Andrew Cuomo announced a travel ban Saturday afternoon as a blizzard hit New York City.

He said plows were no longer able to keep up witht the rate of snowfall, and warned that trains were being left stranded by iced over rails.

A blizzard was expected to dump about a foot of snow on the city, but the storm (called "Jonas") has ended up being worse than expected.

Mayor Bill de Blasio urged all Broadway theaters and restaurants to close immediately because of the blizzard slamming his city and due to the corresponding travel restrictions.

REUTERS/Shannon StapletonWorkers shovel snow during a snowstorm at Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 23, 2016.

The Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road also shut down at 4 p.m. PATH service is suspended between Newark and Journal Square.

"Public safety is job one", he said.

The National Weather Service is predicting between 2 and 10 inches of snow this weekend for the Lower Hudson Valley, with a winter storm watch in place for northern Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties and a warning in place for southern Westchester. On closed roads, only authorized emergency vehicles, hazard vehicles and critical healthcare personnel will be permitted.

New Jersey Transit has canceled bus service. Metrorail - the second busiest underground train network in the United States after NY - serves about 700,000 customers a day in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.

In the meantime, the governor has declared a travel ban downstate as the storm is burying New York City (24 inches at JFK Airport). Thruway travelers can also get real-time updates by following @ThruwayTraffic on Twitter or by visiting http://www.thruway.ny.gov to see an interactive map showing traffic conditions for the Thruway and other New York State roadways. States that can expect snow storms and bad weather range from MA and CT in the north, all the way down and west to Indiana, Georgia, Illinois and Indiana.