New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on local police to be “respectful” following Monday’s snowstorm after a viral video showed some officers being hit by snowballs in Washington Square Park.
In the video, a group of people booed and jeered at two police officers, with some throwing snowballs in their faces. At one point, police pushed at least two people to the ground over snowballs.
“Police officers, like all city workers, fought through a historic snowstorm to keep New Yorkers safe and cars moving. Please respect them,” Mamdani said in a post on X.
Mamdani was apparently alluding to the fact that he had jokingly told students they could throw snowballs at him as he ordered them to return to class on Tuesday. Mamdani added: “If anyone caught the snowball, it was me.”
There were no immediate arrests in connection with the case. But New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch issued a statement on social media saying detectives were investigating.
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She also said the behavior depicted in the video was “disgraceful and criminal”.
The New York City Police Benevolent Association (PBA), which represents local police, also condemned the snowball throwers, calling their actions “unacceptable and outrageous.” The union also called for those responsible to be arrested and charged with assaulting police officers.
“Multiple uniformed officers were struck in the head by snowballs at close range, causing injuries to the head, neck and face,” police said in a statement Tuesday. Paramedics transported the officers to Northwell Greenwich Village Hospital for treatment, the police statement said.
As so often happens after most snowstorms, New York City residents gathered for snowball fights in parks as the blizzard conditions eased Monday. Police officials said officers received a 911 call about a disturbance in Washington Square Park just after 4 p.m. Monday.
Mamdani and Tish’s comments about police officers being thrown at them came as cities across the Northeast were digging out from the snow brought by Monday’s blizzard. The storm disrupted transportation in the region and left hundreds of thousands without power.
Meteorologists said the storm was the strongest in a decade, bringing more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow to parts of the region. More than 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow fell in Rhode Island, exceeding the Northeast’s historic 1978 snowstorm total.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the storm will leave the East Coast on Tuesday and head toward Canada’s maritime provinces.
As of 10 a.m. ET Tuesday, more than 250,000 power outages remained in Massachusetts. Gov. Maura Healey lifted the blizzard-related state of emergency in Berks, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, but it remains in effect for all other counties in the state.
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She also signed a directive Tuesday allowing non-emergency state employees to work from home and encouraged employers to have their workers do the same in an effort to keep roads clear for cleanup crews and power restoration crews.
“While the worst of the storm has passed and much of the state is shifting to plowing, conditions remain severe and dangerous in southeastern Massachusetts,” Healey said in a release.
The Boston Globe took the unprecedented step of announcing on Monday that it would not be releasing a print edition of the newspaper on Tuesday. Heavy snow “prevented the paper’s printing staff from safely reaching Taunton, where the Globe’s printing plant is now located,” the publication wrote.
Travel bans from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware were lifted on Tuesday.
In New York City, students returned to classrooms on Tuesday after a rare snow day on Monday. At a news conference before returning to school on Tuesday, Mamdani preemptively acknowledged students’ frustration, telling them: “You can still throw snowballs at me when you see me.”
However, it’s not just students who are disappointed. Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew said the union would ensure teachers who are unable to commute to school do not face any disciplinary action. “No one should risk their safety by going to work,” he posted on social media.
As parents and caregivers trudged through snowdrifts and re-frozen ice to get their children to school, some expressed frustration with the mayor’s decision.
“We’re walking on thin ice,” Danielle Obloj, a parent of a Brooklyn fifth-grader, told The Associated Press. “One more day would have been nice.
“They shouldn’t be letting these kids back into school.”
Across the Northeast, traffic is slowly coming back to life. The Long Island Rail Road had limited operating hours Tuesday, in part due to the deployment of a 53-foot, 80-ton spreader trencher for heavy-duty snow removal. This powerful machine – nicknamed Darth Vader – is capable of clearing snow up to 15 feet deep.