Zohran Mamdani declares NYC emergency, bans all travel during blizzard threatening city

Mamdani held a press conference to announce he was declaring a state of emergency ahead of the winter storm, saying all city streets, highways and bridges will be closed to non-emergency traffic starting at 9 p.m. Sunday and remaining in effect until noon Monday.

The blanket restriction applies to all vehicles, including cars, trucks, scooters and e-bikes, with narrow exemptions granted only for essential emergency movements and critical service workers.

New York City, Boston and Philadelphia are all projected to receive between 18 and 24 inches of snow.

The nation's capital is still expected to see 5-8 inches, along with nearby Baltimore, whose projections have come down overnight.

Blizzard warnings currently are in place for 29 million Americans.

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) announced Saturday it is recruiting temporary, per diem shovelers to remove snow and ice from public areas, including bus stops, crosswalks, fire hydrants and step streets.

Shovelers must be at least 18 years old, able to perform heavy physical labor and eligible to work in the U.S., according to the department.

Fox News' Mike Rawlins and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.