Mayor Bloomberg is in hot water with the slow response to the blizzard that hit NYC yesterday. With advanced notice to the pending snow storm, Mayor Bloomberg had an Obama moment. Just like the Gulf Oil Spill, the lack of foresight and initiative cost lives and financial hardship to the residence of NYC. It took other counties from another state to help bail them out. The unions and city hall are blaming each other for the mess. Since the Mayor wouldn't stand up to the unions and decided to cut funding for police and firefighters, I blame the unions and Mayor Bloomberg and both should be blamed for NYC's nightmare.
(CBS New York) NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — A winter storm that dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on New York City is also whipping up criticism about how the city handled the response.
City officials said Monday night it could require another 24 hours to clear the snowy and icy side streets, WCBS 880′s Ginny Kosola reported.
The heavy snow sent city emergency services into a nose dive, with ambulances and fire trucks trapped in snow and facing long delays. There was also bickering between the city and some unions over whether a snow emergency should have been called, CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reported.
As residents were being asked not to call 911 unless there was an emergency, sources said the city was having difficulty responding to many high-priority calls.
Crews from Burlington, Somerset and Mercer counties in New Jersey arrived in New York City to help with the back load of calls – 20 crews were assigned to Queens and 20 ambulances went to Brooklyn
At one point there were 120 ambulances stuck in the snow, Kramer reported.
EMS and fire sources questioned why the city didn’t call a snow emergency to keep cars off streets, which would have made it easier for emergency vehicles and snow plows to get around.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg blamed the fast pace of snowfall. He said it fell at 2 to 3 inches per hour during some periods overnight, and many main roadways had to be plowed repeatedly.
