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De Blasio Warns NYers To Stay Inside Tonight, Also Hates Powdery Snow
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 21, 2014
Modified Jan 21, 2014
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 21, 2014
Modified Jan 21, 2014
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Mayor de Blasio didn't have to hold a press conference to tell us the weather is heinous—look out the window. The gusts of snow are blowing horizontal—stare at it long enough trying to concoct a clever metaphor about a snow globe and an alien and you'll get vertigo!
But de Blasio did hold a press conference, and above all he wants New Yorkers to know that if they're going to fall into an hours-long trance looking deep into the soul of billions of billowing flakes, he'd strongly prefer you do it indoors, and for God's sake, not while you're driving.
Here are the facts: The city is under a "winter storm warning" until 6 a.m. tomorrow. We can expect 8 to 12 inches of snowfall, and conditions will be most severe between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. tonight. Winds will reach up to 25 mph, with gusts topping out at 35 mph. This is going to make traveling anywhere exceedingly unpleasant, and potentially hazardous.
On the bright side, the city is ready, de Blasio said. As the snow accumulates, around 2,000 members of the Department of Sanitation will be working 13-hour shifts, deploying more than 1,700 snow plows to clear the streets—a process that will run all the more smoothly if New Yorkers can avoid driving.
"Tonight during rush hour, if you have the option of using mass transit, please use mass transit," he said. "If you do not need to go out tonight, do not go out. The fewer vehicles on the road, the better job the Sanitation Department can do."
Trash and recycling collection have been suspended today and tomorrow, and express subway service will be curtailed after rush hour tonight, though extra commuter trains will run this afternoon. The Staten Island Ferry will operate as usual.
Despite all this, de Blasio also delivered the crushing news that schools will likely be open tomorrow, knocking Dante de Blasio several rungs down the social ladder.
And most importantly, who will be charged with shoveling the Imperial de Blasio Walkway? That matter will likely be determined by official family vote later today, but de Blasio intimated strongly that he plans to delegate the task to a younger, more afro-equipped family member.
"As a snow shoveler, I hate the powdery snow, because you shovel it and flies right back at you," he said, thus guaranteeing that at least 50 photographers from around the city ignore his orders to stay inside, passing their night camped on the family's lawn.
UPDATE:Here's the latest from the Mayor's 6:30 p.m. press conference.
Tagged
bill de blasio
department of sanitation
polar vortex part two
Lauren Evans
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