An unprecedented crush of cars, trucks and pedestrians clogged the streets of Manhattan from river to river yesterday, bringing the city to a virtual halt — leading Mayor Bloomberg to impose emergency High Occupancy Vehicle restrictions to avoid similar chaos today.
An endless line of cars poured into the city throughout the day — but many drivers ditched their vehicles when they landed in a gridlock nightmare, and concluded their commutes on foot.
Bloomberg responded to the traffic hell by ordering carpooling on all major crossings except the George Washington Bridge.
The measure comes along with the return of subway service in much of the city — the first bit of good news for residents picking up the pieces of lives shattered by Hurricane Sandy.
Among the major storm-related developments yesterday:
* Cars must have at least three occupants while entering Manhattan via the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro and Triborough Bridges, the Lincoln Tunnel and the Henry Hudson Bridge between 6 a.m. and midnight today and tomorrow.
The Holland, Brooklyn Battery and Queens Midtown tunnels remain closed.
* Subway service will resume for much of the city, although service is still unavailable in Manhattan below 34th Street and in Downtown Brooklyn.
* JFK and Newark airports reopened yesterday with limited flights, while La Guardia Airport will reopen with limited service today.
* The official city death toll from the storm climbed to 32.
* Nearly 610,000 power customers remained without service in the city — with 220,000 south of 36th Street in Manhattan still in the dark. The outages are expected to persist in most of lower Manhattan until tomorrow or Saturday.
* Public schools will remain shuttered for the rest of the week, and reopen Monday. Teachers and administrators have been ordered to report to work tomorrow for classroom preparation.
“There’s an awful lot of schools that have received damage or don’t have power,” Bloomberg said. “Hopefully by Monday, everything will be back perfect.”
* President Obama toured storm-ravaged New Jersey with Gov. Chris Christie, while Gov. Cuomo asked the White House to reimburse New York for the legal maximum of 90 percent of storm-related response and recovery costs. Cuomo will also ask the state’s congressional delegation to push legislation to allow the feds to reimburse 100 percent of those costs.
* Gas stations saw long lines for fuel yesterday — for vehicles and generators — with some drivers waiting for more than an hour.
* In lower Manhattan, tempers flared as people vied for scarce taxis and buses. Many downtown residents headed north by bus, car, bike and foot to find necessities like batteries and nonperishables.
* Both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq resumed equity trading without a hiccup yesterday after a two-day, storm-related suspension.
* Bellevue Hospital was evacuated after city officials discovered that damage to the building’s fuel supply was more severe than originally thought, putting the facility on track to totally lose power. More than 500 patients — including prisoners and the mentally ill — were moved to other facilities or discharged.
* Homicide took a holiday during the storm, with the NYPD reporting no murders in the 72 hours since the storm hit with full force Monday night.
“That’s incredible. People must be holed up inside their homes,” said a veteran police detective.
* The annual New York City Marathon will go on as scheduled Sunday.
* Tonight’s season-opening NBA game between the Nets and Knicks at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn was postponed, with no new date yet set.
* Mail service dramatically improved yesterday, with more than 80 percent of scheduled deliveries being made — compared with just 10 percent Tuesday.
But Manhattan’s two major mail-sorting facilities remained without power.
* Nearly 20 people were due in court for alleged acts of looting at storm-damaged stores in Brooklyn and Queens.
* On Staten Island, dozens of rescuers frantically searched for two brothers, 2 and 4, swept away from their mom.
* A diesel-storage tank in Woodbridge, NJ, ruptured from the storm’s surge — spilling 336,000 gallons of fuel into the Arthur Kill, which separates Staten Island and New Jersey. The spill was contained by booms placed in the water.
* Coast Guard crews in New York Harbor watched for scattered debris under the watchful eye of Lady Liberty, and shooed away unauthorized boaters.
“There’s just junk everywhere,” said Lt. Commander Bill Walsh, who spotted both a refrigerator and a 175-foot ship grounded on the Stapleton shore of Staten Island. “It’s not even safe for us to be out at night.”
Additional reporting by Amber Sutherland, Kevin Fasick, Leonard Greene, Joe Tacopino and Sabrina Ford