Why NYC streets didn't get plowed: 400 fewer workers than 2 years ago; 265 more cuts coming

[Hannah Bell]

New York City’s response to the monster snow storm has been hampered by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision to reduce the Sanitation Department’s workforce as part of citywide budget cuts, the head of the sanitation workers’ union said Monday.

Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, said the department is currently down roughly 400 workers.

To combat multibillion dollar deficits, Bloomberg has been aggressively cutting city agency budgets to keep the books balanced. Bloomberg unveiled last month his latest round of budget cuts, which called for a further reduction–via attrition–of 265 sanitation workers by June 2012.

Jason Post, a spokesman for the mayor, confirmed that there are 400 fewer total workers at the department compared with two years ago. “However, the number of people assigned to snow fighting is the same,” Post said. “How? Other staff normally working in administrative positions have been reassigned to field posts.”

While Nespoli argued that the staffing reduction had an impact on the city’s response, Post insisted workers are staffing the same number of plows and sanding trucks “as ever.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/12/27/sanitation-workers-say-cuts-take-toll-on-snow-cleanup/


The administrators are driving the snowplows. I guess that's why so many got stuck.

[SoCalDem]

1. I wonder how many plows they sold off or "retired" too.

No one misses snowplow drivers in June..but one bad snow storm & boy..are they ever missed..

[Hannah Bell]

2. I read but failed to note the page -- that there was plenty of equipment but not enough

people to man it all at the same time.

Can't remember if it was a news story or a blogger or commenter or what, though.

I also read a lot of people saying the sanitation workers were deliberately not plowing in order to retaliate for layoffs. But it seemed to me that was unlikely in the present climate of layoffs & that the lack of 400 sanitation workers over 2 years would explain a slower-than-normal response in & of itself.

[pschoeb]

17. Also were there cuts to equipment maintenance crews?

Just because you have the equipment, doesn't mean it's all in proper operating condition.


It also seems that City Hall was orchestrating the crews, instead of the normal procedure of each garage handling the planning for their area, my guess is because the garage administrators were out plowing to make up for lost workers.

[Hannah Bell]

37. that makes total sense.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Snow melts

It's time those New Yorkers took some personal responsibility and let global warming take care of the damn snow.

:sarcasm:

[Hannah Bell]

4. apparently some did; some blocks cleared their streets by hand with shovels.

i guess everyone could do that, then they could fire nearly the whole sanitation department, leaving just enough to clean the streets of the people who matter.

the report that amazed me was that the streets around a major hospital weren't cleared, while bloomberg, cathy black, & the sanitation commissioner's streets were cleared within hours.

[RandomThoughts]

5. I would think they would do that, becuase they think that is how things should work

Or they think that is how things do work.

Seems they presume the poor actually do the work to pay for snow plows, garaged in places not in rich areas, just to clean the streets in front of their house.

That is an entitlement thought.

I actually understand that thought, it is the same thought that says someone is wealthy because they are favored and suppose to be wealthy. The thought that everyone is in there place already.


Basically the theory is anyone that suffers hardship is suppose to, and those with wealth, are allowed to bless other people because they must have been special to have wealth. So they take care of people around them that take care of them, or that they judge worthy based on their standards, a perpetuation of status quo, also fitting into everyone already in their place. So if that is your argument for existence you have to say it was always perfect or as it is suppose to be, even though there has been change.

It only requires thinking life is all there is, or that your luxury in life is earned by favor or status and always just. Hence why evil can not be thought to exist in that doctrine, since then there is no saying that their favor may come from a different side.

It is actually the thought process to allow for a few to think they are special. It can allow someone to think another person deserves hardship.


Guess it depends on how you think on existence. It is really easy to think that 'what you get in life' is your favor, and that religious doctrine is to keep the servants of them hopeful while they serve them.

Very few of the people of the major religions think that way, or they would have to justify all unjust actions done in many years.

If that was the system, I would turn down that favor, since it would have having to think that way as an effect, and since it would not come from what I think of as the better spirit of God. However I will have beer and travel money and many experiences.


Also fits with 'Physician heal thyself' 'Take yourself down from the cross' and 'pull yourself up by your boot straps'.

As metaphor, I would ask, why would they think the status city streets are what is actually being cleared?

[katnapped]

11. All part of the plan, folks

Starve the beast....Priveleged get theirs, the rest of you (us) get jack shit. Republicans are just helping show how govermint doesn't work by forcing it down the drain ("streets not plowed? obviously the govermint isn't working!").

Next time it happens watch Bloomberg say "we can't afford to plow" (well except for HIS street and the important parts of Manhattan). At least you have SOME sanity in NY...I fully expect Corbett to disband PennDOT here in PA entirely ("can't afford...personal responsibility, people") and plenty of people here (in the state) to applaud him for it.

[barbtries]

6. this part could relate to a video

i watched on the weather channel this morning, of a snow plow wrecking a parked car:
'Jason Post, a spokesman for the mayor, confirmed that there are 400 fewer total workers at the department compared with two years ago. "However, the number of people assigned to snow fighting is the same,” Post said. “How? Other staff normally working in administrative positions have been reassigned to field posts.”'

i couldn't just get up from my desk and go plow snow.

eta link: http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/raw-cars-sliding-down-icy-hill-16227#19173

eta again. cannot get the correct video link. oh well. it's there.

[Hannah Bell]

7. of course you could! anyone can do blue collar work, there are no skills involved!

or if there are, you can learn them in 15 minutes!

People at DU have told me so!

[barbtries]

8. lol

if you look at the video, you can see how it worked out for one driver.

[Hannah Bell]

10. he probably hadn't practiced for the required 15 minutes, lol.

here's the source on the equipment thing: typically their data comes from some mainstream source.

The city had over 1,700 plowing vehicles from the city’s Sanitation Department in operation, but because of budget cuts, the department’s staff levels are at their lowest level since 1998.

Streets in New York City are classified as primary, secondary and tertiary for plowing priority.

Apparently, though, there is a fourth category that comes before the other three: those streets that house major businesses or especially wealthy and powerful residents.

In some areas of the wealthiest borough, Manhattan, the center of the tourist industry and home to hundreds of multi-millionaires and billionaires, streets were cleared early on, sometimes within hours of the snowfall. In Manhattan’s affluent Upper East Side neighborhood, streets with the residences of billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his recent choice for schools chancellor, the wealthy businesswoman Cathleen Black, were plowed in short order.

In sharp contrast to this, even central arteries in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island were untouched 24 hours after the snowfall.

One exception in Staten Island was the street where Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty lives, which was cleared on Monday while neighboring streets went unplowed.

Hospitals were short-staffed because of the transportation difficulties, and many hospital premises received no priority in plowing.

WNYC News reported that “as of Tuesday afternoon, the streets surrounding Jamaica Hospital in Queens were still not plowed, despite several calls to city officials, making it impossible for ambulances or private vehicles to approach the hospital.”

Ole Paderson, vice president of public affairs at the hospital, said, “You’d think that hospitals would be high on the list for getting plowed—but that’s not the case apparently. There’s no place to put the ambulances. Staff and doctors can’t even get in.”

The reaction of the Bloomberg to the snow crisis showed his contempt—and that of the super-wealthy social layer he represents—for the millions who were stranded or denied necessary services.

“The world has not come to an end,” he said at a press conference. “The city is going fine. Broadway shows were full last night. There are lots of tourists here enjoying themselves. I think the message is that the city goes on.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/dec2010/snow-d30.shtm...

[noel711]

9. So...how's that 'smaller government' thing workin' out for ya?

And if this is how cutting government workers is working for the
best city in the country,
Imagine the future after the tea party Republicans get
finished slashing the federal budget.

This snow business in New York is the tip of the iceberg.
There will be chaos in the streets.

[malaise]

13. Good

Let them expose themselves. People know they are paying taxes for these services.

[malaise]

12. Party true but the big ego Bloomberg does not have a political

machine who could guarantee workers in hours.
So much for breaking the rules to ensure that term limits didn't apply to him. He's been exposed big time here and it's all good.

[madrchsod]

14. new york storm breaks 114 yr old snowfall in central park!

that was the headline on feb 26 2010...is`t that this year?

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-26/nyc-storm-breaks-114-year-old-snowfall-record-for-central-park.html

epic failure

[KharmaTrain]

15. And Where Should This Money Come From?

All municipalities are seeing drastic cuts in revenues from collapsed housing prices and the fall in property taxes, the slump in retail sales and those taxes and less money from cash-strapped states and the federal government thanks to the boooosh tax cuts. So where do you propose the money come from? Raise gas taxes? Vice taxes? Ask people to work for free?

It's a shame that our cities have become so dysfuncational and I blame Bloomberg for being a smug bastard as far as the city's response. Reminds me of the 1979 snowstorm here in Chicago that ended the political career of Michael Bilandic.

In our area our community has had to cut a lot of corners due to less money and that includes having had to lay off people in the public works who drive the snow plows and in their purchases of new equipment. As long as people want their tax cuts and the economy remains in the dumpers, services are gonna get cut...streets won't get plowed during big storms and sadly there will be those who die. Wish this weren't the case but no one wants to give up their perks...the society of self-interests strikes again.

[Nite Owl]

18. NYC is not without a wealthy

tax base that has ten years of huge tax breaks and two more coming. They need to contribute to the cause and stop complaining about their taxes. Class warfare and the middle class and poor are the ones losing.

[KharmaTrain]

20. Political Poison...

It is class warfare that has been acute as the middle class gets squeezed even further. But there's few politicians with any stones who will think about raising anyone's taxes. It's easier to borrow or cut corners than to make tough sacrafices. Thus we'll see more people die as services are cut back and the politicians try to tap dance their way after-the-fact. This silent depression means the weakest and poorest will never be heard and what's left of the middle class is on their own.

[JamesA1102]

22. Yes when the lower and middle class stick up for their rights is is class warfare

but when the upper class uses their power to take advantage that is called the american way.

[KharmaTrain]

24. As Long As This Country Remains One Of Self-Interests...

There have been periods in this country's history where the lower classes have stood up for their rights, but it came at a big cost. It meant strong unions and solidarity...organizing and networking and being exclusive rather than inclusive. Unfortunately our labor unions have become their own self interests focused on preserving their dwindling power as the corporates have sucessfully divided and conquered and almost made the union movement irrelevant.

Unfortunately these days I see people looking for reasons to divide rather than to unite.

[JamesA1102]

38. Yeah that seems what you are best at. nt

[Nite Owl]

29. Political poison is what Bloomberg just

did. Brooklyn will not forget come next election.

[KharmaTrain]

30. I Agree...

Reminds me of the boneheaded response that happened here in Chicago in 1979 that cost Michael Bilandic his job. Difference was the primary was only a month after the snow...Bloomberg has another 2 to go.

His national reputation took a deserved hit. I'm so tired of seeing this pompous ass tauted as some great leader cause of his wealth and not much more.

[Nite Owl]

31. Mr. No labels

now has a label: Pompous Ass!
lol

[JamesA1102]

39. He can't run again. nt

[JamesA1102]

21. How about all those guys on Wall Street who go huge bonuses! nt

[KharmaTrain]

25. I Like The Idea...

Now try and get 219 Congresscritters and 60 Senators to agree. Until they do, the tax cuts for the rich will ride on, the borrowing will continue and the services and safety nets to the least able to speak out will be cut.

[JamesA1102]

40. Well if you like the idea why not do something about it

rather than just pooh-poohing it.

[KharmaTrain]

42. If I Were A Resident Of New York City I Would...

Not pooh-poohing the reality of how the legislative works...

Peace...

[JamesA1102]

44. So then if it only applies to residents of NYC

then you don't need the agreement of anyone in Congress since they don't levy municipal taxes.

[KharmaTrain]

49. They Control The Overall Taxing Rates...

That's the devestating part of the booooosh cuts...the less people paid on their Federal meant less on that bottom line to figure out state taxes and from that fewer dollars to go to municipalities. Look at how many states went from surpluses in 2000 to defecits 4 years later. Had the boooosh cuts been allowed to lapse, it would have put a lot of money back into those coffers...instead states have had to either cut services or try to sneak tax increases through and it's not enough.

You are correct that Congress doesn't levy municipal taxes but the money that comes from Washington is crucial to many of those budgets and when the revenues are cut they have to come from somewhere or corners are cut.

Cheers...

[JamesA1102]

50. So you admit your earlier statement was BS.

[KharmaTrain]

54. No...

Response to the OP wsa about the breakdown on services due to the decrease in tax revenues that have led to the cost cutting and corner cutting that led to tragic results in NYC. As long as people want "low taxes" and its a political football that both parties pander to we'll see a deterioration of services and infrastructure. The tax cuts of the past decades devestated state & municipal budgets and the current beltway mantra is for even more cuts. Had the booosh tax cuts to the rich been allowed to lapse the tax rates for all would have risen...including what states could collect and then pass onto municipalities.

It's not what I think...or what you project that I do...it's the realities of the loss of revenues that have led to tragic consquences and will get worse as the economy remains stagnant and the defecits pile up. Most states are teetering on insolvency and the needs for money and services will grow. And no one cares to pay for it...it wasn't just the rich who were in favor of the "compromise". I'm all for raising taxes on those who earn $250k...always have been and will be. Sadly no politician will go within a New York Minute on this...

[JamesA1102]

55. But Congress doesn't pass taxes for snow clean-up

that is a municipal service and those taxes are local. And I live in NYC. People who want low taxes don't live here.

[randr]

16. If the administrators could be reassigned why

were they not the expendable employees? Seems the city would have saved more money or had less people fired.

[bullwinkle428]

19. Hurray for more "disaster capitalism"! Coming to your town soon...

[Odin2005]

23. Had this travesty happened in Fargo people whould be LITERALLY kicking the mayor's ass.

[Tatiana]

26. K&R Hopefully people will now understand the concept of "skilled labor."

Not everyone can just hop on a truck and plow snow. It requires skill and care, especially in the vicinity of other pedestrians and parked vehicles.

New York is going to be paying out in a lot in claims for the vehicles these incompetents hit while attempting to plow snow.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the people on plows that came down streets and then turned around and left when they got stuck or couldn't control the vehicle. People were blaming the sanitation workers, but maybe it was these administrative incompetents.

[hatrack]

27. "Government Doesn't Work - Elect Us And We'll PROVE It!"

:eyes:

[jberryhill]

28. Yup

I will never understand the point behind electing people who believe government is a bad idea.

It's like voting for the dog catcher candidate who ran on the position that it is hopeless to try to catch dogs.

[TBF]

34. That I completely agree with. nt

[TBF]

32. And now a baby has died as a result of this horrid system -

ttp://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_help_arrives_too_late_to_save_baby.html

[TexasObserver]

33. They got Bloomberged.

Let's hope this ends whatever presidential fantasies he has.

This guy can't even get the street cleared.

[Rectangle]

43. Isn't he worth about $15 billion or so? Would it hurt him to kick in a little $?-Just sayin'

:shrug:

[Hannah Bell]

46. Actually, Bloomberg could pay off NYC's entire debt by himself. With cash to spare.

True fact.

[Shandris]

35. I was out picking up something from the store that day...

...when I had the misfortune of catching the opening lines of Rush Limbaugh's show on my only AM channel. He had some guest host, so I didn't recognize the voice at first, but his opening line? "We didn't know if we were going to be able to have the show today because of all the snarled streets; remember folks, this is why you don't want government in control of ANYTHING. (sic)"

[Llewlladdwr]

36. Any thoughts on the allegations that this was an action by the workers?

That sanitation workers deliberately skipped streets, plowed incorrectly, and took other actions to express their displeasure over recent budget cuts?

I ask because I'm curious how many here at DU would support such action if in fact this turns out to be correct.

[Hannah Bell]

41. Staffing is at its lowest levels since 1998. 400 sanitation workers laid off in the last two years

alone.

You can spread that right-wing crap all you want, but the staffing levels in & of themselves explain a slower-than usual response.

[Hannah Bell]

45. k

[Rex]

47. Did you make those allegations up in your head or do you have any

proof? Sorry, but this doesn't count.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/30/union-workers-reportedly-staged-slowdown-new-york-city-battled-blizzard/

Unless you agree with Foxnews.

[B Calm]

53. Sounds like a right wing talking point to blame the workers, when

anybody with any common sense knows who to blame!

[B Calm]

48. The joys of smaller government. . .

[Better Believe It]

51. The administrators first had to learn how to drive stick shift. A one month field training course.

[sarcasmo]

52. Can't outsource the snow plowing.