Marshall Street never sleeps, even during snow storms 

Isha Darbame almost didn’t make it to work on Monday, Jan. 26.

Just before her afternoon shift at Chipotle on Marshall St., the 24-year-old tried to start her car. It wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard she tried. It was so cold outside that the vehicle’s battery died.

“[It’s] the one day my car did not want to start up,” Darbame said, jokingly.

Thanks to a friend, she made it to Marshall St. despite the conditions, as did dozens of workers through Syracuse’s extra cold and snow last week. Popeyes manager Naja Benton, 32, joked that she wished she could have snow days off like her daughter. But Marshall Street — lined with establishments open late into the night — never sleeps, not even for a blizzard. 

Syracuse has been hit with extraordinary conditions this winter. It dealt with a record-setting 22.6-inch snowfall on Dec. 31, 2025, according to CNY Central. And as of Jan. 30, Syracuse had 113 inches of snow, giving it a sizable advantage in snowfall over Rochester (80.7 inches), Buffalo (70.9) and Binghamton (50.1).

The weekend of Feb. 7, the city was hit with an “arctic blast,” which saw temperatures drop to as low as negative 12 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Amid a 7.7-inch snowfall in late January that prompted Syracuse University to move classes online, only its fifth time ever cancelling in-person instruction, stores remained open for their normal hours and workers clocked in all along Marshall St. 

But demand didn’t disappear with the snow. Several workers noticed significantly less foot traffic, but said the snow led to increased mobile delivery orders as residents avoided the cold. 

Emma Rabozzi, a 25-year-old employee at The Brooklyn Pickle, said she received about five mobile orders for every two in-store customers. 

Benton said the snow-induced influx of mobile orders probably made her day busier than usual, or at the very least, as busy as it would’ve been otherwise. 

“People prefer to stay home and order and have somebody else pick up their order,” Benton said. 

Benton said it was annoying to work in these conditions. With her daughter out of school for the day, Benton had to leave her with her grandmother before she clocked in.

She wasn’t the only worker on Marshall St. whose schedule was disrupted by the snow. Before her noon shift at Brooklyn Pickle, Rabozzi had to wake up two hours before she usually does on Mondays. 

Since she only lives 10 minutes away from Marshall St., Rabozzi said she usually doesn’t have to get out of bed until 10:30 a.m. for her noon shifts. But that day, she was up around 8 a.m., clearing her driveway and shoveling snow off of her car for at least two hours, she said.

“Oh, my God, it sucks,” Rabozzi said, describing her morning commute. “The roads really weren’t that bad, they were pretty cleared for the most part. My driveway definitely wasn’t.”

China Boone wakes up at 4 a.m. to prepare for her opening shift at her second job — McDonald’s — before heading to Dunkin’ at 2 p.m. Since she doesn’t own a car, clearing her driveway or finding parking isn’t an issue in the bad weather.

But in the deep snow, even walking to the bus stop can be hazardous. 

That Monday, Boone almost slipped and fell on the way to the bus stop. And while she waited at the bus stop for five minutes, she said her hands almost felt frozen.

“The snow was so high and nobody was out shoveling yet, so it was so slippery outside,” Boone said. “It came up to about my calves.”

Boone’s Dunkin’ shift is never that busy, she said. She works closing shifts, so after about 3 p.m., demand for breakfast foods and coffee craters quickly. But that day, with students in their dorms, she estimated a 30% uptick in online orders, even seeing people who work along Marshall Street order online and have food delivered just a few hundred feet away. 

“They don’t want to come out in the cold if they don’t have to,” Boone said. “Instead of coming to do a walk-in and pick up their order, they’ll just have it delivered to them. Even if they’re across the street.”

Darbame’s shift at Chipotle actually wasn’t that busy that Monday. She’s heard from coworkers that the previous day, which she had off, was much busier. 

There was still minimal foot traffic, she said, but it was far busier with online orders.

Just as those words left her mouth, a man walked into the once-empty Chipotle line and began to ask for a bowl. As Darbame scooped out a helping of brown rice, another man walked in. Then two more people came in to order, all within a two-minute span.

Syracuse residents still needed to eat. And seemingly enough, a blizzard wasn’t going to stop them from getting their fix on Marshall St.