Winter Storm Wallops NYC, Dropping Nearly Foot of Snow
A windy winter storm dumped 11.5 inches on Central Park on Jan. 25, the most since 2021. Seven people died, and children were instructed to attend classes remotely on Monday morning (although high schoolers and middle school already had the day off).
| 26 Jan 2026 | 06:13
Even if lower grades of school kids were still expected to do remote learning, it was a pure snow day for this happy pooch in Carl Surz Park on the upper East side. (
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The sleet meant it was not exactly “good packing” but some intrepid souls in Carl Surz Park on the UES managed some form of a snowman. (
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The morning after the storm on the UES side overlooking the East River. (
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A delivery worker navigates past hefty snowbanks on the Upper West Side. (
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Sledding in Carl Surz Park on the Upper East Side. High School and Middle School kids already had the day off due to a teacher’s conference. And obviously some were ready to hit the hills. (
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Children (and perhaps a few adults) sled at Central Park on Jan. 25. (
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A small dog navigates the snowy streets of NYC. (
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Heather Stein crosses Fifth Ave on Jan. 25 as the storm was turning to sleet and freezing rain. (
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Children sled on a hill in Stuyvesant Town on Jan. 25. (
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Another delivery worker crosses the street as snow falls heavily on Fifth Ave. on the Upper East Side (
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Delivery bikes encased in snow on 8th Ave. and 35th St. in Chelsea on the day after the storm on Jan. 26. (
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Snow blankets Central Park. (
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Cars blanketed in snow on E. 10th St. in the East Village on Jan. 25. (
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The East River on Jan. 25 as seen from the Upper East Side. (
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A bus makes its way over a hill on the Upper East Side. Amazingly, buses and subways with only a few minor exceptions and termporary outages on the 7 and Q line keep running. (
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Workers clear the entrance to the L line at 1st Ave. and E. 14th St. (
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Snow falls benches and trees inside Central Park. (
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A car cautiously makes its way through a snow-blown intersection on the UES on Jan. 25. (
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A massive snowstorm hit New York City on Sunday morning, dumping 11.5 inches on Central Park by the end of the day. City officials say that at least seven people have died, and young schoolchildren were instructed to attend classes remotely on Monday, Jan. 26.
Straus photographers captured dogs playing in the snow, delivery workers attempting to make their way past shoveled snow mounds, the East River blanketed in snow and ice, and children sledding on the Upper East Side’s Carl Schurz Park and at Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village
“The forecasts were largely accurate,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a press conference on the morning of Jan. 26, as the storm slowed. “Nearly a foot of snow accumulated in parts of our city.”
“Yet today, our city is up and running,” he added. “Every street in this city was plowed.”
Nonetheless, the mayor noted that a “hazardous travel advisory” remains in effect. According to a city government release, this means that “road conditions may be dangerous due to snow, ice, and reduced visibility, and New Yorkers are strongly encouraged to avoid non-essential travel.”
Mamdani also noted that a Code Blue alert had been in place since Friday, Jan. 23. This means that the Department of Homeless Services has been increasing outreach, in an attempt to offer a 24/7 shelter bed to anybody who needs one.
As for those who had died, Mamdani said that he is sending his “deepest condolences to the families and the loved ones of those New Yorkers that lost their lives.”
Two men were found either unconscious or dead in the streets of Manhattan on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 24, after the city’s Code Blue alert had kicked in (yet before the snow began falling heavily); the wind chill was particularly brutal.
The NYPD confirmed to Straus News that one man was discovered unconscious at 69th and First Ave. on the Upper East Side and was pronounced dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital. Another, a 67 year-old, was pronounced dead after being discovered near Third Ave. and E. 35th St.
Mamdani was given generally good marks for handling the first major snowstorm of his young administration, mindful that past mayors had faced strong public blowback due to their handline of snowstorms. That goes back to John Lindsay’s failure to clear many Queens side streets for over a week after a blizzard in 1968. Mayor Bloomberg drew heat when he had to jet back from his home in Bermuda when a Christmas Day snowstorm hit in 2010. Bill de Blasio was blasted for not plowing the Upper East Side streets fast enough in a January, 201 storm, forcing him to do a public mea culpa. Eric Adams lucked out as there were no severe snow storms during his four years.
The snow from this storm may last awhile as bitter cold temperatures are expected to persist into next week.