Key Takeaways
- ❄️ The Great Blizzard of 1888 brought New York City to a complete standstill, freezing ferries, trains, and even the East River itself
- 🚶 With no subway and ferries iced over, New Yorkers famously walked across the frozen East River, paying a two-cent toll to a child with a ladder
- 🚇 The storm permanently reshaped the city, exposing infrastructure failures and accelerating the creation of New York’s underground subway system
If it feels like winters are getting colder this year — especially with temperatures dropping below zero and a nonstop Winter Storm Watch in New York — it may bring to mind the Great Blizzard of 1888. While not quite at the same level, that historic storm dumped an astonishing 10 to 58 inches of snow across the Northeast and didn’t just inconvenience the city — it brought it to a complete standstill. Streetcars and ferries froze in place. Elevated trains vanished beneath towering snowdrifts. Telegraph wires snapped. And the East River, usually a churning barrier between Manhattan and Brooklyn, froze solid enough to become something else entirely: a sidewalk.
Today, crossing the East River usually means refreshing a ferry app or bracing for a delayed train. But nearly 140 years ago, there was no subway — the first wouldn’t open until 1904 — and when ferries failed during a historic winter storm, Brooklynites were stranded. Instead of waiting, they looked at the ice and decided it would do. So they walked. The storm began on March 11, 1888, when warm, springlike temperatures abruptly collided with Arctic air pouring down from Canada. Rain turned to snow almost instantly. Winds howled at hurricane strength. By the time New Yorkers woke up the next morning, the city had disappeared beneath whiteout conditions.
Over the next three days, the Nor’easter buried the region under as much as 58 inches of snow. Drifts reached heights of 50 feet. Gusts in Manhattan were recorded at 85 miles per hour. Everything in the city froze, and time seemed to slow in a place that famously never sleeps. The storm earned two nicknames at the time: the “Storm of the Century” and the “Great White Hurricane.” And judging by the photos online — Victorian New Yorkers dwarfed by snowbanks taller than doorways — those names weren’t exaggerations. With ferries unable to break through the ice, Brooklyn was effectively cut off. But instead of waiting, New Yorkers improvised.
According to The New York Times, the ice was roughly six inches thick, topped with packed snow. A boy — armed with a ladder — lowered it from the dock to the frozen river below, then jumped up and down to test the ice. After confirming it was thick enough for walking, he charged a two-cent toll. One by one, commuters paid the fee and climbed down. Yes, a child briefly ran the East River commute. Hundreds crossed before police intervened, worried that shifting tides could crack the ice and leave people stranded mid-river. That fear wasn’t unfounded — several unlucky pedestrians were later rescued after the ice began to break beneath them…