He knew what's at flake.
Mayor Mamdani all but admitted on Monday that his administration’s response to the latest blizzard was informed by his somewhat-criticized performance during the first storm of his tenure, leading to increased staffing and pay for emergency shovelers and a complete ban on private cars using public roadways overnight on Sunday into Monday.
The ban on private cars on the public roadways that took effect on Sunday night extended to Monday at noon, when the storm's frenzy had somewhat subsided, but the mayor said it was effective at keeping so many drivers from taking to unsafe streets and getting in the way of critical emergency workers and storm response teams.
And far more emergency workers were hired this time around to shovel snow from bus stops and crosswalks — both of which are the responsibility of property owners, which turned out to be the Achilles heel of city snow response during the late January superspreader event.
For instance, the mayor said that the Department of Sanitation cleared more than 1,600 crosswalks, 419 fire hydrants and almost 900 bus stops overnight — even before more workers were dispatched on Monday morning. Overnight on Sunday, DSNY had 575 shovelers out on the streets for the first 12-hour shift. By Monday morning, the number increased to 873 on the second shift — and a DSNY spokesman said that those numbers were "triple" what the agency did for the first storm.
The Department of Transportation cleared more than 1,300 sheltered bus stops. And the mayor announced that no New Yorkers died overnight in the cold. Almost two dozen died in the first storm.
"We're always looking to enhance the work that we're doing, to ensure that New Yorkers are getting exactly the kind of service and response they deserve," the mayor said at a snow presser on Monday afternoon in response to a question about whether he had "learned" something from the prior storm.
"The lesson learned to just get it done and then fight with the private landlord or the vendor later," he said, moving to specifically discuss the emergency shoveler program, whose pay increased to $30 per hour for this storm, up from just under $20 last time.
"Part of this is a reflection of the fact that we have to ensure that each and every New Yorker is able to navigate their own city, no matter what their mode of transit is," he added. "The last time around, we saw around 4,000 citations being issued to property owners for the violation of this requirement. However, we know the importance of ensuring that these crosswalks, these sidewalks, are not just passable in a technical sense, but also passable with a four feet so that New Yorkers who are using wheelchairs or with a stroller that they can actually get around."
He said not only had more shovelers been hired, but more DSNY supervisors were deployed to manage the teams focusing on crosswalks, sidewalks and unsheltered bus stops.
Streetsblog asked specifically if the travel ban — which kept roadways safer by reducing car volumes — could be expanded to other periods when public safety is compromised by the presence of automobiles, such as New Year's Eve, Halloween or during the festivities surrounding the coming World Cup.
Mamdani didn't really bite, but admitted that the thought is now in his head.
"I can tell you that for right now, my focus is on this blizzard, this storm," he said. "However, following the conclusion of it, it is always an opportunity to reflect on longer-standing city policy."
The travel ban became merely a travel advisory at noon on Monday. A blizzard warning remains in effect until 6 p.m.
