Ask and ye shall receive! Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty spoke to the NY Times about the beating he's been getting for the city's response to the blizzard, which is fast becoming the storm that the city screwed up. Noting how the press has made a big deal about how his crews failed and how his own Staten Island block was plowed, Doherty said, "I keep waiting for the picture to be in the paper with the goat’s horns sticking out of my head, like I’m the goat of the storm. We got a black eye. I think my reputation, and the reputation of the department, has been seriously tarnished."
Doherty admitted that he had to hire non-Sanitation Department help to dig his car out ("very embarrassing"). However, Doherty is determined "to go out there and work hard and get our reputation back." (The article looks at his background and experience, working his way through the ranks of the Sanitation Department.) And he doesn't think crews slowed down on purpose, "The only time you’re going to be a hero in this department is when there’s a snowstorm. This is the battle we have to win. It didn’t work out." Some former city officials say the city should have called a snow emergency while others believe that Doherty's department is being micromanaged by Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith.
