Following Eight Public Hearings on Local Response to the December 2010 Blizzard, Council Proposes Recommendations Focusing on
Planning, Preparedness, Coordination, and Communication

New York, February 27, 2011 – As part of the New York City Council’s oversight of the city’s response to the 2010 December Blizzard, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Sanitation Committee Chair Letitia James, Public Safety Chair Peter Vallone Jr., Fire and Criminal Justice Chair Elizabeth Crowley, Oversight and Investigations Chair Jumaane Williams, and Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca, today released a series of recommendations to improve future emergency weather responses in New York City.

“Since December, the City Council has heard nearly 25 hours of public testimony from over 100 different people on the city’s response to the December 2010 Blizzard,” said Speaker Quinn. “Over the course of these hearings we demanded answers from the highest levels of both the Bloomberg Administration and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority; we listened to the stories – often tragic – of New Yorkers whose calls for help during this emergency went unanswered; and most importantly, we got significant and meaningful feedback from hundreds of New Yorkers who know their communities and their organizations best. Using this feedback, the Council has proposed a series of recommendations to improve future emergency weather response in New York City. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in this important fact-finding process, especially to the Committee Chairs who traveled far and wide to listen to public testimony.”

In the last two months, the City Council held eight oversight hearings, including six borough-specific hearings and one MTA-focused hearing, on the local response to the December 2010 Blizzard.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Focused on improving planning, preparedness, coordination and communication, the Committee Chairs together proposed the following recommendations:

Establish a transparent snow planning and management process
• The Department of Sanitation should review previous year’s snow removal efforts, develop a comprehensive snow removal plan for each borough, and review and revise that plan annually;
• Plan should include the following:
a. Define, designate and publish the breakdown of primary, secondary and tertiary streets as well as the Department’s plow routes, and make these available on-line;
b. Improve removal of snow at bus stops and curb cuts located at primary street intersections;
c. Suspend parking meters under emergency weather conditions related to snow.

Ensure private sector resources are sufficient and available when needed
• Strengthen contracting procurement methods for private entities providing emergency-related equipment and services;
• Maximize participation of volunteer and private ambulances during emergencies and simplify volunteer ambulance participation in the 911 system;
• Establish an online database of snow removal volunteers and locations requiring snow removal and coordinate with Business Improvement Districts to clear snow from sidewalks and other public locations.

Repair problems in emergency management
• The Administration should establish a formal and transparent process for opening the Office of Emergency Management’s Emergency Operations Center and for declaring emergency weather conditions;
• The Office of Emergency Management should designate borough directors to coordinate emergency responses in each borough.

Improve communication between the Administration, public officials and the public
• Improve communication between residents, elected officials and on-the-ground workers through a designated Department of Sanitation supervisor in each borough;
• Formalize the criteria to request State aid and assistance from private and volunteer ambulances;
• Establish a centralized system, available online and through other media, to notify New Yorkers of changes to public services, such as garbage collection, parking rules, and transportation services.

“After hearing from residents throughout the City concerning the December 2010 snow blizzard, the Council’s Sanitation Committee is proud to join in the development of these detailed recommendations meant to improve citywide weather response in the future,” said Council Member Letitia James, chair of the Sanitation and Solid Waste Committee. “Along with the Sanitation Department’s already-implemented improved snow training procedures and district restructuring, I believe that these actions address the weak links in agency structure. I am confident that building stronger inter-agency communication is the key to preventing catastrophes like this from reoccurring.”

“The system in place prior to the Blizzard of 2010, which allowed for a great deal of discretion, failed us,” said Council Member Peter Vallone, Jr., chair of the Public Safety Committee. “The City Council will now push for some hard and fast rules to ensure that the same mistakes are never made again.”

“The series of City Council hearings that examined what went wrong during and following the Christmas Blizzard 2010, revealed two critical problems: one, the city failed to call for a state of emergency which lead to abandoned cars on streets and an across-the-board lack of preparedness; and two, there was a complete dysfunction in the chain of command mainly concentrated at the top,” Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, chair of the Fire and Criminal Justice Committee. “Moving forward, in the event of a storm, we need open and definitive direction from the Administration about who is in charge, how the city will address the problem and what actions are expected of city residents. My main concern is public safety, therefore, our emergency response units should always be equipped with the tools needed in case of a large-scale emergency.”

“These proposed recommendations for snow response are essential for our communities to make sure there isn’t a repeat of the December 2010 Blizzard. There needs to be an increase in cross-agency communication when storms occur and certain people should be designated to make decisions whenever the Mayor’s top officials are not available. I am looking forward to these recommendations being implemented,” said Council Member Jumaane Williams, chair of the Oversight and Investigation Committee.

“The city’s response to the December 26th blizzard was completely unacceptable,” said Council Member James Vacca, chair of the Transportation Committee. “People who live on so-called tertiary streets, which are most New Yorkers, waited for days before seeing a plow. Thanks to a vocal response from the public, the Administration has already come forth with a number of reforms. The Council’s recommendations go even further, making sure taxpaying New Yorkers get the basic services they are entitled to.”

###