Long Island Residents Brave The Elements Make The Most Of Their Snow Day

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Most people in the area had the day off from work or school Tuesday. Those few hardy souls who ventured out into the elements unfortunately had few options at their disposal to take their minds off the storm.

In Suffolk County, Veterans Highway looked like a northern wilderness with hardly a vehicle in sight. Most stores and businesses were closed, but a bagel shop in Commack offered a warm refuge amidst the otherwise eerie landscape.

"It beats cooking," Phyllis Roye of Central Islip said, "and I don't have to worry about a crowd."

Phyllis shared breakfast with her friends Judy and Bill Martinetti, who despite the storm, still planned on taking care of their farm animals.

"We have a horse and a donkey," she told CBS2. "If we don't go there, they don't eat."

In the next booth, Eve Charasz and her husband were intent on fighting the plows and roadways to see a Broadway show.

"My crazy husband has a plan to go into Manhattan and get some tickets to a play that we probably couldn't get to otherwise," she said.

Meanwhile, with kids off from school, the movie theaters were open but there were few takers.

"The office is closed, so I did some work from home," Carl Dufresne of Copiague said. "I decided let's go to the movies and get out of the house."

With most of its stores closed, the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington was deserted except for a couple shopping for an upcoming trip.

"We've got the whole place to ourselves to do whatever we want," Chris Turete said.

25-year-old snowboarder Miguel Bocaud flashed some fancy moves as he took on a hill in Wheatley Heights, all by his lonesome.

"Everybody will look at me like I'm crazy," he said. "It's raining, it's snowing, it's confusing but it's so fun to be out here. How could I not be?"

He added that anything is better than returning to the cleanup that still remains at home.