Snowstorm brings Long Island MacArthur Airport, LIRR, buses to a standstill

The region’s airports and mass transit system came to a near standstill on Saturday because of the snowstorm, but some services are expected to resume by Sunday.

Hundreds of flights were canceled on Saturday, and the Long Island Rail Road shut down service for the weekend.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday evening on 1010 WINS that the railroad would reopen on Monday, but just after 7:30 p.m. the LIRR tweeted that regularly scheduled service would resume at 5 a.m. Sunday. The railroad said bus service would be provided between Ronkonkoma and Greenport and between Speonk and Montauk because of greater snowfall and drifts in those areas.

LIRR president Phillip Eng said in an interview with Newsday that deicing equipment was deployed for tracks, and roughly 1,700 LIRR workers were clearing snow and switches.

"Even though we’re not carrying passengers, we’ll see a lot of equipment trains running throughout the system, and those are important because they will continually clear snow. The other trains out there, they’re applying deicer to the third rail," Eng said.

Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma shut down on Saturday, but flights are expected to resume Sunday, Islip Town spokeswoman Caroline Smith said.

At Kennedy Airport, more than 76% of flights, or 894, were canceled, and more than 90%, or 556, at LaGuardia Airport on Saturday, according to Port Authority spokesman Tom Topousis. The airports had a combined 525 cancellations for Sunday, as of late Saturday evening.

NICE bus, or Nassau Inter-County Express, and Suffolk County Transit canceled service early Saturday. But by 7:30 p.m. Saturday, NICE had resumed hourly service on most of its routes, except for the n21 and n71 lines. Suffolk said buses also will be operating on a normal Sunday schedule.

Fire Island ferries were canceled through Monday, and Shelter Island ferries are running on a limited basis, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said.

Suffolk reported 96 vehicle accidents since the storm started on Friday night. Nassau reported 28 accidents.

Earlier Saturday, Hochul, in a news conference in Manhattan, reminded New Yorkers "to avoid travel at all costs."

The state reduced speed limits to 45 mph on the Long Island Expressway and parkways to keep distance around snowplows, said Jackie Bray, the commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. All trucks are restricted to the right lane on the LIE.

Lower speed limits also were enacted on bridges, and the state has banned all empty tractor trailers and tandem trailers, Bray said.

Crews were busy clearing roadways across the area but had a hard time keeping up with the accumulating snow. The state Department of Transportation dispatched 94 workers to Long Island — including 70 plow operators — to assist with snow and ice removal.