Metro

De Blasio opens schools despite state of emergency

This call gets an “F.”

Parents and kids lashed out Wednesday at Mayor de Blasio and schools chief Carmen Farina for keeping public schools open despite Gov. Cuomo’s declaration of a state of emergency because of Tuesday’s bone-chilling storm.

“I don’t know how the Chancellor and the Mayor can live with themselves right now. This is disgusting. YOU ARE PUTTING PEOPLE’S LIVES AT RISK,” griped Maureen Rahill-Comin on the Department of Education’s Facebook page.

“My child is staying home today but there are people who have lost the option to put their own safety first. Please bombard the Mayor’s office and the chancellors office with messages expressing your outrage,” she wrote.

Children arrive to school in Brooklyn bundled up against the cold on Wednesday.AP

“So Mayor DeBlasio and Grandma Farina opens the schools while meanwhile he tells everyone to stay off the roads! Morons! My kids are home!” cracked Donna M. Jacobs-Scutaro.

“You are crazy if you think I’m going to school today! “ added student Afsana Akter.

“You will not see my kids in school today after being stuck freezing and cold yesterday for 2 hours, waiting for the Bx15. Oh yeah I forgot, when it comes to snow storms and everything else the Bronx is non existent…SHAME ON THE MAYOR…SHAME ON THE CHANCELLOR…JUST SHAME,” fumed Elizabeth Morrison.

Most school districts in the tri-state area were closed or had delayed openings – including the city’s Catholic schools.

But Farina and de Blasio ignored Cuomo’s declaration and chose to keep city public schools open – despite the lackluster plowing effort that left many streets covered in snow and ice overnight.

“Really Farina how dense can you be? Between a foot of snow and negative wind chill you still decide to keep schools open. Do you not care about the safety of students? You made a bad call!” Shereka Golden wrote on the FB page.

A mother take her two kids to school in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning despite the dangerous conditions.AP

Others took to Twitter to rant.

“SERIOUSLY? ITS 9 DEGREES OUT AND ALL THE OTHER NEW YORK SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!” wrote Olivia Grace ♛.

Gil Barrientos, 28, Inwood kept her daughter and nieces home from PS and MS 178 today.

“It is ridiculous to walk to school with the kids under these conditions. It is not safe to be out there today,” she told The Post.

“Yesterday was horrible and I had to walk to get them in the storm. It is a shame that my kids have to miss a day in school but the city should know better than to have school on a day this cold.”

Many school buses were also reported late Wednesday morning – a problem farina seemed to predict in her announcement Tuesday that schools would be open.

A man holds his child’s hand as he leads her through snow covered streets to school in Brooklyn.Reuters

“Travel conditions may be difficult, and families should exercise their own judgment when taking their children to school,” the rookie chancellor said in a statement.

And City Council minority leader Vincent Ignizio (R-Staten Island) took to Twitter to call for oversight hearings over the snow removal effort.

“SI roads still bad – Its ok to say “we can do better” see what went right and wrong- evaluate DSNY response – oversight hearing is warranted,” he wrote, taking a shot at one of de Blasio’s favorite campaign slogans.

But the mayor defended his decision during a news conference late Wenesday morning.

“Closing schools is a very big deal with a lot of ramifications,” he said, adding that he made the call after consulting with the National Weather Service and top schools and sanitation officials.

He decided, he said, that buses could roll and with mass transit up and running students and staffers could get to school safely.

Opening schools, he said, was “the right thing to do.”

De Blasio also scoffed at reports that some neighborhoods were treated differently – especially the Upper East Side, where streets and avenues remained buried in snow late in the day.

“They were mistaken,” he said of critics who said the wealthy neighborhood was punished for not supporting him in the election. “No one was treated differently.”

Meanwhile, the storm has blown northeast over Long Island and out to sea – but the frigid arctic air from the Polar Vortex isn’t going anywhere soon.

Temperatures bottomed out at 9 degrees in New York City overnight after nearly a foot of snow fell in Central Park, and Wednesday’s highs will only be about 15 degrees in the city and colder in the suburbs, with wind chills in the single digits or lower.

“Just some light snow lingered in eastern Long Island early on Wednesday; otherwise, the snowstorm had ended, but a blast of cold air will stay through the end of the week,” meteorologist Courtney Spamer said on AccuWeather.com.

“Frigid weather will continue through the balance of the week with highs barely reaching 20 degrees.”

The Wildlife Conservation Society said the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and the New York Aquarium will open at 11 a.m. Wednesday, an hour later than usual, because of the snow and slippery roads.

LIRR trains were operating on a weekend schedule and were experiencing delays due to drifting snow and higher accumulations than in the city.

Metro-North was on a regular weekday scheduled but many trains were delayed and a few were cancelled due to the weather.

More than 1,600 flights had been cancelled as of 11:30 a.m. nationwide, including 190 at La Guardia, 124 at Kennedy and 158 at Newark, according to FlightAware.com.

And while snow removal crews got a late start clearing city streets on Tuesday, most roads were cleared overnight, according to the city’s online map that tracks plowing activity.