New York, other states under state of emergency as snow falls amid blizzard warning

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts governors issued state of emergency orders and a halt to non-essential travel as a major storm was expected to bring up to 24 inches of snow and strong winds to the region.

* Around 15,247 flights were delayed by early afternoon onSunday, and 3,509 were cancelled. The largest number ofcancellations were at JFK, La Guardia and Newark airports. * New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered the closure ofcity streets to non-essential vehicular traffic, includingbicycles and scooters, from 9 p.m. Sunday to 12 p.m. Monday andclosure of all school buildings. * Similar restrictions were adopted by Connecticut, asGovernor Ned Lamont banned commercial vehicles on highways inthe state from 5 p.m. on Sunday. * Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has declared a stateof emergency and activated up to 200 National Guard members tohelp. The state also restricted non-essential travel from Sundayevening. * New York Governor Kathy Hochul activated 100 NationalGuard members to deploy in Long Island, New York City and theLower Hudson Valley.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer, editing by Michelle Nichols and Chizu Nomiyama)