Deadly New York Winter Storm Kills Five Before Snowfall Begins
New Yorkers took to the hills with their sleds and hid out in open bars with friends. Snowboarding legend Shaun White pulled stunts in Central Park.
In the midst of it all, Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke to the press to praise sanitation and emergency workers - and to invite students, who were disappointed he hadn't called a snow day for Monday, to throw a snowball at him if they saw him around.
And then he struck a somber note.
"For those without shelter, the intense cold can be fatal," he said. "Yesterday alone, before the snow had even begun to come down, at least five New Yorkers passed away and were found outside."
It was the first indication that the storm and the intense freeze that followed it would exact a grim price in the coming days and weeks. The death toll would climb as the city issued update after update, eventually making the storm one of the deadliest weather-related disasters in recent memory.
Now with the worst of the cold behind them, lawmakers and city officials are grappling with questions around whether New York, under a new administration, did enough for its most vulnerable residents, and how to help those on the fringes when extreme weather threatens everyone's safety.
But for a moment that day, New Yorkers continued to play in the still-white snow, until the sleet and the setting sun drew them indoors.
