Transcript: Mayor Adams Briefs Media on Preparations for Expected Winter Weather

 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thanks so much for everyone being here, and I really want to thank the team. I started out this morning being briefed; actually, last week [the] chief of staff told me we were looking to have this weather come in and the team started to prepare. There [have] been various shifts around 6:40, this morning we got an update and immediately started to make the necessary adjustments. Communicated with the chancellor this morning as well, and he started the operation of dealing with remote learning for our children.

 

 

You know, we've been fortunate. You know, let's be clear, we have not had any significant snowfall for quite some time; in fact, it was amazing how little salt we had to use last year. But you know, the time has come, you know, Mother Nature does what she wants to do. And I really want to thank the commissioner, Commissioner Tisch and her team for their just rapid response and coordination with all the agencies involved.  

 

We're expecting snow across the city tonight and into tomorrow. The current forecast calls for light rain beginning around midnight and transitioning to snow tomorrow morning. We expect at least five to eight inches now, we could get more. As the forecast continues to shift, we will continue to notify New Yorkers.  

 

It's going to be low visibility, high wind gusts ending by early afternoon as well as up to two feet of coastal flooding along vulnerable shorelines. We're taking this storm extremely, extremely serious. We want New Yorkers to be prepared and we want New Yorkers to do the same.  

 

We expect slippery roads and limited visibility, and so we're strongly encouraging New Yorkers, if you don't have to go out, stay home. And please use public transportation, we want to minimize the number of vehicles on the road so that our apparatus and vehicles can actually deal with the removal of snow and make our movement in the city more feasible.  

 

Our team has also been coordinating closely with the governor's team, Governor Hochul's team, in advance of the storm. All relevant city agencies have been activated and preparations are underway.  

Salt spreaders and plows are ready to go; and again, just really want to commend DSNY, the entire team. They're ready, they're prepared, and the commissioner is going to coordinate their efforts with our other city agencies. And so we're doing everything in our power to keep New Yorkers safe. We want New Yorkers to do everything in their power to continue to be safe by, again, staying off the road, and signing up for NotifyNYC to keep updated on winter weather.  

 

City services will continue to be available for New Yorkers tomorrow, and we will continue to serve the city. We will not be conducting any outdoor events; and again, our public schools are closed tomorrow. They will, actually we're doing remote learning. It's going to be a remote learning day. That's one of the things that came out of Covid‑19, we could continue the educational process of our children so they will be learning remotely.  

 

Alternate side of the street parking has been canceled for tomorrow, and we do have a Code Blue has been issued for unsheltered New Yorkers. If you see someone in need, please call 311 or 911 as appropriate; and check on neighbors, as always, to make sure that we can be good neighbors for each other. I know New Yorkers will be ready. We'll be ready, but no matter what, stay warm.

We have an election tomorrow. Poll sites are open. The poll sites for the elections will be open in Queens and in the Bronx. Commissioner? 

 

Commissioner Tisch: Thank you, Mayor Adams. You're going to get a more complete weather briefing from Commissioner Iscol in a few, but I will give you some of the highlights that the mayor has already touched on.  

 

We are expecting winter weather in New York City tomorrow. It will begin as rain around midnight and it will rain for a few hours. We expect the transition to snow to happen between 4:00 and 7:00 a.m. tomorrow.  

 

There can be periods of very heavy snow, so we're expecting one to two inches of snow per hour for several hours in the morning; so as the mayor said, staying off the roads is very important. We expect the storm to taper off in the afternoon. Right now it's looking like it'll be between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.  

 

And of course, all of this is subject to change. We have seen this storm change a lot over the past 24 hours, so we're going to continue to keep our eye on it and brief New Yorkers as necessary.  

So, beginning on our midnight shift tonight, thousands of New York City sanitation workers will be putting salt on every street, every highway, every bike lane in the city, and we will be prepared to plow every street, every highway and every bike lane as soon as accumulations hit two inches or more.  

 

The operation will continue until all streets are clear, which will likely be hours after the last flakes fall. We have a huge fleet of snow fighting equipment at our disposal, over 700 salt spreaders and over 2,000 plows.  

 

Gone are the days of primary, secondary and tertiary streets for salt spreading and plowing purposes; now every street in the city is on a route, and every route can be dispatched at the same time. This is what the mayor has referred to as "plowing equity" in New York City.  

 

A reminder to New Yorkers that a plowed street does not immediately show blacktop, so please be patient as our plows come through and let them do their thing. Once plowing operations cease, we will turn our attention to clearing pedestrian infrastructure like crosswalks and curb cuts.