Residents Blast Mayor For Slow Snow Plowing As De Blasio Defends Travel Ban
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The feared snowmageddon did not materialize as anticipated in New York City, but local leaders said closing the roads was still the right thing to do.
But as CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, some New Yorkers are angry after waking up to find there was no blizzard and many streets still weren't plowed.
"This is the heart of Fifth Avenue. I don't know – what happened? Where is the Sanitation Department?" one woman said, pointing out that two women walking with her both almost fell down. "So you know what? Unfortunately, this is sad."
Indeed, some New Yorkers were angry and confused when they woke up Tuesday morning, found that the predicted blizzard had dumped far less snow than the forecasting models originally predicted, and finally discovered that their streets had not been plowed.
Mayor Bill de Blasio had declared a state of emergency, and streets were closed to all traffic except for emergency vehicles and a handful of exempt vehicles from 11 p.m. Monday until 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. With no cars, little snow, and an army of 2,400 plows, many saw no reason why streets would not be spotless in the morning – at least in busy Midtown.
At 9 a.m. snow was still covering 42nd Street and Third Avenue. At 9:15 a.m., a snow plow did reach the corner of Fifth Avenue, but dumped snow at the intersection which caused a cab to get stuck. The cab had to back up and go around the snow pile.
But it wasn't just motorists who had a tough time trying to sled through the snow. Pedestrians also struggled.
"It's a joke," said one resident.
"It's hard to cross. This is a lot of snow right here," said Nicholas King, of Bayside, Queens. "People could slip and fall and hurt themselves."
For its part, the city said that even though the blizzard did not score a direct hit, the city did get 6 to 8 inches of snow and it does take time to clear. Officials said having the street free of cars did help them get to the snow sooner.
"We did have over 2,400 sanitation workers on the streets last night. It made a tremendous difference in terms of how much geography they got covered," said city Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. "We were able to get into most secondary streets last night for at least one pass. I'm pleased with what they've been able to accomplish."
And Mayor de Blasio fired back at critics during a Tuesday news conference, saying there's no perfect way to predict the weather.
"You can't be a Monday morning quarterback on something like the weather," he said.
Mayor De Blasio Defends Travel Ban, Mass Transit Shutdown
As 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported, the mayor said all the precautions were a "no-brainer" based on the forecast.
"For several days, reports talked about 2 feet or more of snow. Again that would instantly put us into one of the top snowstorms in the history of the city," de Blasio said.
The mayor also pointed to eastern Long Island, which got the 2 feet the city was expecting.
But the mayor had some complaints of his own. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had never before shut down systemwide for a blizzard, and de Blasio said when Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the call to close the subways, "We did not get a lot of advance notice."
In fact, he said he found out as the governor made the announcement Monday, but defended the decision saying it was the right one for the forecast at the time.
But ultimately, de Blasio said there will be a review of the city's storm procedures to see if anything can be done better the next time around.
The NYPD said no tickets were issued and no arrests were made as a result of the travel ban, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
Mayor De Blasio Defends Travel Ban, Mass Transit Shutdown
Meanwhile, Cuomo said the state did the right thing to close roads and stop mass transit systems in anticipation of what forecasters said would be an epic storm.
"I'd much rather be in a situation where you say we got lucky, than to say we didn't get lucky and somebody died," Cuomo said.
"No human life lost due to transit accidents is an important thing," Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye added.
And closing the transit system, they argue, has been helping bring it back to full service faster.
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