Hurricane Sandy is 30 miles east southeast of Cape May, New Jersey and 40 miles south of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Sandy has maximum sustained winds of 90MPH and is moving 300 degrees at 28 MPH.
Sandy's general motion is expected to continue through this evening until landfall occurs south of the southern New Jersey coast within the next few hours and life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds are expected.
As Sandy approaches landfall, nearly 237,000 residents of New York State are without power.
In Long Island, over 145,000 people are without power and over 40,000 people are powerless in New York City.
Governor Andrew Cuomo closed the Tappan Zee Bridge to all traffic at 4 p.m.
"Hurricane Sandy has created conditions that make it hazardous for motorists to use the Tappan Zee, and that is why we are closing the bridge," Governor Cuomo said in statement. "We are sensitive to the impact this will have on travelers, but safety is our highest priority and, under current conditions, gusts sweeping across the bridge could flip vehicles or cause serious multi-vehicle accidents."
The Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the RFK Bridge are preparing to go into phase II wind restrictions.
The George Washington Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, the Henry Hudson Bridge and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge will close at 7 p.m.
The Holland and Hugh Carey (formerly the Brooklyn Battery) tunnels were closed at 2 p.m.
The Staten Island Ferry service is suspended until further notice and the East River Ferry service is suspended through Monday.
The United Nations also shut down and canceled all meetings at its New York headquarters.
The Governor today deployed the New York Naval Militia's Military Emergency Boat Service, in addition to 1,000 additional New York Army and Air National Guard troops, to assist with potential surge.
A crane at the tallest residential building in NYC at 157 West 57th Street was collapsing as of press time. The crane was dangling about 80 stories above 57th Street.
Mayor Mike Bloomberg said that about 3,000 people checked into city shelters - 370,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
The NYSE and Nasdaq stock exchange closed on Monday and will remain closed until Wednesday.
The stock exchange said it intends to re-open its U.S. markets on Wednesday, Oct. 31, conditions permitting; updates will be provided tomorrow.
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