NY mayor orders storm travel ban

NEW YORK:

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered a shutdown Sunday of the city's entire traffic network to all but emergency travel ahead of a massive snowstorm expected to hit the northeast United States.

Starting at 9pm Sunday to noon Monday a "state of emergency closes the streets, highways and bridges of New York City for all traffic, cars, trucks, scooters and E-bikes," Mamdani told reporters.

The ban will not affect essential workers or New Yorkers needing to travel due to emergencies, according to Mamdani. New York is home to over eight million people.

"We are asking New Yorkers to avoid all non essential travel," the mayor said. "New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade."

The fast-developing storm is threatening to pummel the US East Coast with a foot or more of snow beginning Sunday, just weeks after the region recovered from another devastating weather system.