Zohran Mamdani says New York schools won't have traditional snow day on 26 January amid winter storm warning

New York City is bracing for over a foot of snow this weekend, posing an early challenge for newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as a major storm system threatens to disrupt power, flights, and public transit across the region. However, he has ruled out traditional snow day for kids in public schools there.

Public school students may only reportedly be able to attend remote classes early next week as the city prepares for a massive storm that the mayor has said is likely to bring “3–16 inches of snow".

“I know to the disappointment of any student that’s watching this right now, Monday is either going to be a remote learning day or it’s going to be an in-person school day. It’s not going to be a traditional snow day. That is a determination we’ve made," Mamdani stated on NY1 on Friday

The city will announce by Sunday whether students are expected to attend classes in person or remotely. The mayor explained that the timing allows authorities to better assess the expected snowfall, which could vary widely, before making a final decision for parents, students, and teachers.

Mamdani acknowledged that his decision will likely be especially disappointing to a student who had gone to great lengths to persuade him otherwise.

“There’s a student that somehow found my wife’s email. They apparently made some great points. She thought it was a very, very good argument," he added.

Forecasters say the rapidly approaching winter storm could dump as much as 18 inches of snow on the city by Monday, bringing frigid temperatures and creating a travel nightmare throughout the tri-state area.

“If it’s on the lower end, we have full confidence that we can clean our streets such that students can get into school. But we want to give our sanitation department these next few days to see what are we actually looking at," Mamdani further said.

Snowfall is forecast to begin early Sunday and persist through Monday.

Meanwhile, according to the mayor, the city’s sanitation trucks were already out early Friday, clearing highways and major streets in preparation for the storm. About 2,000 sanitation workers were also scheduled to work 12-hour shifts starting Saturday to ensure snow removal continued around the clock.

New York’s Central Park could see up to 16 inches (41 centimeters) of snow beginning Sunday morning, marking the heaviest snowfall of the season. The storm, which is expected to bring ice to the Southern states, is moving into the Northeast, according to Brian Hurley, a senior forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center, as per Bloomberg.

Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston are also forecast to receive snow. If the predictions hold, this would be Manhattan’s largest snowstorm since 2021, based on snowfall measurements at Central Park.