DSNY Issues Snow Alert for Saturday, December 13 at 7 p.m.

December 12, 2025

With 1 to 3 inches of snow expected this weekend, New York's Strongest will begin spreading brine on 700 lane miles of highways at midnight tonight

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has issued a Snow Alert for Saturday, December 13, 2025, beginning at 7 p.m., running through 2 p.m. Sunday. A Snow Alert is the Department's "higher level" snow-fighting notification, as opposed to the "lower level" Winter Operations Advisory.

Precipitation will begin as early as 7 p.m. Saturday, continuing as late as noon Sunday, with heaviest bands of snow likely to fall Sunday between 1 and 5 a.m. Most forecasts anticipate 1 to 3 inches of snow though, as always, New York's Strongest remain prepared for any amount of precipitation.

DSNY personnel will activate its GPS room — featuring the new Bladerunner 2.0 tracking operation — this evening to begin highway brining operations. Applying brine before snow begins falling helps reduce accumulations on roadways. In past storms of this nature, DSNY has applied brine to highway ramps and shoulders in anticipation of falling snow. This year, with new investments in brine equipment, the Department will not only apply brine to ramps and shoulders, but also the main beds of all highways – a total of 700 lane miles — starting at midnight tonight.

More than 700 salt spreaders are filled and ready to go, and the Department has approximately 700 million pounds of salt on hand. DSNY will begin spreading salt on roads, highways and bike lanes at the first sign of precipitation, and will begin plowing when and if snow depths reach two inches.

At this time, there is no anticipated change to collection operations Monday, and New Yorkers should continue to follow their regular schedule for trash, recycling, and compostable material unless otherwise notified.

New Yorkers should know: DSNY is working to ensure your safety. Do your part both for yourself and for the Strongest by staying off the roads during active precipitation or, if you absolutely must drive, by doing so slowly, safely and carefully.

In a snow event, New York City's Sanitation Workers cover our streets, highways and bike lanes, but all residents should remember that clearing snow from sidewalks is the property owners' responsibility. Property owners must to do their part to make sure that the sidewalks are passable.

All winter weather information and information about the City's response to the storm can be found by visiting the City's Severe Weather website at nyc.gov/snow or by calling 311.

Operations Update

Thanks to historic investments in DSNY, the Department's Workers and equipment are more prepared for winter weather than ever before. After 13 snow activations last winter, Department personnel continued throughout the year to prepare for snow season, as we do every year. DSNY recently completed an annual service training with a focus on snow and, as New Yorkers may have seen in recent days, the Department conducted a snow drill this week that included the activation of snow equipment citywide.  

Every street is on a route, and unlike in past years, every route can be dispatched at the same time, bringing equity in snow clearance to the entire City. Thanks to historic investments in DSNY, bike lanes will also be serviced simultaneously alongside car lanes. DSNY will be tracking these operations via the new Bladerunner 2.0 platform.

When a plowable depth of 2" or more is reached, residents will be able to track the progress of DSNY snow removal vehicles at nyc.gov/PlowNYC. Remember, a plowed or salted street will not show blacktop right away.

Trash/Recycling Collection

There is no change to DSNY collection or to bin requirements at this time.

Snow Clearing Information

While DSNY clears streets and bike lanes, property owners are responsible for clearing sidewalks. As a reminder, property owners and car owners may NOT push snow into the street, including bike lanes. This impedes snow clearing operations and is illegal. Snow may be moved against the building, to the curb line, or areas on private property. Sidewalks should be passable for all pedestrians, including a minimum 4-foot clear path, where possible.

If the snow stops falling between:

• 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 4 hours
• 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 14 hours
• 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., property owners must clear sidewalks by 11 a.m.

Property owners with Empire Bins are responsible for clearing snow and ice from the Empire Bin to facilitate collection.

The fine for failure to clear sidewalks is $100 for the first offense, $150 for the second offense and $250 for the third offense.

New Yorkers are also encouraged to sign up for NotifyNYC, the City's free emergency notification system, available in 14 languages including ASL. Through NotifyNYC, New Yorkers can sign up to receive phone calls, text messages, and emails alerts about severe weather events and emergencies. To sign up for Notify NYC, call 311, visit nyc.gov/notify or follow @NotifyNYC on Twitter.

Find information on Sanitation snow operations along with residents' responsibilities during and after snow at nyc.gov/snow.