MTA Shuts NYC Transit Ahead of Irene, Effective Noon Saturday

If you’ve got anywhere to go in Gotham, you’d better plan on getting there before noon on Saturday.

Ahead of the potentially “historic” Hurricane Irene landfall in the Big Apple, low-lying zones including the Financial District are being evacuated, and the city has taken the unusual step of planning suspension of subway service starting at noon tomorrow. The MTA notified news agencies via an emailed statement that subways, buses, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Access-A-Ride will all begin to power down Saturday due to expectations of winds high enough to create potentially deadly situations.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency in New York to hasten preparation for the rapidly approaching hurricane, and coastal areas including Fire Island have been placed under mandatory evacuation orders in preparation for Irene’s fury. In a statement, Governor Cuomo said:

“In this emergency I am activating all levels of state government to prepare for any situation that may be caused by Hurricane Irene. We are communicating with our federal and local partners to track the storm and to plan a coordinated response, and we will deploy resources as needed to the areas expected to be hit the hardest. I urge New Yorkers to personally prepare for hurricane conditions and to cooperate with emergency officials if needed. By working together, we will all be able to face this storm in a calm and organized manner.”

At winds of 39 miles per hour, MTA Transit operations enter the danger zone, but if winds go up to 60 miles per hour, the city may see bridge shutdowns as well for the Tappan Zee and the George Washington. As of now, several local branch websites for the Offices of Emergency Management are down, crippled by locals seeking information about orders and procedures in their region.