The Latest: Northeast snowstorm forces millions to stay home, disrupts flights and closes schools

Neighbors, government workers and a powerful railroad snow-clearing machine nicknamed “Darth Vader” have been digging out from a brutal storm that forecasters are calling the strongest in a decade. It dumped more than two feet of snow across much of the northeastern United States, and a record three feet in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Thousands of flights were cancelled and hundreds of thousands of people lost power. As roads begin to reopen and mass transportation comes back online, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani insisted on schools reopening Tuesday. Meanwhile forecasters warn that another big winter storm could be on its way.

NYPD officers were pelted with snowballs in Washington Square Park

A massive snowball fight erupted Monday in New York City’s Washington Square Park as the blizzard wound down, but it wasn’t all fun and games.

A viral video showed two very outnumbered police officers being pelted by snowballs — and shoving some of the people throwing them — in frustration as they tried to get away.

City police commissioner Jessica Tisch posted that the NYPD is aware of the video, calling the behavior “disgraceful” and “criminal.”

New York City schools are scheduled to be back in person

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that schools would be back in person on Tuesday, drawing questions about how feasible that is with snow still piled along sidewalks.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said schools should remain closed, while Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, described the situation as “a big mess.”

“There’s going to be low attendance of students, you’re going to have low attendance of staff because people don’t know if they can travel, if they can get to schools,” he said.

Mamdani’s schools chief, Chancellor Kamar Samuels, said in a post on X, “We are confident in our decision to reopen.”