'We Demand Answers': Abject Chaos Over 6 Inches of Snow, Some Call for Mayor to Step Down

[Via Garibaldi 8]

'We Demand Answers': Abject Chaos Over 6 Inches of Snow, Some Call for Mayor to Step Down

"You are a disgrace to this city and a complete incompetent," one person commented on NBC New York's Facebook page

Published Nov 16, 2018 at 4:13 AM | Updated 45 minutes ago

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Snowstorm-Commute-Traffic-Mess-Trains-Buses-500661071.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand&fbclid=IwAR32rmc4Qm-zsJ6EmMpA2iB8SiEHCqXKRGC-L3wHuO_bqj6639BL2kQf0VM

Angry travelers and elected officials are starting to point the finger on who is to blame for the traffic mess caused by the season's first snow at the height of the evening rush. Tracie Strahan reports. (Published Friday, Nov. 16, 2018)

 

The first snowfall of the season may have been the most nightmarish 6 inches in tri-state history, stranding children in their schools, commuters at transit hubs and debilitating New York City in a way many said they've never before seen.

The city's Department of Education was still running school bus routes after 11 p.m. Thursday, according to a tweet from the agency. At least one commuter described a harrowing 13-hour trip home. And commuters, along with their elected officials, are not holding back their frustration, with some even calling for Mayor de Blasio to step down Friday over the abject chaos from 6 inches.

"Mayor Bill de Blasio step down," one commenter wrote on NBC 4 New York's Facebook page. "You are a disgrace to this city and a complete incompetent. The chaos that happened today is completely unacceptable. Clearly you were unprepared and for that you should lose your job."

"It wasn't a snowstorm it was a lack of preparation," another comment read.

De Blasio said on NY1 Friday he understands the frustration and vowed the city would "do a full review of what happened here." In a late tweet Thursday night, he said, "first storm hit hard and right at rush hour, downing trees and causing delays. @NYCSanitation plows and salt spreaders are making progress as traffic eases. They’ll be out all night to get roads clear before the AM commute."

Roads were hardly completely clear by early Friday, with multiple straphangers reporting delays waiting for MTA buses and trains. 

De Blasio's spokesperson, Eric Phillips, said the early storm meant that MTA didn't have snow chains on its buses. He said many of them had to pull over, "further clogging streets."

Storm Makes This November the Snowiest Since 1938

Photos showed rubbernecking from the West Side Highway to Upper Manhattan, with buses becoming disabled and getting stuck in intersections as frustrated drivers abandoned their cars to get out and walk.

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, (D-NY), called it “unacceptable.”

“Transportation and transit are the lifeblood of our city. 3 inches of snow have crippled #NYC,” he tweeted. "Moms are stranded with their kids, people are running out of gas. We demand answers.”

Angela Dominguez

The scene in some places, but for the amount of snow, was almost remniscent of the Christmas blizzard nightmare that happened while Michael Bloomberg was in office. That storm, unlike Thursday's, dumped 20 inches of snow in Central Park. Streets were unplowed for days. 

Nearly 150 trees fell in Manhattan, crushing cars and hurting a cop and EMTs. More than 300 downed limbs were reported and at least 40 remained hanging; the city warned people to stay out of parks Friday over concern more could fall. 

Though public schools were open again Friday, the city canceled all afterschool programs and some field trips. That only compounded the ire, with a flurry of Twitter users demanding to know why that was not the case a day earlier.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Trees-Downed-Across-NYC-Tri-State-500634171.html

Though it was hardly a blizzard, Thursday’s storm was the snowiest in November in 80 years, Storm Team 4 says. It dropped 8 inches of the white stuff in Central Park, more in parts of New Jersey and Connecticut and even more than a foot in places in Orange County. The PM commute was a disaster of epic proportions.

Traffic all across the region was brought to a crawl, while it was completely paralyzed it in some spots. Downed trees throughout the city caused traffic gridlocks and the Port Authority Bus Terminal had to be partially shut down due to overcrowding. The terminal had become an immovable block of wall-to-wall commuters all gazing up at the schedule board. Lines of people waited to get into the terminal as officials urged them to take trains or ferries.

Video: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Snowstorm-Commute-Traffic-Mess-Trains-Buses-500661071.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand&fbclid=IwAR32rmc4Qm-zsJ6EmMpA2iB8SiEHCqXKRGC-L3wHuO_bqj6639BL2kQf0VM

The first snowstorm of the season to hit the New York City area brought several inches of the white stuff, which completely snarled traffic all over the region. Ray Villeda reports.

(Published Friday, Nov. 16, 2018)

A multi-vehicle accident on the George Washington Bridge added to the already traffic nightmares. After sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, people bailed out of vehicles and started trekking over the bridge and snow-covered ramp back to Manhattan, filing toward the 178th Street exit.

The city's sanitation department says it had nearly 700 salt spreaders pre-deployed around the city by noontime, but the "afternoon snowfall was much heavier than had been forecast by all weather outlets requiring that we deploy plows," according to spokesman Vito Turso.

"Complicating issues was the fact that several bridges were closed, and traffic, particularly in the Bronx, upper Manhattan and on Staten Island, came to a halt with our snow clearing equipment stuck within," said Turso. 

Alternate side parking was suspended again Friday to assist with snow removal.

Source: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Snowstorm-Commute-Traffic-Mess-Trains-Buses-500661071.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand&fbclid=IwAR32rmc4Qm-zsJ6EmMpA2iB8SiEHCqXKRGC-L3wHuO_bqj6639BL2kQf0VM

[Union Tpke]

Streets around Hunter were completely gridlocked. I have NEVER seen anything like this.

[JeremiahC99]

B17 and B46 traffic on Utica Avenue in Crown Heights was at a standstill as well. Took me 10 minutes to go from Eastern Pkwy to Empire Blvd, maybe even more. To add to that, 10 buses going southbound and almost no one going northbound in Crown Heights. Total trip time: 30 or maybe 40 minutes from Eastern Pkwy to Flatlands Av. At least I made it home for a consolation birthday party with my family after initial plans were cancelled.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

3 hours ago, Union Tpke said:

Streets around Hunter were completely gridlocked. I have NEVER seen anything like this.

My co-worker actually never made it home to Montclair.  His wife told him to get the hell out of the Port Authority after standing around for hours. Uber wanted $300 and the hotels were all booked in the area. He slept at my boss' apartment on the Upper East Side. lol

[QM1to6Ave]

What amazes me is how every single borough was incapacitated to some extent by this snow. Usually just one borough gets the worst of it

[aemoreira81]

And I thought that Staten Island had it bad. Typically, on Thursdays, I leave campus (CSI) at around 8:15 and get home into East New York around 10:40. I left CSI at 5:15, waited until 5:40 for a bus (after letting the first one go because it was too crowded)...and it took 3 hours to get to Clove Road (normally 18 minutes). Too much ice. Once the snow reached 3 inches, the snowfighting equipment should have been sent out. I ended up getting home around 10:40, and I can count myself as lucky.

As for NYC's public schools, they should not have opened on Friday; even though the weather was good, I don't see how a lot of the drivers could have been legal to drive on Friday morning, especially at Jofaz (and subsidiaries), Logan (and subsidiaries), MV (Reliant) and National Express (New Dawn), and Pioneer - all of which hold interstate carrier authority. Academy and NJ Transit canceled a lot of morning rush hour runs because their drivers were not legal to drive.

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

What amazes me is how every single borough was incapacitated to some extent by this snow. Usually just one borough gets the worst of it

90 minute wait for buses at St George.

 puts snow chains on for 1 inch of snow, but not this time. One thing to be wrong on forecasts, but feels like NYC and  said "Oh well."

[QM1to6Ave]

9 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

And I thought that Staten Island had it bad. Typically, on Thursdays, I leave campus (CSI) at around 8:15 and get home into East New York around 10:40. I left CSI at 5:15, waited until 5:40 for a bus (after letting the first one go because it was too crowded)...and it took 3 hours to get to Clove Road (normally 18 minutes). Too much ice. Once the snow reached 3 inches, the snowfighting equipment should have been sent out. I ended up getting home around 10:40, and I can count myself as lucky.

As for NYC's public schools, they should not have opened on Friday; even though the weather was good, I don't see how a lot of the drivers could have been legal to drive on Friday morning, especially at Jofaz (and subsidiaries), Logan (and subsidiaries), MV (Reliant) and National Express (New Dawn), and Pioneer - all of which hold interstate carrier authority. Academy and NJ Transit canceled a lot of morning rush hour runs because their drivers were not legal to drive.

At the mayor's press conference on Friday, they claimed only 10 percent or so of drivers were not legal to drive on Friday, but I really don't believe that number. My teacher friend said tons of buses and kids were missing on Friday 

[RailRunRob]

New York weather forecasting is tricky this time of year mainly in part to the Ocean and rain-snow line. That was a major factor. Another major factor not salting and having trucks on standby. The Bridges and overpasses are always the 1st to freeze over there could easily be a difference of 10-15 degrees with the windchill in open spaces with 32F being freezing non treated as opposed 18F-20F with salt that could have solved for a lot of the issues with ice on the Bridges, Highway, and even Buses. The Highways and crossings being out was a domino effect on the street grid.. And to complete the perfect storm the MTA not putting chains on their Buses. Probably due to the fact they'd figured smaller snow amounts and the roads being salted.  This truly was the perfect storm. Hope something was learned from all this.