Report: NYC Lawmakers Want Regulations For Snow Response
NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- The snow may be finally disappearing, but the Bloomberg administration was still under fire Wednesday for its response to the post-Christmas blizzard.
City lawmakers may be taking action, calling for a series of tough new rules to guarantee the sloppy snow clean-up never happens again, CBS 2's Jay Dow reports.
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It didn't take long for New York City officials to acknowledge their botched response.
"We owe you and all New Yorkers for that lack of performance, our administration's apology," Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith said.
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City Council members quickly pounced.
"You and the mayor should be under investigation, seriously," said Councilman Charles Barron.
"People need help and they need help immediately," said John Dent, who works in Manhattan.
According to the Daily News, its members were preparing a flurry of bills aimed at scoring New Yorkers some accountability within the Mayor's office.
In addition to requiring the city to start emergency operations before the first flake falls, the bills would also reportedly mandate a snow emergency when forecasters say a blizzard is headed our way, force City crews to meet strict deadlines on clearing snow-blocked crosswalks and require the City to publish a list of primary, secondary, or tertiary streets.
This would establish a ranking system to give residents a heads up on which will be plowed first.
"There could be improved communications everywhere," said Ginger Blake of Manhattan.
Some roads were not plowed at all. With alternate side of the street parking rules having resumed this week, residents who, for the last several weeks, were either unwilling or unable to dig out their vehicles, paid dearly.
The City also issued 9,910 summonses on Monday. That's twice the normal daily average for an estimated half-million dollars in fines.
And given the number of storms we've had this winter, many feel drivers should have been extended a grace period to move their vehicles to the other side of the street.
So much for the City cutting Big Apple residents a break.
