NYC School Closings: The Kids Aren’t Getting A Snow Day

NEW YORK CITY — Yet another nor'easter is predicted to cover the city with up to a foot of snow on Wednesday, but city schools are staying open, the mayor announced.

“After receiving the latest forecast, we will keep @NYCSchools open tomorrow Wednesday, March 7,” Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter. “We will continue to monitor forecasts throughout the night.”

New Yorkers responded by forming a petition to demand the mayor close schools and more than 5,000people had signed it by 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

"Surviving here is hell even with the sun shining," the petition reads. "How do you tell people to stay off the roads and then keep schools open? Do teachers teleport? Do children, for that matter?"

Critics also replied to the Mayor's tweet directly.

"Wow. That's surprising, considering the @NYCEM issued emergency advisories for people traveling tomorrow," wrote Kelly Walker, who describes herself as a teacher in her profile. "But I guess students and teachers don't count? Thanks for the reminder that I'm a glorified babysitter."

City officials made the decision after consulting with the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management, the Weather Bureau, the City Sanitation Department and the City Transit Authority, city records show.

While schools are expected to remain open on Wednesday, updates will become available on a number of city sites as the weather changes:

1. Follow the Department of Education Twitter feed
2. Check out the DOE Facebook page
3. Keep tabs on the DOE Homepage

You can also subscribe to the New York City Patch newsletter to get updates in your inbox on New York City weather alerts, school closures and local stories.

Forecasters expect between nine and 14 inches of snow are likely to accumulate in Central Park after flakes starting falling early Wednesday morning, and the city will be under a winter storm warning from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 4 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

Several parents and students took to Twitter to ask Mayor Bill de Blasio's press secretary Eric Phillips for a snow day, citing the dangers of driving through storms and walking through howling winds.

But ultimately the city decided to ignore pleas from parents and a student named Nora, who asked Phillips for a reprieve.

Photo by Patch editor Danielle Woodward

Reporting contributed by Patch editor Noah Manskar