New York City Braces For Major Winter Storm; DSNY Pretreats Roads, Has 1,800 Snow Plows Ready
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City is bracing for snow and officials are taking as many precautionary steps as possible.
Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Sanitation said Friday there are 280,000 tons of salt available and about 700 salt spreaders were already deployed, CBS2's Alice Gainer reported.
DSNY crews started pretreating more than 700 miles of roads with brine Thursday. There is a hazardous travel advisory in effect through Saturday.
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Outdoor dining in the city is suspended Saturday and COVID vaccine appointments at city-run sites are being rescheduled to Sunday.
Alternate side parking will also be suspended Saturday through Tuesday.
Some New Yorkers said the storm wasn't going to stop them from enjoying their weekend.
"It's alright. Order in a lot," Hell's Kitchen resident Jonathan Brenner said.
"It'll be nice. We'll see what happens tomorrow when things get shut down but ... we have indoor plans, as well, so we're looking forward to it," said Sarah Parsons, from Shreveport, Louisiana.
"Look after your neighbors, and that includes checking in on them, shoveling snow if need be, to make sure they get the support, particularly our seniors," Adams said.
"If any residents see downed trees, they may call 311. We have the downed-tree task force on alert," Acting Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Christina Farrell said.
Watch Mayor Adams' Update On Winter Storm Preps
"Every block in New York City is on a route and we have a plan to complete all routes. We will re-ride and re-address with salt and liquid calcium chloride," DSNY Commissioner Edward Grayson said.
DSNY will send out about 1,800 plows. The public is urged to stay off the roads and use mass transit.
While officials are telling people to stay inside, some New Yorkers feel that will be hard to do.
Ahead of the snowstorm, Harlem resident Debora Maxwell is worried she will not have heat in her duplex, a problem she says has been going on all winter.
"It's very cold. It's very cold," she told CBS2's Cory James.
To keep her home warm, she says the oven stays on and at times, she boils water in multiple pots to get more heat to rise.
"If I go upstairs now and I don't have the oven on, I freeze," Maxwell said.
But it's something the nearly 30-year tenant does not want to do going into the weekend, where city officials believe snow coupled with wind could create blizzard-like conditions.
"It is also going to be very cold over the next couple days. Temperatures will drop into the mid-teens," Farrell said.
MORE STORM INFORMATION FROM NYC:
- Severe weather alerts and advice
- Department of Sanitation snow operations
- Track NYC snow plows
- Sign up for snow removal jobs
- Guidance for outdoor dining
- Code Blue: Call 311 for shelter
The DSNY commissioner says better staffing will help them manage the storm's impact.
"The first storm of the year, when we were talking, we were talking COVID outages. We have a very healthy manpower. We're down to under 10% outage rate," Grayson said.
Maxwell hopes staffing is not stopping her heat from being restored because she would love to have her radiator working again.
"It should be a priority. It's heat," she said.
Maxwell says she's been burning the oven so often, she had to have the gas for her apartment fixed.
NYCHA told CBS2 in a statement, "There are no heating outages at this location. Heating staff will follow-up with this resident tomorrow to ensure adequate heat."
CBS2's Alice Gainer contributed to this report.
