Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Update on Winter Storm at Department of Sanitation Central Repair Shop

January 3, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio: All right. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the CRS – the Central Repair Shop of the sanitation department, here in Woodside. It’s also the Queens four garage. I want to thank everyone for being here. We have a lot to update you on. I have a few acknowledgements I’d like to make at the beginning. The first and the most important acknowledgement is to thank the men and women of the sanitation department, who are doing an extraordinary job in the midst of this crisis. I have to tell you that the folks standing behind me are really heroes. They are doing amazing work these last 24 hours, but I can also tell you – they’re servicing their vehicle as we speak – I can also tell you – I talked about it around the time of Sandy, but I want to repeat it again publicly – in the days and weeks after Sandy, wherever I went all over the city, people who were affected by Sandy talked about all of the first responders that helped them, but there was a special love and appreciation they felt for the sanitation workers who did such an extraordinary job helping people get their lives back to normal. I just want to thank you – every one of you for what you’re doing to help this city.

I want to thank Commissioner Doherty for his extraordinary leadership. It would have been nice to have talked about how to handle a snowstorm in like, an abstract exercise, but we didn’t get to do that. We got the real thing and I do want to thank you, commissioner, for your great leadership and teamwork with all the other agencies. I want to thank my good friend, Harry Nespoli of Local 831, representing all the sanitation workers of this city. I want to thank him for his friendship and leadership. I want to thank Councilmember Liz Crowley – now, this is your district. Yes?

Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley: I think so, yes. [Inaudible]

Mayor: Right on the border. Okay, right on the border with Councilmember Van Bramer – they are two good friends I’ve worked with for many years. I want to thank them for their leadership and for being here today as we update the people of the city. Council members – and I can say this from personal experience – council members are one of the frontline leaders. Our council members are out there in the communities, informing people of what’s going on. I can tell you, during any crisis like this, people call their local council office looking for help, looking for direction. So I want to thank you for the leadership that you’re showing.
All right, well we can safely say we’ve had our first significant snow fall of the new year. It appears at this moment that the storm has passed. It’s left us just a little short of ten inches of snow, but obviously, a lot of dislocation has been caused and we’re doing a lot to make sure that we are responding as we speak. Even though the snow has ended, the travel conditions are obviously still very, very difficult. I want to pick up where we were yesterday. I want to say that the most important thing is that people should not be on the roads today, if there’s any way they can help it. I want to emphasize that for several reasons. Before I just talk about the safety reason, I want to reference back these good people who are working so hard to clear the roads and keep things safe.

I also had the honor, last night, of stopping by my home garage – at BK6 garage in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. You have to realize how hard these guys are working and we can help them by getting out of their way, so they can clear the streets. I want to say to my fellow New Yorkers, if you want safe, clear streets – stay home and let these good folks at sanitation do their job to clear the streets. Obviously, the other reason to stay home is for safety. It’s very slick out there. It’s hard to drive out there – the wind, the ice. There’s a lot of blowing snow still so that’s going to affect visibility. If you do not need to travel today, please stay home.

I'm going to say it again – if you do not need to travel today, please stay home. If you do have to travel, take mass transit. Yes, there will be some delays, but it will be safe and it will help us to get the city 100 percent back in full running order. We want people to stay off the streets, but in the meantime, I have to tell you the extraordinary work of the sanitation department. I am so appreciative to all the members of New York’s Strongest for what they’ve been doing. It’s working. You can see as you go out there, the extraordinary impact they’ve had already.

The members of the sanitation department are now continuing to work 12-hour shifts and it’s tough work, let me assure you. And they will continue with 12-hour shifts until snow removal is complete. They have a pretty daunting task – 6,200 miles of roadways to cover, but they’re doing a great job of it. As of 4 am – and I am an expert at the conditions as of 4 am because we had a 4 am conference call to discuss the school situation. I was one of the most informed people in New York City at 4 am this morning. As of 4 am, there are nearly 2,500 sanitation, DOT, DEP and parks plows out on our streets. I want to thank all those agencies for their cooperation and making their equipment available under the leadership of the sanitation department. Again, the snow began to taper off around 8 am, but there will be the problem of blowing snow. The wind conditions are substantial. We’re going to definitely see some serious gusts, so there will be blowing snow throughout the day. That blowing snow, of course, makes the work of sanitation and the other agencies harder because they move snow and then in some cases, it blows right back on to the street, so they have to keep going over it again and again.

That being said, the statistics of what they’ve done so far are entirely, entirely impressive and every New Yorker should be grateful when you hear this – 100 percent of primary roads have been plowed, 92 percent of secondary roads, 93 percent of tertiary roads. That’s an extraordinary level of performance under tough conditions. The sanitation department has also brought in private contractors, particularly to focus on the tertiary roads.

As for the normal role that sanitation plays, there will not be trash or recycling pickups until snow clearing efforts are complete. Commissioner Doherty is focused on trying to get that complete as quickly as possible, so he can go back and get the team back to trash and recycling pickups, but that will wait until we know this job is done. Again, as we talked about yesterday, alternate-side parking regulations are suspended today – suspended today. There’s a few parts of the city that have Saturday alternate-side. They will be suspended as well. So, alternate-side parking suspended today and where it exists, will be suspended tomorrow. But I caution that parking meters remain in effect. Sometime in the – centuries from now, a new civilization will look back and they’ll still find our parking meters are in effect. In all situations, parking meters remain in effect.
Now, the crews that are doing this work, that are working so hard – again, we need to get out of their way. We need to let them do their work and we can help them to do their work. One, by staying off the roads, but two, to my fellow homeowners – and I was shoveling this morning and I would say to all other homeowners, particularly in the outer boroughs, you need to help us. If you have a hydrant in front of your house, please shovel it out. Do that public service and shovel out the hydrant in front of your house.

I know that sanitation has done a great job bringing in additional labors to focus on crosswalks, to focus on bus stops, and we need as much help as we can from residents to do their part of the equation. Commissioner Doherty has reminded me of this important fact – do not shovel snow into the street. He’s my conscience. Again, as a homeowner who shovels my walk, I think it’s a very important admonishment. So, we all have to remember, put the snow on the sidewalk, not into the street. If anyone was watching me this morning, I had an unusual situation because the area in front of my house has been blocked off, so it’s not a place where people park. So, I made a little exception there.

Now, we have both NYPD and private tow trucks mobilized for removing stalled vehicles from the streets. We’re hoping the best way to avoid stalled vehicles is for people to not go out and drive. But where we have stalled vehicles, there’s a very substantial supply of both NYPD and private tow trucks to remove those vehicles. The best thing that people can do of course is to stay safe, to stay warm, and stay indoors. I don’t want people to forget just how cold it is. I'm going to talk about it in a moment, but it is deceptively cold out there and it’s going to get colder when the sun goes down.

Anyone who can stay indoors, that’s smart in terms of your own health and wellbeing. If you want to know how things are going with our efforts to clear the streets, you can check the PlowNYC function at nyc.gov. It’s extraordinary. You get to see exactly where the snow plows are working in your neighborhood at that moment. If you have snow-related issues, problems, inquiries, call 9-1-1. Again, anything that is not an emergency, call 9 – excuse me, 3-1-1. Someone catch me here – call 3-1-1. Let me retake that one. If you have snow problems, issues, inquiries, call 3-1-1 – 3-1-1. Only in an emergency, call 9-1-1. I constantly have to emphasize this – anything that is not an emergency goes to 3-1-1. If you see an emergency situation, if you’re experiencing an emergency yourself, or you see someone in dire distress, that’s when you call 9-1-1.
Now, emergency response times, of course, have been affected by these conditions. It’s a small delay – about a minute additional response time delay – because of the snow and the traffic conditions, but I know that all of our emergency services are working hard to reduce that delay. Ambulances have been outfitted with chains or cables for traction, so they’re making their calls, they’re getting through, but there is a slight delay.

I’ll talk about travel conditions and the situation with our city agencies. Of course, travel is very difficult, but city workers have been reporting to their workplaces and with very few exceptions, city offices are open and functioning. Some things that are shut down or altered today – all City University of New York classes are cancelled today. All CUNY classes cancelled. New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library branches will open at noon and they will close at their regular times. Queens libraries are open on their regular schedules.

Now, early this morning – and I emphasize the word early – at 4 am, we made the decision to close the public schools. There was a very deliberative conversation of – a number of agencies participating, but we came to the conclusion that with this really extraordinarily cold temperatures, and with the obvious delays that would happen in mass transit and in school buses, we didn’t want our children exposed to a situation that would be very windy, icy and very, very cold. So we made a decision that this was the kind of condition that warranted the closing of the schools. All afterschool and public school – PSAL after-school programs and events will be cancelled today.

The – oh, yes – here in my notes is an important fact I just want to clarify – that I did some of my own shoveling as I mentioned, but after that, someone who did not go to school today picked up a shovel and got to work doing his share. Dante is not an early riser, but he has now contributed to the clearing of the sidewalks of our city, commissioner. Dante did from the door to the sidewalk and then he’s doing more on the sidewalk as it accumulates and he will be in charge from this point on. I think I led by example and now, it’s time for the young generation to pick up the challenge.

As we mentioned before, mass transit is obviously the best way to get around. Some updates – the Staten Island Ferry has been operating on a modified rush hour schedule. The East River Ferry is running. The Rockaway Ferry is not running. Not surprisingly, buses are delayed, but they are still moving. Subways and commuter trains are running, but there have been changes to service. If you want updates on our trains and buses, the best course of action is to check out www.mta.info – www.mta.info before you head out.

I want to talk about the cold outside. It is deceptively cold. It’s the coldest it’s been all year and people I think, sometimes think, it doesn’t feel so bad, but if you stay out there too long, it will feel bad and it will be dangerous, particularly to folks who are vulnerable, the folks with medical challenges to young children. So, I don’t want anyone to underestimate just how bitterly cold it is and it’s going to get a lot colder in a few hours. The high temperature today will be 18 degrees. Obviously, with wind chill, it could be a lot less depending on where you are – so, a high of 18 degrees. By this evening, the temperatures will go down to 0 – 0 degrees and of course, with wind chill, it will be worse. It will be in the negatives.

That is one of the reasons why our Department of Homeless Services is again out in full force, and I ask the people of New York City, if you see a homeless person in distress, if you see someone who needs help, please call 3-1-1 and an outreach team will go out immediately to help that individual. If your building is not experiencing or receiving the heat it deserves, if you’re not warm, call your building management. If that is not working, call 3-1-1 right away. We do not want people to go without heat. We don’t want them improvising. as I talked about yesterday. Sometimes, people try and improvise a solution when they don’t have heat and that could be very dangerous and create a threat of fire. Please, if you’re not getting the heat you need, call your building owner or call 3-1-1.

Our focus today, of course, is on the health and safety of all New Yorkers. We want everyone to watch out for each other. Senior centers are closed today. All senior centers are closed, so I ask all New Yorkers to keep an eye out for their fellow New Yorkers who happen to be seniors. If someone needs a little help, they need some food, they need some help with anything in their day-to-day life, please try to be there for them.
As you’re walking around today, if you go outside, be very careful when you’re walking. It’s very slippery. Try to limit the amount of time you’re out there, but when you’re out there, please walk very carefully. One other point about our parks – and I have a family where days like this, the first impulse of the younger generation is to go find a sled and go sledding. Well, I understand that, but I want to note, it’s very, very cold. It’s unusually cold. We are urging our young people and our parents to remember, the best option today is stay close to home. Best option is to not be outside too long. It’s very, very cold in our parks right now so staying out there too long is dangerous.

We’re going to have a lot of snow this winter. There’ll be other opportunities to get out there and have fun, but hopefully in temperatures that aren’t quite this brutal, so I’d like to urge caution. Everyone here that you see behind me is working very hard today to keep this city safe. We owe them a debt of gratitude. We admire their professionalism. We will continue to give you updates as we get new information. I'm going to say a few more things and then we’re going to take questions just on the topic of the storm. We have a lot we need to cover. We’re going to just focus on the storm. If you have other topics, we’ll get to that at the next opportunity.

Again, final point before I offer just a little Spanish – if you have questions, if you have issues, if you have needs that are not emergency needs, call 3-1-1 or go to nyc.gov. If there is a true emergency, someone’s life is in danger, then use 9-1-1.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

Mayor: With that, we welcome your questions. Dave?

Question: Mayor, can I just ask you, this may just be anecdotal but, for example, driving from the West Side in Manhattan to here in Woodside – at 44th and Second Avenue, the streets were not in great shape and the buses were having some trouble. They were sliding back down [inaudible] So my question is, was there a decision – because in the past it seemed that Manhattan was favored – that the inverse is happening now, that we see more trouble in Manhattan and the outer boroughs are in great shape?

Mayor: You have a rich imagination. No. We are working in all five boroughs, equally. I believe that that is not only a philosophical idea that I believe in strongly, it’s also the fundamental belief of this department to help each and every neighborhood equally. And there’s going to be some areas that, just because of local conditions, are harder to handle. We had different levels of snowfall around the city. We’ve had different wind conditions around the city, so there are going to be natural variations. But I can safely say, having seen the sanitation department command center, they’re constantly updating, constantly making adjustments to cover the areas in need. And those numbers I gave early about the amount of initial coverage are extraordinary, and that obviously makes clear that all five boroughs are being treated very completely. So if there are particular problem points, we want to know about them and we want to get right to work on them. Yeah?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Just louder, please?

Question: The storm is not over yet, but this is your first big unfolding crisis since becoming mayor, so describe for me how you feel about how your administration has handled it –

Mayor: Well, the first thing I feel is I’m very proud of the people who work for this city, and we have the finest workforce anywhere in the country and they’re showing it right now. They have jumped to action and the energy and professionalism is extraordinary, so I’m proud to be a New Yorker today and I’m proud of the people who work for the city of New York. In terms of the coordination levels – look, everyone here knows it’s sometimes hard for different agencies to get on the same page. But I have to tell you, I’ve been so impressed from the moment we gathered everyone at the Office of Emergency Management. There’s a tremendous devotion to coordination here. The fact that other agencies put their plows at the disposal of the sanitation department and recognized leadership of the sanitation department in this situation – it’s a great vignette to show the kind of cooperation we’re experiencing. So I feel great about the response. We are vigilant. We are not out of this yet. We’re – it’s not over – as a great man said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over. But I like what I see in terms of the rigor and intensity of the city response. Yes?

Question: If you could give a grade to your team today, what grade would you give them?

Mayor: Based on the information I have right now, I give everyone an A for extraordinary effort and extraordinary effectiveness. But again, it – that’s at this hour, this day. I don’t rest on any laurels. We got a lot more work to do and it’s going to be difficult out there, so, you know, ask me my grade again in a few hours because this is an hour-to-hour thing. We have to keep at it and we’re very focused on it.

Question: What grade for Dante?

Mayor: I give Dante an A for effort and a D for punctuality.

Question: Also on your son, it seems like from what was going around the internet yesterday, that he was kind of lobbying a little bit whether not – whether there would not be school today. Did he talk to you at all? What conversation did you have with him?

Mayor: You know what George Washington said, that famous thing about – he cannot tell a lie. So I cannot tell a lie. If Dante was not lobbying me, there would be something wrong with him. Of course, he’s 16. But unfortunately, the decision takes many more factors into account than Dante’s opinions. So the fact is this was a very tough decision. And I want to thank all – we had a lot of people on that 4 am conference call, from a lot of agencies. And it’s not something you do lightly, but the more we looked at the specific conditions and the temperature, I think, was probably the single most important factor. And in the back and forth, when we thought about the fact that a lot of our young people, including very small children, might have to be waiting for long periods of time at a bus stop, for example – whether it’s a public bus or a school bus – that was one of the tiebreakers, from my point of view – the notion that at this kind of bitter cold, we did not want small children just out there exposed. And when we factored everything together, it became clear to everyone that it was the right thing to do.

Question: A lot of people who are –

Mayor: Louder.

Question: A lot of people who are most affected when there is no school are people – low-income workers who are not on salaries. Did that play a role in your decision as well?

Mayor: These decisions, by definition, you have to think about everything. But I think the safety of our children is the single-most important factor here. So when I heard all the facts, it was clear to me there were some particular challenges today. Maybe if we had warmer temperatures and different dynamics, the sheer amount of inches of snow wouldn’t have been enough to stop us. But when you added the cold, you know, bitter, bitter cold, the wind, the icy conditions, I think it was the right thing to do. Sally?

Question: Do you have any numbers on emergency response delays?

Mayor: All I know is that the average at this moment is a one-minute delay per run.

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: At this moment, from everything I have heard, everything has functioned well, and despite the delay, everyone has been served well. Marcia?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Well, I am not a native Spanish speaker, so I’m going to say that native Spanish speakers can give those grades. I have a lot of work to do on my Spanish. It was much stronger many years ago, so I’m going to be doing a lot of work over time, but I’m trying my best. I think – I think our fellow New Yorkers, who are Spanish speakers, do appreciate when any of us try to do our best to communicate and give them important information in their native language. I don’t think anyone has the illusion I’m doing it as well as I should, but I’m trying to get – at least get something out there to be helpful to people. Grace? Oh, I’m sorry.

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: Oh, I’m sorry. I think there’s a big difference. Gracie Mansion is the people’s house, and obviously there are people who work there and they do a great job there and that’s their job to keep the place, and I respect that. My house on 11th Street is my house, it’s my responsibility to keep that walk clear. So – and it will continue to be because I will continue to own that house. So sometimes it will be me, sometimes it might be someone else, but I actually have to make sure that sidewalk is clear whenever the snow hits. Grace?

Question: You mentioned the 4 am conference call [inaudible] Tell us about the rest of your night.

Mayor: Oh, I had a great night. It was – it was not the most sleep-filled night. I know a lot of people here did not get a lot of sleep last night, so I’m in solidarity with these hardworking men and women. But I will say I have never done a 4 am conference call in my life. I’ve been on a lot of conference calls, but not 4 am conference call. It was amazing how lucid everyone was, but I did note that people tended to keep their statements shorter than usual. But no, I don’t think any of us got a lot of sleep, but we all know we’re all in this together.

Question: Can you tell us about how many times each road gets plowed –

Mayor: Louder.

Question: Can you tell us how many times each road gets plowed?

Mayor: Let me the expert handle that.

Commissioner John Doherty, Department of Sanitation: It really varies depending on the situation out there. Sometimes you can go through a street, plow it once and you’re done with it. Other times you may have to go through three and four times. Last night was a storm where we had to go repeatedly on many streets, particularly the primary streets, the highway streets. The wind kept blowing the snow back in, so we didn’t get into our secondary and tertiary as quick as we would like, therefore we had some streets out there this morning that we had to go into and complete the plowing operation. We’ll continue to do that today.

Question: Some secondary and tertiary roads that haven’t been plowed – whereabouts are those?

Commissioner Doherty: Excuse me, again?

Question: Some roads haven’t that been plowed yet –

Commissioner Doherty: Yeah, they’re – we said that in the beginning. There are some plows that – streets out there that haven’t been plowed and we’re working on it. I think the key when you look at how we responded – the city responded to this storm is always, was the emergency vehicles able to get to where they needed to get to? And we did that. Roads were passable. Yeah, was there some snow in them? Did somebody get stuck once in a while? Absolutely. Do we have some more plowing to do? Absolutely. But we were able to keep this city moving no matter what the situation was last night, and that was the key to it.

Question: [Inaudible]

Commissioner Doherty: Well, I think that’s a good point because I’m concerned that, as the sun comes out today, you started to see more blacktop coming up, and as the day goes on you’ll see a lot more of that. But unless that road dries – and some roadways will dry today with the traffic and the breeze blowing on them – but it can be misleading, because it will also tighten up tonight. When that temperature drops down to 4 or 5 degrees, it’s going to tighten up. So people can be misled, being out there today and then go out tonight and say, oh, I’m going to go along at 50 or 60 miles an hour. So that’s why the mayor has emphasized from the very beginning, please don’ t go out unless you have to. And if you – I’ve always emphasized, if you have to go out, be a good driver, think about what you’re doing. And I must thank the public because last night, thanks to the mayor who made all the announcements, we did have the roads to ourselves, and it made it a lot easier for these men and women behind me today.

Mayor: I think we do owe a debt of gratitude to the people of New York City because they did respond last night, and I want to amplify the commissioner’s point. The people of this city heard the message. They largely stayed home. They let these hardworking men and women do their job. We need them to do that again tonight. Stay back so that people can continue this important work. And also, what the commissioner said is crucial. It will be icy out there tonight. It will be very difficult driving conditions. People need to stay home to the maximum extent possible. When you really must go out, try to see if there is a mass transit option that will get you where you need to go. Yeah? Let me do – oh, hold on a second. I’m going to do that one, and then I owe these guys a turn, so we’ll give them a few – just a couple extras.

Question: Mr. Mayor, I was wondering if there were any issues with the Citi Bike stations that are out there with the plows –

Mayor: No.

Question: This question is for the commissioner. Sir, how would you rank this administration’s snow response to the Bloomberg administration’s snow response?

Mayor: Three days in here.

Commissioner Doherty: I’ve been asked twice this morning by reporters on a radio or TV. Is it any different than this one? I’ve been working for mayors since Koch at different levels, and every mayor I’ve worked for, all they want is that snow to disappear and the people to be able to get out there as quickly as possible. This mayor is no different than any other mayor I’ve worked for when it comes to that. He wants the job done, and he wants the streets cleared. And that’s what we do.

Question: [Inaudible]

Commissioner Doherty: I manage the job. He just makes sure that I manage it right.

Mayor: Amen.

[Laughter]

Mayor: Well, this is my new communications director. As you see, he has a great penchant for the perfect statement. Yeah, first of all, exactly right. Second of all, guys, we’re three days into this, so let’s be clear. You know, when you want to compare apples and apples, let’s do that. But right now, we’re focused on solving this crisis. The clear reality here is we have an extraordinary workforce. That –again, I think Commissioner Doherty said some very important points there. We have an extraordinary workforce that’s here, regardless of who is mayor. We have some extraordinary leaders in the agencies, civil servants who are here regardless of who is mayor. And I think every mayor is concerned to protect the health and safety of our people. But I’m just thrilled that people have gotten into action so effectively and I’m really particularly appreciative of the great level of coordination between the agencies. That’s a credit to the agencies, that’s also a credit to our First Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris, who has been leading the effort. Yeah? Wait. You and then Rich and then I think we’re done, right? Okay, you and then Rich.

Question: Why did you choose to speak to us in Queens today? Did it have anything to do with the snow in Queens [inaudible]?

Mayor: Wow. You have a fine sense of history. The answer is no. We are going to make the point in everything we do. I’ve said it many different settings and I said it on January 1st – all boroughs are created equal. I am a proud Brooklynite and I was proud to be shoveling my sidewalk in front of my Brooklyn house. I am an outer-borough homeowner. I think many, many people who are shoveling today are outer-borough homeowners. So we’re going to be focused on the outer boroughs because that’s where the vast majority of the people live. But we’re going to serve all five boroughs with energy and equality, by definition. We’re here because it’s important. This is a central facility for the sanitation department, and it’s a logical place because it’s one of the crucial areas in this battle, and we wanted to be here to express our appreciation for what these guys are doing. Rich?

Question: One question for the commissioner and one for you. Mr. Commissioner, how many snowstorms have you been through as commissioner? Do you have any idea? And the other one is, Mr. Mayor, how many layers are you wearing today?

Commissioner Doherty: Rich, I can’t figure out how many. There’s been a lot of them. I’m not going to worry about that. We just look forward to addressing the one we’re in right now and then we’ll move onto the next one.

Mayor: Did you have a second?

Question: Just wondering how many layers you’re wearing today?

[Laughter]

Mayor: [Unzips jacket]Do you want me to go farther, Rich?

[Laughter]

Mayor: I have an undershirt also. Okay. Yes, this is what I’m wearing now. When I went out to shovel, it was this plus a sweater.

Question: Weren’t you cold?

Mayor: It was not that – when you’re shoveling – shoveling is a fine form of exercise, let me just tell you. I didn’t have to go to the gym today – so, during the shoveling, no. Cold was not my challenge, my back was my challenge. But it worked out. Thank you very much, everyone. Get the word out. Thank you very much.