I’ve been for nine years.”
Today, he will be definitely be in town to catch flak if the storm preparation comes up short. He tried to tamp down expectations Tuesday, warning Wednesday morning’s commute could be ugly.
“The storm is predicted to be at its heaviest just a few hours before rush hour,” he said. “There’s no way our city plows can get to all 6,000 streets in one or two hours.
“In fact, by the end of the day, depending on how much traffic and whether snow really stops when it’s supposed to, you can assume that the commute at the end of the day will be difficult as well.”
Are the roads and side streets all clean that he is opening schools?
Between 10PM and ! AM a plow past my corner every 10 minutes. I live on a dead end block and during the night a plow came 2 – 3 times. This is the first time I ever saw a plow on my block during the night. Also I never saw so many plows plowing the neighborhood.
I’m so happy the kids were able to go to school.
Someone or something has lit a fire under the backsides of the DSNY, they have been out plowing at a rate that I have never seen before. I had loads of fun clearing the sidewalk and steps of my house. The best thing that I have bought in a while was a small but effective electric powered snow blower. I did clear the snow off a friends car and fell in the snow…cursed the snow while covered in it but finished the job. NYC in the winter is a barrel of fun.