Zohran Mamdani (00:14):
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 to 17 inches of snow, but there is a slight chance we may see up to 20 inches, if not more. This means we are forecast to receive up to six inches more than we received a few weeks ago. New Yorkers can expect that 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.
(01:22)
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 the last time around. 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 in our city. We want every New Yorker who needs help seeking warmth to be able to find it. We will have 18 warming buses, 11 health and 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.
(02:22)
You'll be able to find the locations of all of our warming centers on a LinkNYC kiosk by 6:00 AM tomorrow morning. Once again, I am asking that New Yorkers continue to look out for their neighbors. If you see someone in need, please call 311 immediately so that outreach workers and first responders at the 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 heat and hot water in your apartment, call your landlord first. And then if you do not hear back quickly, call 311. We have inspectors and staff working overtime this weekend at HPD. NYCHA residents in need of non-emergency assistance should call the Customer Contact Center at (718) 707-7771 or submit work tickets through the MyNYCHA application.
(03:15)
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 nyc.gov/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 the plowable depth of two inches. While DSNY focuses on snow clearing and responding 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 for Sunday and will follow an extended schedule on Monday to ensure that our bridges and our highways are treated and cleared throughout the storm.
(04:10)
The Parks Department will also be mobilizing their own fleet to clear over 2,000 miles of pathways in parks across our 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 inter-agency actions from DEP, DOT, and FDNY. We are always seeking ways to improve our efforts to support and deliver for New Yorkers. That's why ahead of this storm, our agencies have made several changes to enhance our storm preparedness and service citywide. Here is what we are doing differently. We have 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 four feet must be cleared across all sidewalks to accommodate wheelchairs.
(05:08)
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 Citi Bike station snow-clearing crews, expediting their snow removal efforts. DOT will remain in contact with Lyft throughout the storm. DSNY will also deploy over 1,000 emergency snow shovelers beginning Sunday night. Another early activation. To aid this effort, we have added an additional evening shift with 300 shovelers in advance of the height of the storm. And we're utilizing 33 DSNY vans and two 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 at your local sanitation garage between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM tomorrow with your paperwork, which is accessible online at nyc.gov/snow, and you can get started right away.
(06:07)
While we have not yet made a final decision regarding in-person school for Monday, we are monitoring the conditions and will communicate a decision to students, teachers, and parents by noon tomorrow. The safety of our students and our staff remains our top priority. Alternate side parking will be suspended for Monday. I urge all New Yorkers to sign up for Notify NYC by texting, "Notify NYC," to 692-692. This will allow you to stay informed of the latest forecasts and conditions. You can also visit nyc.gov/beready for additional information. As always, New York, stay warm, stay inside, stay prepared, and stay safe. Thank you very much. And now we are going to turn it over to our NYCEM Commissioner, Christina Farrell.
Christina Farrell (06:56):
Thank you. I just wanted to add a few things to what the mayor just went over. We are under a blizzard warning starting tomorrow at 1:00 PM Sunday through 6:00 PM on Monday. The heaviest snow is expected tomorrow night, 10:00 PM Sunday, through 10:00 AM on Monday. And as he mentioned, there is the potential for minor to moderate coastal flooding. These will be very treacherous conditions Sunday and Monday. We ask the public to keep the roads clear for plows, take public transit. And always, check in on vulnerable neighbors. For the city preparations, to this point, we are in constant contact at Emergency Management with the National Weather Service for forecast updates. As people have seen, there have been many changes to this forecast over the last few days. The situation room at Emergency Management is activated. We're coordinating with city and state agencies, community organizations, and utility partners. We will open the larger emergency operation center with all of our agency partners tomorrow at 6:00 AM to coordinate the city's response. We activated the city's winter weather emergency plan at 8:00 AM this morning.
(08:09)
We are hosting dozens of inter-agency calls over the ... We started two days ago. We're going through at least Tuesday with public private partners, elected officials, and vulnerable population providers to coordinate the city's preparation for the storm. The Parks Department is monitoring the weather to activate the Downed Tree Task Force as needed. I'm looking because you covered a lot of this. Just a couple of things as we get to it, and I'm sure Sanitation will speak to it. Homeowners and business owners are responsible for clearing snow and ice from sidewalks to keep them safe and accessible. And we want to keep hydrants clear. Thank you. And as the mayor said, please sign up for Notify NYC if you haven't already.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Commissioner Farrell. Coming less than a month after Winter Storm Fern, this significant snowfall will see the launch of several new strategies and early activations to get the city fully cleared and accessible faster. DSNY is putting plows and chains onto thousands of collection trucks now and will be in full force operation as of 6:00 AM Sunday. 700 salt spreaders will be filled from the city's supply of hundreds of millions of pounds of salt. And we are ready to go. Weather conditions are predicted to be favorable towards salt effectiveness, something different from the last storm. And the department will employ, as the mayor mentioned, more than a thousand emergency snow shovelers, reflecting a massive increase in enrollment due to sustained outreach since the last storm. Emergency snow shovelers will be working on both night and day shifts. And registration is still open without an appointment necessary.
(09:49)
Visit nyc.gov/snow to find out if you're eligible and simply walk into your local sanitation garage with your required paperwork between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM Sunday. Other city agencies, including DEP, DOT, Parks, and NYPD, will be assisting with specific snow-clearing efforts beginning throughout the day on Sunday. And hundreds of pieces of outside equipment have been called into work days earlier than in prior storms. This includes tow trucks, large front-end loaders, and specialized equipment for clearing crosswalks and bus stops. Speaking of pedestrian infrastructure, new tracking mechanisms are in place to effectively and efficiently oversee clearance of unsheltered bus stops, crosswalks, and fire hydrants. While these areas are the responsibility of the property owner, we know New Yorkers cannot wait, and we will step in to clear more of the city than ever before. That said, clearing snow from the sidewalk is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner.
(10:43)
Property owners must maintain a four-foot path to allow a stroller or a wheelchair to pass. And if a property sidewalk includes an unsheltered bus stop or a curb ramp, that area is included in the requirements. Regarding trash collection, the same sanitation workers fighting snow are the people who pick up your trash. And residents will see delays for at least the first few days after the storm. If Monday is your recycling collection day, please hold that material inside, if possible, for the following week, if you're able to, just like after some holidays. We will prioritize collection of trash and compost as these are the items that can produce odors or attract rodents.
(11:18)
For the small number of residents who receive collection service in alleyway, alley services is suspended this week. Please place your material curbside. And again, expect delays as in the rest of the city. Rest assured, DSNY is on its way despite these delays. And as a final reminder, snow is not an excuse to litter or to not clean up after your dog. New Yorkers should know DSNY is working to ensure your safety. Do your part both for yourself and for the [inaudible 00:11:44] by staying off the roads during active precipitation. Or if you absolutely must drive, please do so by driving slowly, safely, and carefully. Conditions Sunday night may be very dangerous. Stay inside and stay safe. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Mayor Mamdani, thank you for having me and thank you for your leadership of this coordinated citywide response. Listen, here we are again. It's almost a month after the last big storm. But the good news is at the MTA, we know we can handle whatever comes our way. As I said last time, we have detailed plans in place for just these kinds of scenarios, for storms like these. The first priority for us is to preposition people and equipment. I want to thank the workforce at the MTA for showing up, as they always do. They'll be putting in long hours this weekend and beyond. On the subways, we're focused on keeping an eye on the 220 miles of our system that is out of doors. We want to keep those tracks clear, particularly the A Train, the N, the B, and the Q, and the 5 and the 7 line.
(12:55)
These are some of the lines that are most exposed to accumulations of snow. And expresses, folks, if you're riding on Monday, bear in mind that expresses are likely going to be running on local tracks because we will be storing the trains in the tunnels in order to make sure that they can operate on Monday, so that may impact on the time of travel. We have all the snow-fighting trains and the de-icing equipment and the tow trucks. It's all ready to go. And the same at the commuter railroads as well. As the mayor said, the forecast has been changing, but right now, Long Island is expected to get hit the hardest. The city is obviously in for a big accumulation, but Long Island is looking to be hit the hardest. Points north through Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess County also expected to get significant accumulation.
(13:46)
So for the commuter railroads, I'll start there. The Long Island Rail Road is going to be running weekend service on Monday. We're making that announcement in advance. And similarly, Metro-North is going to be running, on Monday, a combination of hourly surface on the three main branches, Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven, and a weekend service on the Connecticut branches and the Wassaic branch. In the city, the bus network is prepared to pick up the slack, as it always does. And I am really grateful to the mayor and his team for prioritizing the clearing of bus stops. That's going to be important. Experience has taught us that the buses really do become the workhorse of the public transit system during storms. So the buses are going to be shorter. We always take the articulated buses out of service in these conditions. But we have all the snow-fighting vehicles that can clear streets if DSNY hasn't been able to get to a spot.
(14:47)
And all of the buses will be fitted with chains. The Paratransit Command Center will be operating, so Access-A-Ride will be available. But as the mayor said, we're telling folks to be judicious about making decisions about whether they actually have to travel on Monday. Bridges and tunnels, the MTA bridges and tunnels are planning for blizzard wind conditions, so expect restrictions on walkways and closures and restrictions on trucks perhaps, depending on how high the winds get. The best advice, as the mayor has said, is to stay tuned to the city's communication channels, but also the MTA channels. The MTA TrainTime app for the commuter railroads, the MTA website, social media, and digital screens in the stations, which will have up-to-date information.
(15:41)
And I always put in a pitch for the MTA alert system, like the city alert system, which can send you real-time personalized email or text alerts for your commute. You can sign up for those on the MTA website if you haven't already. And again, thank you to the mayor and his team for a really well-coordinated city response. I would just want to emphasize that I've spoken to Governor Hochul and her team at some length this morning. And she very much endorses the plans that you're hearing about today for the MTA and otherwise. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Thank you, Chairman. We're going to do on-topic QA only. We'll start with [inaudible 00:16:17] Amanda. Go ahead. And we actually have a microphone, so if folks could pass. Thank you.
Amanda (16:24):
Is it on?
Speaker 5 (16:24):
It's on.
Amanda (16:25):
Can you hear me?
Zohran Mamdani (16:25):
Mm-hmm.
Amanda (16:26):
Can you hear me?
Zohran Mamdani (16:26):
Yeah.
Amanda (16:27):
Hi. How are you, Mayor?
Zohran Mamdani (16:28):
Doing well. How are you?
Amanda (16:29):
Doing good. Two questions here.
Zohran Mamdani (16:30):
Yes.
Amanda (16:31):
How much are emergency snow shovelers going to make? I'm sure New Yorkers want to know because I think you said they can make extra money. And secondly, why not confirm now whether or not schools are going to be closed?
Zohran Mamdani (16:41):
So I'll start with your second question and go to your first. You heard this been changing day after day. We saw, on Friday, there was an expectation that the likelihood was that we were going to face maybe three to four inches of snow. Quickly, that then changed, and we're now looking at a blizzard. So we want to make sure that we make a decision based on up-to-date and accurate information. We know that by Sunday, at noon, we will have the information necessary to be able to speak about the nature of conditions Monday morning and what safety will demand that we do when it comes to in-person instruction for our students and our staff. So by tomorrow, at noon, we will be making that decision. And we will ask that all New Yorkers prepare in every which way they can because this is a serious storm that we're looking at. It exceeds the snowfall that we saw in the previous storm. It is, in fact, a blizzard as opposed to just a winter storm. And we will get back to you on the exact pay for emergency snow shovelers. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Thanks. Annie next.
Annie (17:43):
Hi, Mayor. How are you?
Zohran Mamdani (17:43):
Hi, Annie.
Annie (17:43):
You mentioned the requirements that property owners face to clear snow in front of their paths as well as Lyft's additional commitments to clearing Citi Bike stations. We saw some variation, obviously, with the last storm and how well that was done across the city. Any extra enforcement mechanism or incentives that you're thinking about to make sure that it's done sort of up to standard this time around?
Zohran Mamdani (18:06):
I will say that our focus in the aftermath of the prior storm was to ensure that every single not only city agency, but also private partner, understood the responsibility that we have to deliver for New Yorkers and the responsibility that extends to New Yorkers who are pedestrians, who are cyclists, who are bus riders, subway riders, or who are driving their cars. And so thanks to the advanced work in preparation for this blizzard, there is going to be additional personnel committed, for example, from a private entity like Lyft to ensure that we're actually clearing out additional Citi Bike docks. This also goes to what was being shared earlier around the clearing not just of sheltered bus stops, but unsheltered bus stops as well, as well as the reminder to private property owners as to what the requirements are. DSNY, last time around, put forward, I think, more than a thousand violations that came from that.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
4,000.
Zohran Mamdani (19:02):
4,000 violations. From that, they will continue to do enforcement. However, our desire is not to have to enforce this, but rather to seek compliance from the beginning of it.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Thanks. Timmy next.
Zohran Mamdani (19:14):
Judge Street Journal.
Timmy (19:15):
The Judge Street Journal. Hi, Mayor. Two questions. Is the Department of Homeless Services doing anything different before this storm? And will there be any sweeps of encampments before the storm hits New York?
Zohran Mamdani (19:27):
So our focus, over the course of this storm, is not going to be on physical infrastructure. It's going to be on people, getting homeless New Yorkers inside. There will be no cleanups over the course of this storm. Our focus is going to be utilizing every tool that we have to connecting homeless New Yorkers with a safe haven, with a shelter, with a warming bus. And we will be sure to be able to provide those homeless New Yorkers with a wide variety of options. Because what we found over the course of the prolonged Code Blue is that we needed to have a multiplicity of options that we were putting forward to homeless New Yorkers because the same New Yorker who may be resistant to getting on a warming bus may be willing to get into an H&H warming center. And so that is why we continue to put forward all of these different options. Additionally, we have a number of outreach workers who are going to be traversing the city 24/7, looking to make that connection with homeless New Yorkers, as well as the utilization of LinkNYC. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
Thanks. We're going to go to Miles from Bloomberg.
Miles (20:28):
Forgive me to make you look back, but do you view this storm, this blizzard as a sort of do-over for what you learned from last storm, whether it be on the homeless issue, whether it be on clearing streets? Is this basically your step two?
Zohran Mamdani (20:43):
First, I have to say, it is hard to see how you are dressed for the perfect day today and be speaking about a blizzard tomorrow, but that is where we are. We hold ourselves to the highest standards in our administration. And that means that we are never satisfied with what we are delivering to New Yorkers. And I'm thankful, frankly, to not only be surrounded today, but every day, by incredible New Yorkers who understand that we have to push ourselves. And so we look at this blizzard that is coming to New York City and we are looking to utilize every tool that was successful last time around and then utilize new tools as well. You heard the commissioner say, from DSNY, that we are bringing earlier activation of outside mechanisms before we've ever seen precedent for.
(21:26)
This is all going back to how can we clear the streets as fast as possible? How can we respond to the snow as fast as possible? And what I will say is, unlike in the prior storm, we are predicted to have the assistance of Mother Nature this time around. What I mean by that is that the prior storm was followed by one of the most sustained spells of cold weather the city has ever seen. We are anticipating dipping into the low-20s over the next few days. However, we do anticipate reaching into the 40s by Wednesday. That will be incredibly helpful towards our city's recovery from this snowstorm.
Speaker 5 (21:58):
Thank you. We've got time for one more. Go ahead right here. And the microphone's right behind you.
Speaker 10 (22:01):
Oh. Hi. Good afternoon.
Zohran Mamdani (22:04):
Hi.
Speaker 10 (22:04):
Obviously, with the weather today, a lot of the snow has melted. And I'm kind of piggybacking off some of the questions. But I know there are some parts of the city that are still seeing mounds of snow. Can you just clarify for me which plan addresses just the ... Not necessarily plowing the snow or clearing it, but removing it from some of the already huge piles that we're still seeing?
Zohran Mamdani (22:25):
So that continues to be the focus for our DSNY workers. So what we are utilizing is even more workers per shift than we saw in the last time around. We have more than 2,600 workers per 12-hour shifts. Those are beginning tomorrow. They will be supplemented by even more emergency snow shovelers who will be assisting them across the city. And what we are talking about is not only a response for tomorrow, but a response for Monday, for Tuesday, for Wednesday, and beyond. Now, we've seen that, with the weather conditions that this city saw over the last few weeks, that that snow hardened and came into an ice that is only now melting thanks to the assistance of the sun. Over the course of that period, the city did utilize a number of snow melters that we saw across our city in every borough. The city continues to operate one site of snow melting to ensure that the hardest snow to break down is being put through the kinds of mechanisms that can actually dissolve it into liquid.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Thank you all so much.
Zohran Mamdani (23:24):
Thank you all so much.