There were no comfort sweaters in sight, but Mayor Bill de Blasio handled himself just fine at his first storm-related press conference this afternoon. "It would have been nice to have a calm first day, but we have snow on our mind, and we are focused like a laser on protecting this city and getting everyone ready," he said about the oncoming blizzard.
De Blasio said alternate side parking would be suspended today and tomorrow; 450 salt spreaders have been loaded and 1700 plows were ready to cover 6K miles of streets when the time comes. He noted that the predictions for the snowfall have dropped slightly over the course of the day (he gave the figure "5-10 inches" of snow), but reiterated again and again that the best thing NYers can do tonight is, "get the word out, stay off the roads, and get home early...visibility will be bad, temperatures will be very low, so please stay home tonight." And definitely get your Trader Joe's shopping done now, if you haven't already.
"The best thing we can do as New Yorkers is get off the streets this evening so sanitation has optimal conditions to work," he added. PlowNYC, which lets people track plows in real-time via GPS, is up and running—de Blasio noted that resources will be "sent where the need is, regardless of which borough it's in."
After speaking with the Office of Emergency Management at 4 p.m., De Blasio will give another update on storm preparations (it is expected to begin snowing between 5-7 p.m.). He also said that it isn't just snow that the city is concerned about: "Regardless of the number of inches, it's going to be very cold, unusually cold...we need to be cognizant of what that means." He asked that people watch out for neighbors (especially senior citizens and anyone disabled) and encourage homeless people to go to shelters over the next couple days.
Lastly, De Blasio vowed to stay in Manhattan overseeing everything while the storm is happening: "It would be nice to go home and sleep tonight in Brooklyn, but it depends what happens. I may have long night in Manhattan. I intend to be on top of the action." This'll really put a crimp in any plans to head to Bermuda this weekend.
