Mayor Calls City's Blizzard Response "Unacceptable"

By: NY1 News

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg is once again slamming the city’s response to last weekend’s blizzard, calling it “inadequate and unacceptable.”

Bloomberg made the comments after touring Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx Thursday morning and meeting with elected officials and residents.

"As I've said several times before, our response to the storm was inadequate and unacceptable," said the mayor.

The mayor was widely criticized for allegedly focusing too much of the storm response on Manhattan and not the other four boroughs.

He says the Sanitation Department has met its goal of plowing every street at least once – except those with abandoned cars. But that doesn't necessarily mean that all streets are all clear just yet.

Aerial footage of Borough Park, Brooklyn shot just after 7 a.m. showed streets that still had not been cleared. Some of the streets were still blocked by vehicles – preventing plows from getting through.

Even though the mayor's snow tour was carefully choreographed, many of those appearing alongside him weren't shy about sharing their own critique of the cleanup.

"We all failed. Even though I don't directly control sanitation, I'm an elected official as well. We all failed," said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

"Nearly every community has called up: 'Where is the plow? Where is the plow?' We have got to clear the streets. It is dangerous," said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall.

In Sunset Park, crews with front-end loaders were working to clear the streets.

In Bay Ridge, some taxpayers were driven to hire private contractors to help remove the snow in their streets.

According to the city, all stuck buses have been cleared.

As city officials work to determine whether federal funding is warranted for the cleanup, Bloomberg adds that crews are working around the clock to get it all done.

Unpaved Sidewalks Can Result In Fines

According to Sanitation Department rules and regulations, homeowners are required to clear a path with four hours after a storm is over.

The fine for not doing so can be as much as $150 for first-time offenders.

“What we are looking for is to get a path down that sidewalk,” said DOS Commissioner John Doherty. “If that sidewalk is 20-feet wide or 10-feet wide, we don't expect the whole sidewalk to be clear. We want a path. I think its common courtesy for homeowners, building owners, shopkeepers, to get a path so people can get around the city, to help us out.”

If the snow is frozen to the sidewalk and is unable to be removed, the department suggests spreading sand or sawdust so that people can walk through.

City officials are asking that New Yorkers clear away the snow from fire hydrants, in case of emergency.

"Nobody is satisfied. We're accountable, I'm accountable,” said the mayor. “But the bottom line is I'm more focused on making sure that the men and women in this city who have worked so hard, a lot of them without a lot of sleep, keep at the job."

"We will start assessing whether overall in the state we meet a mandated amount of damage, or cost, that are eligible,” said Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Bruno. “Then we look county by county and see if they meet mandated amounts. And so we are not at all late. We're actually compiling the cost of the storm right now. And if it's appropriate, like we did with the tornado, we put it in."

Many residents and community leaders are still fuming over the city's response.

"I was stranded for three days myself,” said City Councilwoman Deborah Rose. “I could not get out. And my neighbors were looking at me like, ‘what is wrong with you? Why can't you make this better?’ Something went drastically wrong with this snow removal.”

“Bring back Rudolph Giuliani, because he knew how to control the city and be a leader,” said one city resident.

Councilwoman Rose plans to survey residents about the city's response to the storm. She expects to submit the responses to the City Council during its hearing next month.

Some, though, are now blaming sanitation workers for the snowy mess. They've been accused of deliberately slowing the clean up to protest budget cuts.

"I don't think it took place, but we are going to to do an investigation to make sure that it didn't. It would be an outrage if it took place, but I just don't know,' said Mayor Bloomberg.

The president of the sanitation workers union says there was no attempt to disrupt the blizzard response.

"This is not a slowdown. We will not jeopardize people of New York City when it comes to snow. We have never done it. We never will," said Harry Nespoli of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association.

Meanwhile, airlines are still struggling to get holiday travelers to their destinations -- and frustrations over lacking customer service are growing.

Many travelers trying to rebook flights complained they were put on hold for hours or received an automated message saying to call back later, with no option to hold even if you wanted to.

Even Wednesday, about 200 flights were canceled at area airports.

Some stranded travelers might not be able to get off the ground until this weekend.