New York mayor Bill de Blasio shovels snow in show of solidarity

His feet deep in snow and a shovel in hand as a snowstorm hit New York, new mayor Bill de Blasio immediately displayed a leadership style contrasting sharply with his predecessor.

Barely a day after he was sworn in, the liberal Democrat with little experience in office faced the first major challenge of his administration in the form of the storm and frigid temperatures that hit America's biggest city on Thursday and stretched into the weekend.

The storm that battered the US northeast left at least 16 people dead amid blizzard-like conditions, authorities said. With nearly 60cm of snow dumped on some areas, some 3,467 flights were cancelled on Friday across the United States and 12,394 were delayed.

The man who promised a "fairer, more just, more progressive place," sought to prove he meant it with a packed schedule to help his fellow city-dwellers in need.

At 10pm on Thursday, the 52-year-old mayor visited workers at a city garage in Brooklyn and promptly tweeted about it, thanking the "hardworking team" and "all those who are keeping our city safe tonight."

At 4am he held a teleconference to decide on school closures, then cleaned up his pavement himself in Brooklyn, visited sanitation workers in Queens and held a press conference. His down-to-earth approach marked a major departure from his austere predecessor Michael Bloomberg, 71, who lived in a 1,100-square metre private residence near Central Park.

Early on Friday, the new mayor was spotted removing snow with a shovel outside his small house in the Park Slope neighbourhood of New York's Brooklyn borough, wearing jeans and a black vest.