Well, it ties up the city if the Mayor forgets to send out the snow trucks and sand the roads - as he did last year. Bloomberg also messed up one time. I got caught in that one. Most people walk to work (storekeepers usually sweep) or cross country ski to work. Many stay home for a day.
The 1978 N’Easter hit upstate and N.E. The hardest but Manhattan got clobbered. About 18-20” in 24hrs. I used my X-country skis to go to work. W72nd off CPW to Mad. Ave & 58th. Sweet skiing for 2 days. Plowed drifts on W72nd were over 8 feet high. Cars were stranded under them for more than a week, solid ice..wonderful quiet.