The hope was that five days after the storm, the city's emergency shelters would no longer be necessary. But instead, Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Saturday urged New Yorkers still without power or heat, and in particular the elderly, to get to a shelter as temperatures plummeted.

To get those in need to shelters, the city began providing buses at six locations Saturday.

Those who had been in the shelters for days say conditions are increasingly overcrowded.

Meanwhile, city officials reversed course and said eight schools being used as shelters will not reopen to students Monday.

Others that were damaged will also stay shut, but officials say they expect most schools to open on Monday, with enough bus service to get students to class.

The mayor had uncharacteristically harsh words Saturday for a utility company, not Consolidated Edison, but the Long Island Power Authority, which services the Rockaways in Queens.

Bloomberg said LIPA had not acted aggressively enough to restore power there.

Meanwhile, the mayor was not eager to discuss the last-minute decision to cancel the New York City ING Marathon

It was pointed out that some out-of-town marathon runners wished the cancelation had happened earlier, before they spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars traveling to New York City.