Under Pressure, City Performs Much Better

The crippled the city and exposed holes in Mayor Bloomberg's administration. And although last night's snow storm was predicted to only be a fraction of the size, Bloomberg took no chances and deployed all the city resources he could to prove that New York City has snow under control.

About 8 inches fell in Central Brooklyn last night and by 5 a.m. the streets were deemed safe enough to send public school children to school. By 9:00 am today, a walk through Bedford-Stuyvesant showed most of the main streets had been cleared, but many of the smaller streets were still unplowed.

But can the two storms even be compared?

"The city's response for 9 years has been exemplary," Bloomberg said at a press conference this morning at the Office of Emergency Management in downtown Brooklyn. "Things did not work in that one storm, each one is different."

"We always want to improve," he added.

Bloomberg reported the Department of Sanitation had deployed 2,400 workers, 365 salt spreaders and 1,700 plows and said by mid-day today every New York City street will be plowed at least once.

In a shift in policy, Bloomberg said, additional resources from other city agencies such as the Parks Department and the Department of Transportation joined the snow removal process from the outset.

Twenty-two ambulances were fitted with chains on their tires, Bloomberg said, to test if that would help in case they got stuck in the snow. Unfortunately, no plows were stuck at all, so the test proved fruitless.

GPS tracking devices that had been installed on 50 Sanitation Trucks were so successful that the city has committed to putting one in each truck. Bloomberg said the devices cost $40 a month.

"It's not terribly expensive in the grand scheme of things," he said. "It's not that big a deal."

An was last night, which gave the city the ability to tow cars that were blocking the road and hindering plows. Bloomberg said 30 cars have been towed, which is roughly the same number as any normal night without snow. The declaration has been lifted.

Schools were open because, as Bloomberg said, it was safer to have the kids in school, and in this economy, parents shouldn't have to decide between getting a paycheck and taking care of their kids.

311 was used heavily, and 6 - 7 a.m. this morning was the busiest hour on record, Bloomberg said, with 45,000 calls.

Alternate side parking is suspended tomorrow, and meters have yet to be determined. Trash and recycling pick-up will resume tomorrow or Friday. Check back for updates.