Good afternoon, New York.
Tomorrow, our city will face its second snowstorm in less than a month and our first blizzard since 2016. Right now, forecasts predict light snow will begin to fall tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM.
Over the course of the day, it will grow heavier, with intense snowfall beginning at 6:00 PM and dangerous winds increasing overnight, conditions that will persist through Monday morning and into the evening.
We are now expecting between 13 and 17 inches of snow. But there is a slight chance we may see up to 20 inches, or even more. This means we are forecasted to receive up to 6 inches more than fell a few weeks ago.
New Yorkers can expect that the Monday morning commute will be extremely hazardous, with heavy snowfall and peak winds coinciding to create slippery conditions and greatly reduced visibility.
Combined with daytime temperatures slipping above freezing, and overnight lows dropping to the low 20s, this snowfall will melt, then refreeze, resulting in dangerously icy sidewalks and streets.
I am asking all New Yorkers to stay inside and stay off the roads for your safety. These have the potential to be even more hazardous conditions than we faced in the last storm.
To protect our homeless and most vulnerable New Yorkers, Code Blue operations will take effect once again, starting at 4:00 PM this afternoon. That means our dedicated outreach teams will intensify their operations, traversing all five boroughs 24/7 to bring those most at risk inside.
Let me be clear: no one will be denied shelter.
We want every New Yorker who needs help seeking warmth to be able to find it.
We will have 18 warming buses, 11 Health + Hospitals warming spaces, 13 school warming centers open across the city—and we are redeploying H+H mobile warming units to provide clinical support, socks, gloves and warm food. We are also keeping our on-point overdose prevention centers open overnight through the blizzard.
You will be able to find the locations of all our warming centers on a LinkNYC kiosk by 6:00 AM tomorrow morning.
Once again, I am asking that New Yorkers continue looking out for their neighbors. If you see someone in need, please call 311 immediately so our outreach workers and first responders at FDNY and NYPD can provide assistance. For those who may not have easy access to a phone, you can call 311 directly from our LinkNYC kiosks to seek help.
If you are having issues with the heat and hot water in your apartments, call your landlord first. If you don’t hear back quickly, call 311. We have inspectors and staff working overtime this weekend at HPD.
NYCHA residents in need of non-emergency assistance
DSNY has already begun pre-snow operations, preparing equipment, mounting plows and chains on over 2,200 vehicles, and loading up more than 700 salt-spreaders.
When more than two inches of snow have fallen, plows will be dispatched across our city. New Yorkers will be able to monitor their work in real time via our plow tracker at https://plownyc.
Tomorrow morning, this fleet will roll into action with over 2,600 sanitation workers beginning 12-hour shifts, salting as the first snow begins to fall, before commencing plowing operations once snow has reached a plowable depth.
While DSNY focuses on snow clearing in response to this blizzard, they will be running at least one day behind on garbage and recycling collection.
DOT crews have already begun pre-treating road surfaces on Sunday and will follow an extended schedule on Monday to ensure our bridges and highways are treated and cleared throughout the storm.
The Parks Department will also mobilize their own fleet to clear over 2,000 miles of pathways in parks across the city.
We are currently anticipating some level of flooding in Jamaica Bay, Staten Island and the Battery. If that occurs, the city will deploy field response teams and determine further interagency actions from DEP, DOT and FDNY.
We are always seeking ways to improve our efforts to support New Yorkers.
That's why ahead of this storm our agencies have made several changes to enhance our storm preparedness and service citywide.
Here’s what we’re doing differently:
We’ve brought in outside mechanical snow-clearing equipment ahead of the snowfall—an unprecedented early activation of this resource.
We are expanding geocoded tracking of bus stops, unsheltered stops, crosswalks, and pedestrian ramps to improve the rate at which they’re cleared.
We are also mandating that a path of at least 4 feet must be cleared across all sidewalks to accommodate wheelchairs.
All operational agencies will be paying increased attention to clearing fire hydrants, crosswalks, and bus stops around their property as part of our primary snow-clearing operation.
Lyft has committed to greatly expand the number of CitiBike station snow-clearing crews, expediting their snow removal efforts. DOT will remain in contact with Lyft throughout the storm.
DSNY will deploy over 1,000 Emergency Snow Shovelers beginning Sunday night—another early activation.
To aid this effort, we’ve added an additional evening shift with 300 shovelers in advance of the height of the storm, and we’re utilizing 33 DSNY vans and 2 DSNY buses to transport shovelers where they’re needed, faster.
And for those who want to do more to help your neighbors and earn some extra cash, you too can become an Emergency Snow Shoveler.
Just show up to your local Sanitation Garage between 8am and 1pm tomorrow with your paperwork—accessible online at NYC-dot-gov-slash-snow—and you can get started right away.
While we have not yet made a final decision regarding in-person school for Monday, we are monitoring conditions and will communicate a decision to students, teachers and parents by noon tomorrow. The safety of our students and staff remains our top priority.
Alternate side parking will be suspended for Monday.
I urge all New Yorkers to sign up for NotifyNYC by texting NOTIFYNYC to 692-692 to stay informed on the latest forecast and conditions. You can also visit NYC.gov/BeReady for more information.
As always New York—stay warm, stay inside, stay prepared, stay safe.
Thank you.
