Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg was fairly nonchalant about Sunday’s blizzard, which has left New York City caked in twenty inches of snow: “The world has not come to an end,” he said. “A lot of snow everyplace. It was a very heavy snowfall. We’re cleaning it up.” But now that he’s realized the roads are littered with snowed-in vehicles, buses still aren’t running, and everyone’s sinking in muddy slush as they walk around, he’s changed his tune: “This storm is not like any other we’ve had to deal with,” he said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.“We are doing everything we possibly can. It is a bad situation, but the city’s response is the biggest effort to clear snow our city has ever seen.” At one point during the news conference, a reporter said New Yorkers are pissed off about “a lackluster” response to the blizzard on the part of the city. The mayor interrupted, saying: “I’m angry, too.” He added: “You can expect another 24 hours [of snow everywhere], but even then I’m not sure we’ll get to every [block].”
A Sanitation Department spokesman said 95 percent of what are known as primary roads, 62 percent of secondary roads and 18 percent of tertiary roads have been plowed at least once so far. But City Council speaker Christine Quinn released a statement Tuesday afternoon criticizing the city’s storm response: “By all accounts, the collective storm response was not anywhere near up to the standards New Yorkers are accustomed to. This is unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, like Cory Booker before him, Bloomberg is suddenly tweeting up a storm, warning New Yorkers about icy conditions and asking for their (uncharacteristic) patience, though he has yet to respond to any individual Twitter users asking him questions. Of course, Bloomberg’s block has already been plowed. Apparently it’s a primary road.
Mayor Appeals for Patience as City Struggles With Cleanup [NYT]
[Mike Bloomberg/Twitter]
Bloomberg Is Chastened as City Struggles With Cleanup [NYP]
Has Your Street Been Plowed? [City Room/NYT]
