It was estimated as a high end cat 3 or low end cat 4 when it made landfall at cape May, so I'm guessing by the time it made it to NYC winds were still over 100 mph
That was the day I was born. I believe still the highest wind gust reported at central park, at least up til Sandy. I always heard how the ambulance couldn't make it up the hill to the hospital with the icy roads, wind, rain, sleet everything.
We didn't even have access to radar lol. It was basically the local NWS forecast scrolling along the bottom of the cable access channel and then local news/AM radio stations
It was so frustrating too because this was before internet and weather channel so I had no idea what went wrong just that it was snowing one minute then pouring rain, and I kept hoping it would change back but never did. I believe the low formed closer to the coast and caused the winds to turn to the E/SE instead of from the NE but I also have no idea who got snow and didn't. I do remember visiting family for Christmas down by philly and they had several inches of snow on the ground
The 12/15/89 storm screwed us as well. Temps in the 20s and 4 -8" expected and turned into a driving rainstorm at the coast followed by bitter arctic air for 2 weeks but just occasional snow showers to briefly whiten the ground
That 1990 storm was supposed to be 1-3" and they upped it to 4-6 at the last minute. Ended up with 8" with a glaze on top. It was all gone in 2 days but it was a nice surprise and our biggest snow in nearly 4 years