Mayor Bloomberg vowed to dig New York out from under the snowy mess no matter what it costs the cash-strapped city.
“We’re going to plow the snow, clean the streets and then worry about how to pay for it,” he told reporters at a emergency news conference in a Manhattan sanitation garage.
Bloomberg has ordered layoffs and cost-saving measures like closing fire houses at night to deal with an ongoing budget crisis, but said he’s squirreled away money for storms.
“We assume we’re going to have snow every year. We live in the Northeast,” he said. “We have men and women trained and the equipment there so we’ll be able to handle it.”
The mayor, clearly fighting a nasty cold that had him interrupting his news conference to cough and blow his nose, said it’s hard to put a price tag on storm cleanup.
Nearly all the 4,800 sanitation workers who worked one of two 12-hour shifts were collecting overtime on a Sunday.
They planned to work through the night plowing all 6,000 miles of city streets, employing 365 salt-spreaders and 1,700 plows. Firefighters were also added to engine crews.
Storm cleanup generally costs the city $1 million per inch of snow.
City officials urged New Yorkers to stay at home, if possible, and to take public transit if they need to travel. Residents should clear the snow from fire hydrants as a safety measure and should hold on to their trash rather than put it on the street.
Schools are closed for a scheduled winter break.
The mayor said all homeless shelters were open and urged New Yorkers to call 311 if they spot someone who may need help.
“We just don’t want anybody to sleep on the street no matter what,” Bloomberg said. “It’s just much too dangerous out there.”
The city also has some fun things planned, with the parks department offering free sledding and winter activities in parks in all five boroughs.
(Source: NY Daily News)
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Right now its 12 noon in bew york and so far I still haven’t seen one plow!!! In bp, cars r stuck on 14th ave 12th ave so far the only place plowed is 60th street!! What’s taking soo long?? This isn’t our first blizzard!