New York City

Wednesday Offers Travel Relief

Better conditions for stranded airport passengers.

Happy friggin' holidays: Travelers on three different airplanes that landed at JFK on Monday were forced to sit on the tarmac for more than seven hours as they waited for a gate to become available. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 passengers remained stranded at JFK on Tuesday after strong winds complicated snow removal. Travel conditions were expected to improve on Wednesday, although travel plans before the New Year's holiday are so busy that there are few extra seats to accommodate passengers whose flights were canceled. Still, the worst blizzard horror stories don't take place in an airport. Check out the 911 response times in New York City: During the blizzard, over 200 ambulances became stuck in the snow, and people waited hours for emergency responses. The New York Times has some of the worst stories: a stroke victim who waited six hours and suffered advanced brain damage; and a mother in labor who began calling 911 at 8:30 a.m. and didn't get an ambulance until 6 p.m., when the baby couldn't be saved.