New York defends storm shutdown

New York authorities on Tuesday vigorously defended a decision to shut down America's biggest city for a winter storm that skirted the Big Apple, dumping the worst snow on Long Island and New England. Travel bans were lifted, public transport resumed and parks reopened in the city of eight million people, easing many of the measures put in place as Winter Storm Juno moved in on Monday.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city got only a fraction of the two feet (60 centimeters) of snow that had been widely predicted in the 48 hours leading up to the storm. But the National Weather Service warned that life-threatening conditions persisted along the coast from Long Island into Connecticut and Massachusetts.