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CNN Live At Daybreak
Winter Wallop: Coping in New York
Aired February 18, 2003 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New Yorkers are used to taking things in stride, but when you have to trudge through huge snow piles, that stride certainly closed down.
CNN's Jamie Colby looks at how New Yorkers are coping after the blizzard of '03.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Driving wind and pounding snow, a winter wonderland for some, a nightmare commute for others.
ELIZABETH GAITHER, AMERICAN BALLET THEATER: I think we'll get there eventually.
COLBY: Monday was supposed to be Elizabeth Gaither's big day, but on her way to the Kennedy Center in Washington to dance "Romeo and Juliet," she got stuck at Manhattan's Penn Station.
GAITHER: Even if we dont get there today, you know, if we have to go tomorrow, we'll go on a train and run into the theater and do the show.
COLBY: Back outside, this firefighter warmed up to the snowfall...
SCOTT HALLOWICH, FIREFIGHTER: Well, my legs don't get cold usually. As long as my chest is warm, I'm pretty good to go.
COLBY: ... while others battled the bitter chill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we were outside the city, it would be beautiful. In the city, it's just more of a bother than something wonderful.
COLBY: The city's biggest snowstorm in seven years? Not a bother for this tourist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often do you get to walk in the middle, you know, of Eighth Avenue in the middle of a snowstorm?
COLBY: But officials warned, stay off the roads.
GOV. JAMES MCGREEVEY, NEW JERSEY: We're asking people for their own safety to stay at home with their families, be safe and secure. MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: Mass transit is the way to go. We suggest you do not move your cars. Nobody should bring cars into the city.
COLBY: Travelers who made it to the city's airports found long delays or cancellations. LaGuardia closed by midday.
The city has 2,700 sanitation workers plowing on 12-hour shifts. Still, some streets won't be cleared for days.
(on camera): The concern now shifts from accumulation to plunging temperatures. Plows will work through Monday night, but if what is unplowed freezes, it could make Tuesday's commute when so many on holiday return to work even more treacherous.
Jamie Colby, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 18, 2003 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New Yorkers are used to taking things in stride, but when you have to trudge through huge snow piles, that stride certainly closed down.
CNN's Jamie Colby looks at how New Yorkers are coping after the blizzard of '03.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Driving wind and pounding snow, a winter wonderland for some, a nightmare commute for others.
ELIZABETH GAITHER, AMERICAN BALLET THEATER: I think we'll get there eventually.
COLBY: Monday was supposed to be Elizabeth Gaither's big day, but on her way to the Kennedy Center in Washington to dance "Romeo and Juliet," she got stuck at Manhattan's Penn Station.
GAITHER: Even if we dont get there today, you know, if we have to go tomorrow, we'll go on a train and run into the theater and do the show.
COLBY: Back outside, this firefighter warmed up to the snowfall...
SCOTT HALLOWICH, FIREFIGHTER: Well, my legs don't get cold usually. As long as my chest is warm, I'm pretty good to go.
COLBY: ... while others battled the bitter chill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we were outside the city, it would be beautiful. In the city, it's just more of a bother than something wonderful.
COLBY: The city's biggest snowstorm in seven years? Not a bother for this tourist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often do you get to walk in the middle, you know, of Eighth Avenue in the middle of a snowstorm?
COLBY: But officials warned, stay off the roads.
GOV. JAMES MCGREEVEY, NEW JERSEY: We're asking people for their own safety to stay at home with their families, be safe and secure. MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: Mass transit is the way to go. We suggest you do not move your cars. Nobody should bring cars into the city.
COLBY: Travelers who made it to the city's airports found long delays or cancellations. LaGuardia closed by midday.
The city has 2,700 sanitation workers plowing on 12-hour shifts. Still, some streets won't be cleared for days.
(on camera): The concern now shifts from accumulation to plunging temperatures. Plows will work through Monday night, but if what is unplowed freezes, it could make Tuesday's commute when so many on holiday return to work even more treacherous.
Jamie Colby, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
