Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
As a kid growing up in New York City, it seemed to me that for schools to close, Armageddon had to be near. It could have been that all the big storms hit on the weekend and by Monday the streets were cleared, or it could be that New Yorkers were heartier back then. I am not sure which.
But I am sure that closing schools 19 hours before the start of the next school day and stopping public transportation all night and not announcing it has resumed until after 8 a.m. are ridiculous. Having a day to play in the snow with your children is great—if you have that luxury and are not paid by the hour. For those who are paid by the hour, have limited days off and are not paid for the time they do not work, a snow day for just a few inches of snow is the difference between having food all month and paying rent or not.
Wouldn’t it make sense to wait until, say, 4 a.m. to see how the snow is really falling to decide on school closures for the day? And wouldn’t it make sense to announce the resumption of subway service before 8 a.m., which is just too late to rearrange your whole day, especially if child care is involved?
New Yorkers seem to be treated as fragile creatures nowadays. We can brave the snow, even the never-arrived two feet or more. We’ve done it before. Subways were created to run underground so that the snow would not affect them. So why close the whole system down? Next time, I hope the city and the state think twice, and get a better weather system—and a better response.