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New Yorkers dodge Juno’s wrath – Metro US

New Yorkers dodge Juno’s wrath

New Yorkers dodge Juno’s wrath
Miles Dixon, Metro

New Yorkers spent Tuesday digging out the few inches of snow that Juno brought to New York City, and commuting to work after mass transit started running again midmorning.

Central Park had slightly less than 10 inches of snow by the early afternoon, much less than the multiple feet the city prepared for over the past few days.

Blowing snow and partly sunny skies are forecasted for Wednesday, with high winds and a wind chill as low as 0 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

In the Bronx, Crisman Matos had plenty of shoveling to do. Matos’ black Toyota was buried above the wheels after he parked it on Van Cortlandt Avenue overnight. The National Weather Service measured 11.8 inches of snow at the nearby Bronx Zoo.

Matos, a livery cab driver, said he needed to get his car back on the road so he could start picking up passengers and making money. Even with the potential to lose out on work, Matos wasn’t critical of the city’s decision to shut down roads and mass transit overnight.

“Lives are more important,” Matos said. “They did a good job. It’s a lot of snow.”

Shortly before 11 a.m., Stefan Marcali shoveled a path from a Grand Concourse sidewalk to his moving van.

Marcali, 30, the owner of Simply Moving, said his company would be working to move people out of their apartments as scheduled.

The roads were clear of traffic and enough snow for Marcali to pick up multiple workers in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx in under an hour, after the travel ban was lifted. Marcali said he had to pick up his moving guys since the subway shut down.

“I’m doing this for 14 years, and the don’t shut down the roads for three or four feet of snow,” Marcali said. “This year, I think they did a good job.”

“I haven’t take the train in about three years, that’s how it affected me. I don’t even recall the fare being $2.75, I thought it was $2.25,” said Sean John, who was sipping tequila after his shift at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, sitting on a snowy bench for the 4 train to take him to the South Bronx.

“I think de Blasio did a good job, the streets look pretty decent, and the reason for the streets looking decent is because nobody was on them,” said John, 22.

In Manhattan, Madison Square Park buzzed at midday with children pulled on sleds, dogs jumping through snowbanks and others enjoying their snow day.

Clarica Habibi, 19, and friends from NYU made snowballs and planned to build a snowman in the afternoon before retiring to the dorms to watch “Frozen” on Netflix.

“Things are so rushed, it’s a nice day to relax. It’s a good break for everyone.”

On 23rd Street, Alan Blank, 31, waited for a downtown 6 train shortly before 1 p.m. Blank said he had been planning to work from home, but decided to make the trip to Battery Park since the trains were up and running. He said he was pleased the subways had been closed.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry, right?” Blank said.

In Bed-Stuy, Rob Smith, 35, an employee of donut shop Dough, shoveled the sidewalk on Lafayette Avenue in his chef’s whites.

“I walked to work this morning since the trains were closed, I live in Bed-Stuy so it didn’t take that long,” Smith said. “It took another guy an hour to walk here this morning at 3 a.m. so he could prep.”