Probably because no one wants to be on the street with a bunch of drivers that only see snow once a year just to pick up some eggs. More than a quarter of accidents happen in such conditions even though most of the population only sees snow for a short time out of the year so it’s not unwarranted.
But in NYC people don't really drive, hence why it's in particular weird that they have the same behavior as suburbanites. If you were really starving food is just a 3 minute walk away.