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FINAL UPDATE: Blizzard of 2010 City Council Hearing

Bed-Stuy Patch will provide live updates throughout the day, from the City Council Blizzard Hearings

Two weeks after one of New York City's worst snowstorms in history, the New York City Council grills city officials in an attempt to make sense of the city’s failure to adequately handle snow removal.

Bed-Stuy Patch is live from the trenches, the City Council's temporary home at the Emigrant Savings Bank building on Chambers Street in Manhattan.

Final Update 5:35

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The panel of councilmembers read excerpts from letters from constituents:

“Taxes and fees have increased, however services have declined. We don’t want to look back. We want to look forward and know that our confidence and city government can once again be restored.” --Resident from Dyker Heights

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“I feel this was a total misuse of resources. The first plowing of secondary streets occurred two and half days after the storm had ended. Once the plowing started, it never abated, repeated plowing continued. Asphalt was being plowed to the point where sparks were flying The mayor and its commissioners must overhaul the way city snow emergencies are handled to avoid the disaster of late December”-- Resident from Staten Island

 

During his initial press conference following the blizzard, Mayor Bloomberg promised that every street in New York City would be plowed by that Thursday. When asked individually, whether the streets of the five remaining council members had been plowed by Thursday, only one responded “yes.” The other four said “no.”

As final words, the panel

  • Encouraged community groups to notify NYC
  • Offered praise of the work of commissioner Bruno
  • Encouraged New Yorkers to attend the upcoming hearings in the five boroughs and share their opinion of the mayor’s 15-point plan

Many of the city’s representative and speakers had left by 5:30. But by the end, the overall tone of the panelist had changed from that of anger and frustration to one of more gratitude and understanding of what the city agencies and its workers were up against.

It seemed to come down to budgetary issues, an underestimation of the blizzard’s severity, slow orders from the top, and a lack of a cohesive and coordinated response that contributed to the primary problem: vehicles stuck in the street that impeded all efforts to move and respond. 

As final words to close the hearing, speaker Quinn said, “I want to thank you all who participated today for seeing the opportunity for this administration to do better as opposed to just being angry. For being examples of what is great about New York.”

“To the pubic this does not conclude this hearing,” said James. “There are other issues that need to be addressed, and this time, I encourage the public’s participation.”

James provided a list of upcoming public hearings, where she said further information could be found on the DOT website:

  • Staten Island, Tuesday, January 18th
  • Brooklyn, Wednesday, January 19th
  • Harlem, Thursday, January 20th
  • Queens, Friday, January 21st
  • The Bronx, Monday, January 24th
  • Southern Brooklyn, Tuesday, January 25th

The hearing recessed at 6:29

Update 4:40 Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitation Association, summarized the problems regarding the cleanup and snow plow efforts with the last Blizzard as:

1.     Traffic-- Snow plow and other responders were trapped and could not pass through as a result of the cars and buses that got stuck when trying to drive in on streets that had fast filled with snow and had not yet been plowed.

2.     He admitted that part of it had to due with the failure of the city to declare a citywide snow emergency that encouraged cars and other vehicles to stay off of the roads

3.     And he reiterated that a lot of it had to do with the rate and amount of snow that fell

“This was a disaster,” said Nespoli. “It is not about nickels and dimes when it comes to people's lives. My workforce is down, their morale is down. People are saying things to them that they’ve never heard before. It’s not right.”

Nespoli insisted they had plenty of time to respond, so time wasn’t a factor:

“They had enough time, because they left early. We had this covered. They asked me for 14-hour shifts. There was a full-force both shifts. And there were no carryover workers,” said Nespoli.

“We ran into traffic out there. There were 1,076 stalled buses, according to the NY Times. Once you fight a blizzard at 3 inches an hour, and you’re not continually hitting the streets, you’re out of it.”

Update 4:10 Testimony from Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitation Association:

 Co-chair Malone: “Were there more men to fight the storm this past storm than in February?”

Nespoli testified that they had 6,150 workers available to respond to the last major storm last February. However, for this storm they had 59. Nespoli said they received 100 new personnel three weeks prior to the storm.

Nespoli insisted that although his workers pre-salted the street last Friday, they did in fact failed to do so before the December Blizzard.

“We lost the storm during the 7:00 pm shift. We couldn’t keep up with the fall. My members drive the trucks and we get our orders. We follow the orders,” said Nespoli.

Chair Crowley: “Do you believe cost might have been a factor in fighting the storm? Were your members called in early enough? Were they prepared to fight this blizzard?”

Nespoli: “They had enough manpower in on Christmas Day. They had a full force the next day. We were in place. It’s never enough sanitation workers to fight a blizzard. We had the equipment. Over the years, the budget always affects every agency. Two years ago, I spoke about smaller vehicles for smaller areas that could move better. The commissioner said they didn’t have the money for it.

“You might have had the same amount on the street trying to fight the storm. Now you take 100 police officers and put them on plows. During the storm those hundred are usually in the street, directing traffic. So now we’ve lost that part of the storm.”

Nespoli testified that his workers had to do more with less. He said he didn’t hear any complaints from anyone about working, so his workers were willing and eager to respond.  He said he doesn’t think that salt was the problem. The problem was in number of people and manpower. He said there no longer are tow trucks in every garage as it used to be.

Nespoli assured the panel that for this upcoming storm, they will do better, because “I’ll tell you something,” said Nespoli. “My work force is tarnished, and they don’t like it. If you think anybody is gonna lay down out there during snow, not this workforce. This force is a dedicated force.”

Update 3:55 "You should be investigated!" said a heated Councilman Charles Barron to members of the Bloomberg administration, weighing in on the  city's lackadaisical response to the December 26th blizzard. The councilman stood up in the room and asked who was responsible for coordinating the city's response to the storm. The already contentious hearing was interrutped by laughter as Councilman Barron and Speaker Christine Quinn, longtime adversaries, traded swipes concerning his allotment of time as well as (in the speaker's words) "getting around to asking a question."

Brooklyn residents in particular have long felt frustration over what they feel was the city's failure to declare a snow emergency response, as well as the lack of accountability for the failure to coordinate the many city agencies. Streets in Brooklyn and Queens were left unplowed for weeks said Council Mann Albert Vann. "the city's failure to hit those primary streets really hurt us in the outer boroughs."

“We owe you and all New Yorkers for that lack of performance our administration’s apology and my personal promise not to let it happen again,” Deputy Mayor for operations Stephen Goldsmith testified earlier in the day.

Frustrated council members continued to point fingers at Mayor Bloomberg, but administrators present at the hearing steadfastly defended him:

"I dont believe the outer boroughs were left out as far as the response," said Sanitation Commissioner Doherty. "We did not ignore them." Councilman Jumaane D. Williams of Brooklyn, the chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Committee, has spoken out on the need to uncover who was in charge of coordinating the city’s response to the storm.

3:26 p.m. Lander Speaks: Councilmember Brad Lander began his question with a few statements culled from complaints his office in South Brooklyn had received. Lander said some blocks had not been cleared until New Year's morning and raised complaints about the lack of plowing near hospitals and shoveling leading to subway entrances.

Lander's question was "simple."

"How do you know when a block has been plowed?"

Doherty said trucks and plows should report immediately to supervisors about blocks that can't be plowed because of abandoned cars, but admitted, for the second time today, that not all the trucks are equipped with radios.

2:15 p.m. Casualties of Snow: Letitia James was prompted to address one of the tragic casualties of the blizzard when a woman, whose newborn baby died in the storm, was heard from behind the curtain in front of which the City Council members sat.

The woman, who James described as a friend, delivered her baby in the lobby of a building in Crown Heights after emergency services calls were unanswered. The baby was later pronounced dead.

Today, the hearing was briefly disrupted by the woman. Witnesses said that inaudible shouting could be heard from the mother of the dead infant. James said that it was ironic that the hearings for what went wrong were being held today because it is the same day as the baby's funereal.

The outer boroughs were hit particularly hard, with several councilmembers saying that the central and south Brooklyn districts were hit hardest. Council members, including David G. Greenfield, piled the criticism on Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty for what they said was unequal treatment from the city because they were not Manhattan.

Doherty insistently disputed the idea that the city disproportinaely neglected outer borough streets. In an interview, 57th Assembly District leader Walter T. Mosley echoed this sentiment, saying that Bed Stuy's busiest corridor, Fulton Street, was ignored. Stay tuned for the complete interview with Mosely.

1:10 p.m. James Brings Chains to the Fight: As the first City Council member to open with question, Letitia James criticized the city's ability to mobilize despite having 18 hours to prepare once the weather forecast called for high levels of snow accumulation.

"We could have done this prior to any snow hitting the ground," James said. 

James also asked why the city did not reach out to the governor or the National Guard. In both instances, Doherty said that the response time from state or nation would not have been any faster or more effective that what was already out there.

A highlight was when James took a bulky aluminum chain out from under her table and, citing reports, challenged Doherty's contention that every city truck was equipped with the chain she was holding. It drew some light laughter—although James looked dead serious.

For his part, Doherty dismissed James: "I don't think that's true."

1:08 p.m. Solutions: Before handing the stage to the City Council members, Stephen Goldsmith offered a "forward-looking plan" that could the help the city better deal with a crippling event of this magnitude again.

Much of it revolved about amend the process for declaring emergencies. Goldsmith said it would have been helpful for the top decision makers to have a more formal process for making severe weather announcements.

Specifically, Goldsmith recommended that commissioners have a "broader range of options including in a declarations."

Goldsmith had more tangible solutions as well. Specifically, he proposed that every city truck be equipped with a GPS device and have constant two-way communication at all times with command center. Additionally, Goldsmith said that there should be more on-the-ground monitoring by "scouts," who are city employees who drive in Mini Coopers around neighborhood blocks throughout the city. In the event of a storm like this, Goldsmith suggested giving scouts the ability to live-stream images back to a command center.

Goldsmith also hopes to make 311, the city help phoneline, fully integrated with social media, allowing online users to submit their concerns online, through sites like Facebook and Twitter.

12:35 p.m. Timing is Everything: First up to speak is Stephen Goldsmith, Deputy Mayor of Operations, the former mayor of Indianapolis who Bloomberg handpicked to help New York streamline its agencies.

Goldsmith acknowledged all of the criticism that have been heaped on the Bloomberg Administration over the last two weeks and outlined six basic reasons for the failure. Reason number one: the decision not to declare a snow emergency.

That decision—or indecision—seemed to compound all of the failures that followed.

Declaring an emergency would have allowed the city to activate private resources, like snowplow trucks and dump trucks, as well as other emergency resources. Additionally, it could have banned public parking in strategic locations that would have made snow removal a much easier process.

But while accepting responsibility, Goldsmith also said there were conditions outside of the city's control that contributed to New York City's inadequate response. More than anything, he stressed, timing was everything.

A day and a half before the storm struck, the forecast was still relatively modest, Goldsmith said. Accumulation was still under a foot, and with a larger-than-normal percentage of city workers home for the holidays, they were the city was left vulnerable to mobilize its workforce once the forecast became more severe.

And once the storm struck, he said, it struck "particularly fast." Two inches per hour-fast. Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty called it the most powerful storm in his career.

Finally, because it was in the days immediately following Christmas, there were more cars on the road than normal, with New Yorkers returning from—or departing to—their holiday get-a-ways. That complicated the abilities of trucks and snow plows to get into city blocks and properly move snow.

But there were several additional failures of the city's agencies that Goldsmith spelled out. Among them:

-City equipment has outdated equipment and tools. Doherty said that many city trucks don't even have a radio device installed in the cab, for instance.

-Insufficient city assets. There was a lack of man power on the ground at the time and the city was unable to quickly organize and hire labor workers who needed only a shovel in their hand to contribute and make a difference.

-Failure to use private resources, related to the inability to to declare an emergency.

-Communication among city agencies and among city districts

-Emergency communications. 911 received more than 49,000 calls from New Yorkers over the 24-hour period when the storm struck, according to one of the 911 employees who worked during that time and attended the hearings. Most of them were people stranded in cars, but many of them never went answered.  

Department Commissioners read from brief statements outlining their particular difficulties during the storm and Goldsmith summarized after. Next up, City Council members will have the opportunity to grill the commissioners.

Update 11:50: The City Council's blizzard hearings are well underway.

The hearings began at 11:00 a.m. sharp, in accordance with President Obama's call for a national moment of silence to remember the victims of Saturday's shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, which included Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

Afterward, Quinn read aloud the names of the victims. Giffords, in particular, she said would stay in all America's hearts and prayers but that it was especially on the minds of the New York City Council Members.

City Council Member Letitia James then spoke and reiterated much of the criticism that had been echoed over the last two weeks: Inadequate response, failure of emergency services, faulty lines of communication.

James said the purpose of the hearings was to figure out what happened and how to prevent it moving forward. A few hypotheticals she posited:

- Insufficient staffing
- outdated equipment
- budget cuts

She stressed that the purpose was not for individual council members to hear gripes from their local neighborhood or district.

"It's my hope that we'll keep to this task and not spend too much time focusing on local problems," James said.

James also addressed the reports that city workers purposely stalled the clean up effort to protest budget cuts. The hearings aren't a criminal trial, she said.

First up speaking are Deputy Mayor of Operations Stephen Goldsmith, followed immediately by John Doherty, Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation. Check back soon for more updates.

Only two weeks ago, one of the in New York City's history crippled the everyday lives of New Yorkers who lived in the outer boroughs.

For days following the storm, hundreds of streets and sidewalks were unplowed and impassable, stranding people in cars and on subways, while severely restricting emergency services. The hazardous conditions continued into the next week, as streets overflowed with bags of unattended garbage and recycling.

Today begins the first step toward figuring out what went wrong. Beginning at 11:00 am, at the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building on Chambers Street, Sanitation Chair Letitia James, city councilmember in Brooklyn's 35th District, Al Vann of the 36th District representing Bedford-Stuyvewant, along with others in the City Council, will grill representatives from several agencies, in an effort make sense of the city’s failure to adequately handle snow removal, a process that even Mayor Michael Bloomberg called “dissatisfying.”

The hearing is the first of several major meetings planned over the next two weeks. Today’s hearing will “focus on larger systematic and operational issues related to the blizzard,” according to James. In particular, it will examine the city’s preparation for the storm, snow removal and the impact of the storm on emergency services. Today, public testimony will not be heard, though the public will be welcome to comment at Friday’s hearings on the MTA’s response, as well as at separate hearings in each individual borough.

Agencies with their feet to the fire include the Department of Sanitation, the Fire Department, Public Safety, Emergency Management and, of course, Bloomberg’s office.

Check back with Park Slope Patch for live updates as the day progresses. The City Council will also be live webcasting the event.

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