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MTA Admits Snow Mistakes, Mayor Scoffs At "Slowdown"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 14, 2011
Modified Jan 14, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 14, 2011
Modified Jan 14, 2011
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The next round of Blizzageddon blame hearings have inspired a fresh round of mea culpas: today, MTA officials admitted that mistakes were made during the Blizzard. In particular, transit officials told the City Council Transportation Committee that they failed to stop trains and buses, hundreds of which were later stranded in the storm, frustrating powerless commuters for hours. Five more public hearings about the blizzard response are scheduled in each borough over the next two weeks. But while some are admitting blame, Mayor Bloomberg is continuing to stick up for the Sanitation Department.
This morning on his WOR-AM radio show with host John Gambling, Bloomberg yet again countered claims that there was a Sanitation Department slowdown during the Blizzard clean-up, revenge for budget cuts in the department. "I don't know what each of the district attorneys are doing. My personal opinion, from what I've heard and seen, I think most of the people -- now keep in mind, the Sanitation Department put 6,000 people out there -- I think most of them worked very hard. They were very frustrated by 600 buses stuck, 200 ambulances stuck, thousands of cars stuck, the snow coming down very hard and winds, and they worked very hard. I cannot tell you -- and I'm sure it's not true -- that every single person did everything they should do." Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal probe into the slowdown allegations; workers have been ordered to save every email, voicemail and text about the storm.
Bloomberg also defended "goat of the storm" Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty and his tone-deaf evaluation of the clean-up job: "John's job is to get the people that he supervises to feel that people appreciate what they do and that, he want, you want them to have the spirit to go that extra mile." All we know is none of this would have happened if a certain Mayor of 9/11 Town was still in charge.
Tagged
blizzageddon
blizzard 2010
mayor bloomberg
MTA
sanitation department
slowdown
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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