The
following are Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s remarks as delivered today at
the Office of Emergency Management in Downtown Brooklyn:
“This morning, I visited
Sanitation Department crews who are on snow-removal duty. The winter
storm is certainly on everyone’s minds, and I can tell you that there
were a lot of plows on the front of trucks, there
was a big snow melter ready to go if necessary.
“They had one plow that if
we had ten feet of snow, it would blast right through it, but I don’t
think we’re going to need that one. But let me update you on what’s
being called Winter Storm Nemo and the City’s
preparations for it.
“The current forecast from
the National Weather Service – now keep in mind, these are forecasts,
this is a reasonably unpredictable storm. It could turn further
northeast or it could stall and give us more precipitation.
“Right now, as you know,
outside it is all rain. There really isn’t any snow, even when you look
at the grass it’s pretty clean. But the heavy snow is supposed to come
in later on. The National Weather Service says
that this morning it started to snow, turned to rain, back to snow this
afternoon. Likely to fall in a fast and heavy rate – their words –
during much of the evening and overnight period, with the heaviest snow
expected to begin between 3 and 7 pm tonight.
“By the time the storm
passes early Saturday afternoon, we’re expecting to have accumulations
of 10 to 14 inches across the five boroughs, based on the latest from
the National Weather Service. And higher local
accumulations are possible.
“Now, all of that could
change. The storm could move much further east faster, and we could have
an awful lot less snow, which would be great. But we’ve got to prepare
for the worst case, and this is what the National
Weather Service says is the worst case.
“As widely reported, the
storm is resulting from the merging of two low pressure systems, one
approaching from the west – the Chicago area – and one coming up the
Atlantic Coast – from the North Carolina area. And
largely because of the coastal nor’easter, we’ll see sustained winds of
10 to 30 miles an hour, gusts up to 40 or 50 miles an hour.
“This combination of snow
and high winds and the reduced visibility are hazards for travel, and
it’s why we remain under a blizzard warning through 1 pm on Saturday.
“As New Yorkers know all
too well, high winds can also disrupt electrical service in
neighborhoods with overhead lines, as trees topple down or branches
shear off trees and do serious damage.
“Let me just remind you,
if you have a tree come down and there’s a power line down, don’t go
near it. Don’t touch it. Pick up the phone, call 311 and they’ll tell
you what to do and we’ll get a professional crew
there to remove it. Power lines are dangerous, and every time we have a
storm like this – or many times – we do have tragedies occur.
“A final potentially
hazardous element of this storm is some coastal flooding. It is likely
to happen during high tide, which will wash up at the Battery shortly
after 7 pm and along the Long Island Sound shores
of Northern Queens and the Bronx several hours later. The reason it’s
much later there is that the water has to go around Montauk and come all
the way down Long Island Sound before it hits Northern Queens and the
Bronx, whereas the water from the Battery comes
straight in from the ocean.
“Many of the same
communities that were inundated by Hurricane Sandy’s tidal surge just
about 100 days ago are likely to see some moderate coastal flooding this
evening. It’s likely to produce the kind of coastal
flooding that can be expected in these areas during such storms and
people know how to deal with it.
“If your house has been
damaged by Sandy and it’s still without heat, call 311 and we’ll be sure
to find you shelter. And certainly, if you or someone you see has
symptoms like uncontrolled shivering or disorientation,
that may very well be hypothermia and hypothermia can be deadly. So
anyone with these symptoms should get someplace warm immediately.
“Also, please do not use
gas ovens or ranges to heat your homes. That can lead to carbon monoxide
poisoning – which can be fatal.
“Now, as we do during all
emergency weather conditions, our City has a plan of action for keeping
New Yorkers safe, and we’ve already put that plan into motion. And I
would like to describe a little bit about what
our different City agencies are doing and stress some things that we
would ask all New Yorkers to do.
“The first is: Stay off
the city streets, stay out of your cars, and stay in your homes while
the worst of this storm is on us. That’s for your own protection during
potentially hazardous outdoor conditions. It
is why we’ve cancelled all Friday after school activities, including
Public School Athletic League games. Saturday classes and activities at
public schools have also been cancelled.
“Staying off the streets
will make it easier for City workers to clear the streets of snow so
that emergency vehicles can use them.
“Any vehicles found to be
blocking roadways or impeding the flow of traffic will be subject to
towing at the owner’s expense. And by keeping ourselves out of harm’s
way, we’ll reduce the hazards our first responders
have to confront, as well, so there’s double value in doing this.
“Also, there is no need to
do panic buying of gas for your cars; all indications are the gas
supply is plentiful and deliveries will not be disrupted.
“Tonight, what’s a good idea? Cook a meal, stay home, read a good book, watch a movie, just take it easy.
“Remember, there are a lot
of people who are going to be out there shoveling the snow and trying
to plow it to the side, and just don’t want to get in their way. And
also, if you’re out there shoveling snow, be
careful, don’t over-exert yourself with that task. This snow can be
very heavy snow, very wet snow, and you really can strain yourself or
worse.
“Also, as I said this
morning on my radio show, it’s good to look at your neighbors who may
need a little extra help getting through the next several days.
“If you see someone
homeless on the streets or in a public place, just pick up the phone,
call 311. This is no night to be out in the elements, and we will send a
staff right away to help that person.
“Last night, I did order
all Department of Homeless Services staff to double their outreach
efforts to protect unsheltered New Yorkers. That will be true tonight as
well.
“During this high alert
period, Homeless Services staff will check on vulnerable clients every
two hours – or four times per shift. And we are putting on an additional
number of outreach vans on the streets to respond
to 311 calls.
“Also, please use 911
wisely – only for genuine emergencies requiring a response from the
police, firefighters, or emergency service vehicles. Use 311 for all
other calls or inquires to City agencies; we’ve brought
in additional 311 call-takers to handle what we expect to be a higher
than normal volume of calls.
“But if you want to know
whether the plow is coming or whether the schools are closed and that
sort of thing, do not use 911. When you do it, somebody with a real
emergency can’t get through and they may suffer
and may die.
“Let me walk through what
City agencies are doing in response to the storm, starting with
preparing to clear streets and highways of snow.
“City Sanitation workers
are on a full mobilization, and have been since Thursday night. They’re
on 12-hour shifts. The Sanitation Department will deploy something like
1,700 snow plows and 65 front-end loaders.
It also has 450 salt spreaders already deployed. And the Department has
made arrangements with private sector contractors to pull in more than
100 pieces of additional heavy equipment for cleaning residential
streets.
“The Sanitation Department
plows, as you know, are now GPS-equipped, and New Yorkers can track the
progress of snow removal in their neighborhood online at
nyc.gov using the ‘Plow NYC’ feature. I have used it myself.
“The way it basically
works is you put in your address and it’s updated only once every half
an hour, but we color code the streets. When the plow goes down it stays
one color for the first hour, then it switches
to another color, then to another color, and it really gives you what
you need to know, whether or not you’ve been plowed.
“At the Sanitation
garages, they have a much more sophisticated and hard to use version of
that where they can actually talk to and know where every single plow
is, knowing the number of the plow, and you can look
up the name of the driver and know how fast they’re going and all that
kind of information that’s useful for managing the plowing and sanding
fleet. But in terms of the public, we want something that’s simple and
it does work. Plug in your address, be careful
to do it accurately, and you will find out when the last time a plow
went down your street.
“The Departments of Parks,
Environmental Protection, and Transportation, those three departments,
are supplementing, you should know, the snow removal effort with their
own equipment. The Transportation Department
also has 17 anti-icing vehicles working on the roadways on the East
River Bridges.
“In addition, the NYPD has
a fleet of 95 tow trucks on the streets and prepared to remove stalled
vehicles, with additional tow trucks being deployed by the Departments
of Transportation and Parks. And we have also
31 private tow trucks included in this force. So we’ve got a whole
system of pulling together all the resources, all the tow trucks, and we
certainly think we have enough.
“Finally, to assist with
snow removal, street cleaning and parking meter regulations will be
suspended citywide today and tomorrow.
[Note: Parking meter regulations are still in effect today but will be suspended tomorrow.]
“Tonight, the Fire
Department will have 100 additional ambulances on the streets; they’ll
have snow chains on their tires and snow removal equipment and other
special equipment on board. And because snow conditions
can make fighting fires even more difficult, the FDNY has added an
additional firefighter to each of their engine units starting with
tonight’s tours of duty.
“Because of the likelihood
of moderate coastal flooding, the FDNY also has prepositioned a number
of its waterborne rescue units in the city’s low-lying coastal areas.
The NYPD has Emergency Services Units in these
areas as well, and they’ll be beefing up police patrols in those
neighborhoods.
“The Police Department
will also be putting additional highway patrol units on duty to help
stranded motorists. But what would be great is if you left work early
today, got home, parked your car in a legal parking
place, and if you have to go around use mass transit. What we don’t
want are cars getting stuck in the middle of the road. That keeps us
from plowing and it just, if you’ll pardon the pun, snowballs the
problem. You’ve got to get home safely, rush hour, but
get your car off the street or to the side of the road where it’s
parked and that will help everybody.
“As to mass transit, we’ve
spent a lot of time talking to the State agency. The MTA believes that
underground subway service will be operating close to normal throughout
the rush hour today. And after that, some
trains will be stored underground for safety, and much of the rest will
offer local service only. It is also likely that MTA bus service will
be reduced as the snow intensifies, and for the duration of the storm.
“For example, they will
not be operating these big articulated buses. They’re just so big that
the wind can push them around, and so the bus service may be curtailed
to some extent. If there is a subway where you’re
going, I would suggest that you take that.
“The MTA also has put on
extra commuter trains ahead of the normal evening rush hour and is
strongly urging their riders to use them. Northbound Amtrak service from
Penn Station has also been suspended because of
the storm.
“If you look at the
weather map, there’s going to be an awful lot more snow, it is predicted
to be greater, north and east of where we are as you go towards
Massachusetts.
“Our human services
agencies are also responding to the storm as you would expect. By the
end of this afternoon, all Department for the Aging home-delivered meal
programs will have delivered extra meals to last
through the weekend in case we can’t get there tomorrow or Sunday. Over
15,000 seniors will receive this service.
“All City senior centers
will be open until 3 pm today. However, we are encouraging New Yorkers
to stay at home if possible, especially our seniors. And senior centers
will be closed tomorrow, Saturday. So senior
centers closed tomorrow, don’t go down and expect to find them open.
Stay at home is a good rule.
“The Department of
Buildings also has issued an advisory warning to property owners and
building contractors to secure their construction sites, and tie down
loose materials and equipment. Inspectors are performing
spot-checks to make sure workers are taking the proper precautions.
“All permits issued to
film crews by the Mayor’s Office of Film and Media Entertainment
Saturday has been suspended. So we won’t be making movies, it just gets
in the way of everything else.
“We’ll provide additional
information about this storm as it’s available. For the latest details
on City services and alerts, you can visit our severe weather webpage at
nyc.gov.
“You can sign up on
nyc.gov
for Notify NYC text and e-mail alerts. And you can follow NYCgov on
Twitter and Facebook. You can also send a text to 311 about any snow
issues. The number to text is 311-NYC, or 311-692.
“For instance, if you text
about a particular street that has yet to be plowed, a 311
representative will make sure that information is passed along to the
Sanitation Department. But remember, we do the primary
streets first, then we do the secondaries, then the tertiaries. And on
the
nyc.gov, if you go to Plow NYC, you can see how your street is designated – primary, secondary or tertiary.
“NYC.gov can also tell you how to volunteer for snow removal duties tomorrow if you are interested in doing that.”
