By ROGER PETTERSON,
Associated Press Writer
 A
record snowstorm, the Northeast's first major nor'easter in five
years, dumped more than two feet of snow in central New Jersey,
canceling hundreds of flights and slowing motorists to a crawl.
Philadelphia
declared a snow emergency, and New York sent National Guard troops
to the southeast corner of the state. All of the New York City
area's major airports were closed.
"It's
too dangerous, people's lives are at stake," bus driver James
McCain said after a harrowing trip into New York City from Montclair,
N.J. He got stuck behind another skidding bus on the ramp into
the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan and his 11 passengers
got out and hoofed it.
Others chose
to see the brighter side.
"You
don't hear a sound in the world," said Jeffrey Greene, 56,
of Merion, Pa., as he walked a mile to his synagogue. "There's
nothing quite like a walk in the morning with a new snow. The
world seems so pure, so beautiful."
In many ways,
it was a day best enjoyed by children. Seventy-five youngsters
flocked to a small hill in Linwood, N.J., to fly down on sleds
and toboggans.
"Even
though it's not that big of a hill, it's still pretty slippery-slidey,"
said 14-year-old Lisa Grossman.
As much as
25 inches of snow had fallen by mid-afternoon at Randolph in central
New Jersey's Morris County, and more than a half-foot accumulated
in parts of eastern Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
New York City's
Central Park had 12 inches by early afternoon, a record for the
date, before the snowfall eased and started turning to slush.
North of the city, suburban White Plains reported 14 inches. Newark,
N.J., also collected a record with 13.7 inches and Bridgeport,
Conn., had a record 9 inches.
The region's
last big storm was on Jan. 7, 1996, when 19 inches of snow fell
on New York City. Last winter, the city got a mere 13 inches for
the whole season.
The central
East Coast escaped the expected brunt of Saturday's storm because
it developed farther north and east than forecast. The morning
sky was clear in Washington and Harrisburg, Pa., while snow extended
from southern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania to the southern
tip of Maine.
Kara Grossman
took a train from Watertown, Mass., to Newark. "It was kind
of scary looking out the windows," she said. "You couldn't
see anything. It was all white. We thought we were in a cloud."
New York Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani discounted any speculation that the weather might
cancel the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square. "Although
it's cold, it's not unbearable," he told reporters.
Philadelphia
Mayor John Street declared a snow emergency, meaning only emergency
vehicles were allowed downtown.
New York Gov.
George Pataki activated 180 National Guard troops with 26 vehicles
to help in southeastern New York.
"You
can't see any of the runways, it's completely white," would-be
traveler Kristin Foschi said from a terminal at New York's LaGuardia
airport. "By the time a plow completes a circle, it's covered
again. It's really quite entertaining."
Newlyweds
Tim and Tracy Scanlon of Morris Plains, N.J., were stuck at Newark
International Airport because the snow grounded their flight to
the Cayman Islands for their 10-day honeymoon.
"All
the airport hotels are sold out. And I can't even get a limo here
to pick me up," Tim Scanlon said.
Philadelphia's
airports stayed open but airlines there reported delays and cancellations.
Amtrak canceled Metroliner service between New York and Washington
although most other trains kept running. New Jersey Transit suspended
bus service in several counties and bus service in and out of
the Port Authority in Manhattan was suspended.
"This
is a grand adventure," Dale Livingston of Montclair, N.J.,
said as his bus skidded sideways up a hill in Bloomfield, N.J.
Residents
had plenty of warning that the storm would be formed by the combination
of one weather system that had plastered the upper Midwest with
snow and another that spread ice across the south-central states.
Highway and
street crews were ready with hundreds of trucks and plows and
people jammed stores as they stocked up on supplies.
"We've
been buried here. It's unbelievable," said Don Ackerman,
sales manager at Don's Power Equipment Co. in Westbrook, Maine.
He expected to sell up to 35 snow blowers ranging from $399 to
$2,500 apiece.
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