Noted

Two random scenes from today... Above on Eighth Street at Avenue B, Dave on 7th reminds us to remember to roll up the windows to our vehicles ahead of a nor'easter... ... and below, a reader shares this from 12th Street... a challenging day to be moving...

Afternoon view

EVG reader Carol Kendzierski shares this view of the New York City Marble Cemetery on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Mid-morning snow break (Still Snowing Edition)

EVG regular Greg Masters shared these photos from Tompkins Square Park this morning ...

Nor'easter news

The nor'easter that people have been taking/tweeting about is apparently upon us. Here's the latest from the National Weather Service (with a photo above from Seventh and A this morning around 7)...

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST
TUESDAY...

* WHAT...Heavy snow. Snow may change to a light wintry mix
tonight. Additional snow accumulations of 14 to 18 inches and
ice accumulations of a light glaze. Winds gusting as high as 45
mph.

* WHERE...Portions of northeast New Jersey and southeast New
York.

* WHEN...Until 6 AM EST Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...Travel will be very difficult to impossible. The
hazardous conditions will impact the morning and evening
commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Blizzard like conditions possible this
morning into this evening.

ABC7 meteorologist Jeff Smith called this "a rare snowstorm — the likes of which we see every five to 10 years."

The city is restricting non-essential travel...

TRAVEL UPDATE: Starting at 6 AM Monday morning, non-essential travel is restricted in New York City. We’re expecting heavy snowfall and high winds, so stay off the roads if you can. It will keep them clear for emergency vehicles. pic.twitter.com/MxmKb2j6zl

— City of New York (@nycgov) February 1, 2021

... and the CitiBike network is offline...

🚨 Service Alert🚨We will temporarily close the Citi Bike system starting tomorrow morning at 7am. Bikes that are in use can be returned to any station with an available dock. Please plan accordingly and stay tuned for updates.

— Citi Bike (@CitiBikeNYC) February 1, 2021

... and there's no line at Key Food this morning...

Storm prep

There are reader reports of long lines at grocery stores ahead of the winter storm that is expected to drop between 18 and 24 inches over the next 12 hours. 

EVG reader Doug shared the top photo from Third Avenue, where the line went around block for the Trader Joe's at Union Square. 

There were also reports of lines at Key Food on Avenue A ... Gothamist posted this shot...

 

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A post shared by Gothamist (@gothamist)

Report: The first major snowstorm of Feb. 1, 2021, on its way

As you likely heard: It's gonna snow...  this is the latest from the National Weather Service this morning: 

 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY... 

* WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 14 to 18 inches. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph. 

* WHERE...Portions of northeast New Jersey and southeast New York. 

* WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 6 AM EST Tuesday. 

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning and evening commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Blizzard like conditions possible Monday and Monday evening.

WHICH MEANS... we'll likely post dozens of snow photos (and provide other pertinent information) during the next 48 hours.

Dipping into the archives here ... the photos in this post are from the blizzard of Dec. 27, 2010, when the run-up to the storm was so severe, the only thing left at the Blockbuster on East Houston was "Army Wives: Complete Fourth Season." 

... on Avenue A... 

... and Avenue B...

When it snowed for a few minutes this morning

In case you missed the snow flurries this morning around 7:30... here are two scenes from along Avenue A... inlcuding a shot of Key Food's new awning that workers installed yesterday...

Friday's parting shot

The intricate snow sculpture is on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery... Deborah Blau created this in about two hours the other evening ... in an Instagram post, she notes the name: Either "The Goddess of 4th Street" OR "Dreaming of Better Days." 

Photo by Derek Berg

Thursday's parting shots

EVG reader Danny shared these photos from today... East Village-style sledding on the small slope of the lawn in Tompkins Square Park ...

2 scenes from Winter Storm Gail in black and white

And a few more photos from Winter Storm Gail... these are courtesy of EVG reader Stephen Kent Jusick...  

The top photo is looking south on Broadway at 14th Street, 2:24 a.m. Long exposure, low angle, shot from the street. 

And below, the Alamo at Astor Place, 2:36 a.m. ... (click on the images to go big!)...

The snowpeople of 7th Street

Some scenes from Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. The block is still closed to through traffic because of the post-fire work at Middle Collegiate Church... so the street provided extra space to do things, like, build a snowman to resemble a remote worker in 2020...

... and this...

🤔

A post-storm look at East Village curbside dining

Based on an early-morning walk on several side streets and avenues... it appears that the curbside dining structures (streetearies!) passed their first major winter test during the nor'easter...

The City suspended curbside dining as of 2 p.m. yesterday when the Department of Sanitation's snow alert took effect. Per Eater:

In a snow alert situation, restaurants are required to secure their furniture, remove electric heaters from the road, and remove overhead coverings, if possible. Restaurants don’t, however, need to remove any structures or barriers this time around.

It's possible that restaurants will be able to resume roadside dining this evening at the earliest. 

The city recently imposed more guidelines on restaurants, such as requiring that streetside barriers being filled with 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of sand or soil.

And the structures, many of them quite elaborate, looked to have made it through Winter Storm Gale...

... and even some of the less-sturdy-looking structures along St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue seemed to fare OK...

The next question is whether NYC bars-restaurants will be able to survive winter with a ban on indoor dining, reluctance on behalf of patrons to eat outside in cold weather and other ever-changing restrictions that will make staying open extremely difficult, owners and operators have said. 

Restaurant industry officials point to the state's own data showing that restaurants and bars made up 1.4 percent of COVID-19 cases in the last three months, compared to private gatherings, which constituted nearly 74 percent.

11 p.m. in the East Village, and scenes from Winter Storm Gail

As of this posting (5:42 a.m. — good morning!), a snow-sleet combo continues to lash the city as the nor'easter — Winter Storm Gail — slowly moves on.

Forecasts for final snow totals range from 8-12 inches to a Jake Gyllenhaal/"The Day After Tomorrow"-type event ... we'll have more on the particulars in one of the 78 upcoming snow posts this morning.

Meanwhile, EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos from a stroll around the neighborhood last night at 11...

... and in Tompkins Square Park...

Updated: It's still snowing

Gail says hi from First Avenue and Seventh Street...

And we're off...

The nor'easter dubbed Winter Storm Gail is here, as you likely already noticed. Photo from Tompkins Square Park this early evening by Steven.

Snow joke: Why you saw plows out on the streets today

There were some puzzled queries today after residents spotted snow plows around the neighborhood... as these photos by Vinny & O show...

The city's Sanitation Department provided some clarity via a tweet — training!

See a snow plow or salt spreader in the street? Snow training is underway! Snow training will take place every Sunday for the next few weeks: https://t.co/H8RfirnHwL pic.twitter.com/6ev7i5K4mg

— NYC Sanitation (@NYCSanitation) October 11, 2020

Hopefully they'll do some training around the many curbside dining set ups too.