New York state and local officials are issuing travel advisories and implementing other restrictions amid a winter storm, expected to start Monday evening and last until Wednesday.
Broome County is declaring a state of emergency effective at 7 p.m. Monday night. A travel advisory will be issued saying no unnecessary travel after 8 p.m., except for work-related and emergency travel. County facilities will close Tuesday, but the airport and public transportation will operate as scheduled.
Alternate side parking rules are in effect in Ithaca and Binghamton. Garbage collection in Binghamton will be suspended Tuesday.
The city of Oneonta will close its offices Tuesday and public transport will be canceled.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is also declaring a state of emergency beginning at 8 p.m. Monday night. Some tractor trailers will be banned on the entirety of Interstate 88 and other state highways in the eastern portion of the state.
Nearly the entire state is under a winter storm warning or watch through Wednesday morning.
Eight to 12 inches of snow is expected in Broome and Tioga counties. Nine to 18 inches of snow could hit parts of Tompkins, Cortland, Chenango, Otsego and Delaware counties.
Hochul said officials are expecting the heavy, dense snow to cause a significant loss of power.
“It's going to take down the wires, there's no way around it, when you have snow that's 50 percent heavier than normal," Hochul said. "This is not the light, fluffy, pretty Christmas snow, this is going to come down like a brick. It is that weight that causes the problems. One-and-a-half feet of snow is going to have the effect of three feet of snow.”
The governor said the National Guard and thousands of utility workers are ready to respond, including some who came from as far away as Canada.
