Snow Removal S’no Problem, Sanitation Chief Says

By CARMEN SAFFIOTI

New York City Sanitation Commissioner Edward Grayson tried to allay City Council members’ concerns about the plans for snow removal amid year-round outdoor dining, staffing cuts, and budget cuts, in an oversight hearing on Thursday.

“We are confident that we will be able to safely clear snow and ice in this context,” Grayson told the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management.

Narrower roads due to the new outdoor dining structures appeared to be the biggest challenge after Mayor de Blasio in September extended outdoor dining year round and made it a permanent city policy. Grayson acknowledged the difficulty of  snow pushed up against outdoor dining structures, especially structures that are on the right side of the road. In the event of a snow alert, restaurants might have to stop serving customers outdoors. And, in the case of significant snowfall they might have to take down structures, he testified.

“In essence, we have a campaign that we are going to start in the very immediate future called ‘What’s Your Plan?’ because we have ours.” said Grayson, in response to Councilwoman Margaret Chin of Queens, who asked how they will prepare restaurants with outdoor dining beyond a 24-hour snow alert, indicating that he expected the restaurant owners to  submit their own strategies.

The department FACED other COVID-19 related challenges as staffing levels are down over 400 workers from last year due to hiring freeze related
to budget cuts. Last year, there were around 6,700 snow workers.  Sanitation’s budget was also cut by $10 million.

Some legislators were skeptical.

“Let’s be perfectly honest, the snow doesn’t care about budgets.” said  committee chairman Antonio Reynoso to Grayson. “It needs to be handled with less workers, equipment. I am very concerned over our ability to handle the next snow storm in the city of New York.”