New York’s Nor’easter Threat Grows With Volatile Storm Track

(Bloomberg) — A powerful coastal storm set to slam the Eastern Seaboard is threatening New York City with damaging winds and flooding across the five boroughs through Sunday.

Up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain are expected to fall in the area beginning late Friday, according to the US National Weather Service, with 50 mile-an-hour wind gusts in Manhattan. The nor’easter already is churning up large swells from the Mid-Atlantic to Maine, but the risk to New York is increasing in the latest forecasts, said weather service meteorologist Jay Engle.

As the storm track shifted, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for eight counties encompassing the city and suburbs. 

“We’re expecting dangerous coastal flooding, strong winds and potential power outages through the weekend,” Hochul said in a statement. “Take this storm seriously.”

Meanwhile, city workers were preparing for downed trees and clogged catch basins in anticipation of flooding, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.

The most severe flooding along New York’s coastline is expected Saturday morning, Engle said, when up to 2 feet of water could wash ashore on top of high tide. That tide is already expected to be higher than normal due to the full moon on Saturday, known as a “Harvest Moon.” 

As of 4:20 p.m. New York time, 226 flights had been cancelled across the US, mostly at Boston’s Logan International Airport and at other airfields around Massachusetts, according to FlightAware. 

Ferry travel between downtown Boston and communities to the north and south has been canceled in anticipation of high winds and significant waves. On Thursday, droves of ferry commuters on Nantucket sought to get off the island, leading to calls to police to handle disputes about people cutting in line.

Pop star Ed Sheeran’s two concerts at Gillette Stadium outside of Boston this weekend were canceled. The shows became shadowed in controversy earlier this month after stadium owner Robert Kraft pushed Sheeran to drop opening act Macklemore over the rapper’s pro-Palestine comments at a New Jersey concert.

Other storm-related cancellations included the Global Citizens Festival in Central Park that was expected to draw 50,000 people and the All Things Go NYC at Forest Hills Stadium.

–With assistance from Brooke Sutherland, Greg Ryan and Brian K. Sullivan.

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