Gov. Cuomo lifts New York City travel ban

“The travel ban in New York City begins at 2:30″.

The ban went into effect Saturday afternoon and included state and local roads in the city, above-ground train service and MTA bus service.

“Once the snowfall is over about three inches per hour, the plows just can’t keep up with it, and that’s when the situation becomes most unsafe”, Cuomo said.

“You can’t affect a banning of travel unless you do the entire area”, he said.

Even a massive snowball fight in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighbourhood, which almost two thousand people said they would attend on Facebook, had to be postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to the storm’s ferocity.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio requested that residents stay indoors when the storm hits. “I don’t care how tough we are as New Yorkers, I don’t care how big the four-wheel drive vehicle, the roads are really unsafe and it’s only going to get worse”. Cuomo says he’s unaware of any arrests.

Further north in NY, the storm is expected to dump up to a foot of snow from early Saturday to midday Sunday, the NWS reported. Port Authority bridges and tunnels into New York City were also closing. He asked Broadway to cancel Saturday shows and asked restaurants to close and send employees home. Thruway travelers can also get real-time updates by following @ThruwayTraffic on Twitter or by visiting http://www.thruway.ny.gov to see an interactive map showing traffic conditions for the Thruway and other New York State roadways.

Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye says most bus service out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal is canceled.

“If there’s any changes that we have to make, we will”, Cuomo said.

Cuomo said he will declare a state of emergency Saturday.

Eleven states have declared states of emergency: Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. Service will depend on road conditions.

Cuomo is a full-service governor.