The MTA took extensive measures before the storm to limit the amount of water flooding into tunnels, including by boarding up ventilation grates in low-lying stations, piling sandbags at station entrances, inflating a rubber dam in the Long Island Rail Road's West Side yards in Manhattan and hastily erecting a floodwall across the mouth of the No. 3 train tunnel near East 148th Street in Harlem.
The show was to have featured displays of boats across the city's docks and a programme of demonstrations including championship sailing, wake-boarding, power boat racing, and water-skiing.