In New York, a city expecting to go back to work after the Christmas weekend instead woke to almost two feet of snow (60 cms) and gale force winds that shut down airports, roads and railways.

Tallia Sherman stood at her usual bus stop on the Upper East Side and could actually see the bus she was waiting for to go to work on the other side of Manhattan.

The problem? The bus was skewed diagonally across the road, one end half buried in a snow drift, orange emergency lights flashing from the stricken vehicle.

"I've been looking at the bus for 10 minutes and it hasn't moved," Sherman, 22, said. "This is crazy. I'm from Arizona. It doesn't snow where I come from. I'm texting my boss now."

Even the bus stop was swamped in snow. A hopeful signpost with a number to call for commuter updates lay buried.

At least Sherman didn't have to push the bus, as another commuter did to the yellow cab that dropped him off at home, then couldn't leave.

The blizzard meant different things to different people.

Elderly people struggled down sidewalks where local property owners cleared paths through the drifts. But red-cheeked children raced happily down the same paths with frequent detours into the drifts.

Newspaper kiosks and fruit stands that open in the bitterest cold and heaviest summer rains were shut. Some businesses, though, made the extra effort.

"People are snowed in, so they'll be needing food. Some others will be getting cabin fever and will want to come out," explained David Chiong, owner of Cacabel Taqueria, which does eat-in and take-outs of spicey Mexican food.

He'd given workers living in more far-flung neighborhoods the day off.

But he was still planning on sending out his small army of bicycle delivery men. "I won't send them too far out. Maybe in a two-block radius."

Side streets remained thick with snow, turning parked cars into rows of abstract sculptures.

On the broad avenues, a few cars clanked along confidently on snow chains, but most didn't and the heavy, low-slung kings of the highway on a normal day were reduced to crawling sideways across ice patches, or just churning up the snow, wheels spinning.

Slowly, though, municipal ploughs and salt spreaders imposed their will and in some stretches the buses ran at regular speeds.

Doormen in Manhattan's well-equipped apartment buildings were also fighting back.

"We started yesterday, working from 4:00 to 9:00, four guys. But then they stopped because it kept coming. Every hour it just filled up again. We said, 'don't kill yourselves.' Then this morning at 6:00 I cleared out the front," Khalid Majdous, a doorman on the Upper East Side, said.

By midday his team had cleared a path all around the building and a special route through a bank of snow for access to taxis. The only problem this time? Almost no taxis.

earlier related report
Tail end of blizzard sows travel chaos
New York (AFP) Dec 27, 2010 - The tail end of a powerful blizzard across the US north-east snarled plans for millions of holiday travelers Monday, forcing New York airport closures and crippling road and rail traffic.

Starting early Sunday, the blizzard blanketed the region in between one and two feet (30-60 cms) of snow, driven by gale force winds and lightning storms that sent temperatures plummeting and piled snow in icy drifts.

The National Weather Service said blizzard warnings remained in effect from Maine to New York, but the storm was due to move north out of the area by later Monday.

That was of little comfort to the millions already stranded during the busiest season for transport of the year.

Some 2,000 flights were cancelled in the snow, compounding the misery of international passengers already seeing disruptions due to snow in Europe.

The New York area was especially hard hit. John F. Kennedy International Airport and La Guardia Airport, as well as Newark International in New Jersey, were closed Sunday and overnight and were not due to reopen until 4:00 pm (2100 GMT).

Other airports in the region, including Boston and Philadelphia, were open, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The Amtrak rail network said it was resuming limited service between New York and Boston after blizzard conditions halted rail traffic along the heavily used corridor for 13 hours.

"Due to the residual effects of the storm, passengers should still expect delays on travel throughout the day and allow for ample time to arrive at their respective stations," Amtrak said in a statement.

Service between New York and Washington, however, "continues to run normally," the train company said.

In the New York area, the heavily used commuter line between the city and Long Island was paralyzed as were large portions of the city subway station, with ice and snow blocking tracks.

Roads were only marginally better. Manhattan streets were deserted except for occasional pedestrians struggling to keep their footing and a trickle of slow-moving vehicles.

"Our sanitation crews worked through the night but road conditions are bad and there are service interruptions and delays on mass transit. To keep the roads clear for plows and emergency crews, I encourage New Yorkers to avoid driving," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Nearly 60,000 Massachusetts residents were without power late Sunday after the storm plowed across the northeastern state, The Boston Globe reported.

State Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency, warning the storm was "expected to produce widespread heavy snowfall, periods of zero visibility, high winds, power outages, coastal flooding, and beach erosion."

Heavy snow forced the National Football League to postpone an American football game for the second time in three weeks -- this time for the Vikings-Eagles face-off in Philadelphia.

The inflatable roof of the Minnesota Vikings' Metrodome collapsed during the last major storm earlier this month.

Even Americans in the southern United States were treated to a very rare white Christmas: light to moderate snow blanketed communities in Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Atlanta, Georgia enjoyed its first white Christmas in 128 years.

Officials in eastern Canada said they also were bracing for the storm, which was expected to arrive in Nova Scotia sometime Monday.

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