Sanitation’s Slow Snow Cleanup Was a Budget Protest
These garbage men really stink.
Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts — a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.
Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.
“They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important,” said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot.
Halloran said he met with three plow workers from the Sanitation Department — and two Department of Transportation supervisors who were on loan — at his office after he was flooded with irate calls from constituents.
The snitches “didn’t want to be identified because they were afraid of retaliation,” Halloran said. “They were told [by supervisors] to take off routes [and] not do the plowing of some of the major arteries in a timely manner. They were told to make the mayor pay for the layoffs, the reductions in rank for the supervisors, shrinking the rolls of the rank-and-file.”
New York’s Strongest used a variety of tactics to drag out the plowing process — and pad overtime checks — which included keeping plows slightly higher than the roadways and skipping over streets along their routes, the sources said.
The snow-removal snitches said they were told to keep their plows off most streets and to wait for orders before attacking the accumulating piles of snow.
They said crews normally would have been more aggressive in com bating a fierce, fast-moving bliz zard like the one that barreled in on Sunday and blew out the next morning.
The workers said the work slowdown was the result of growing hostility between the mayor and the workers responsible for clearing the snow.
In the last two years, the agency’s workforce has been slashed by 400 trash haulers and supervisors — down from 6,300 — because of the city’s budget crisis. And, effective tomorrow, 100 department supervisors are to be demoted and their salaries slashed as an added cost-saving move.
Sources said budget cuts were also at the heart of poor planning for the blizzard last weekend. The city broke from its usual routine and did not call in a full complement on Saturday for snow preparations in order to save on added overtime that would have had to be paid for them to work on Christmas Day.
The result was an absolute collapse of New York’s once-vaunted systems of clearing the streets and keeping mass transit moving under the weight of 20 inches of snow.
The Sanitation Department last night denied there was a concerted effort to slow snow removal.
“There are no organized or wildcat actions being taken by the sanitation workers or the supervisors,” said spokesman Matthew Lipani.
Joseph Mannion, president of the union that represents agency supervisors, said talk of a slowdown “is hogwash.” But he admitted there is “resentment out there” toward Mayor Bloomberg and his administration because of budget cuts.
His counterpart at the rank-and-file’s union, Harry Nespoli, has also denied there is a job action, though he admitted his guys are working lucrative 14-hour shifts.
Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said only: “We would hope this is not the case.”
But multiple Sanitation Department sources told The Post yesterday that angry plow drivers have only been clearing streets assigned to them even if that means they have to drive through snowed-in roads with their plows raised.
And they are keeping their plow blades unusually high, making it necessary for them to have to run extra passes, adding time and extra pay.
One mechanic said some drivers are purposely smashing plows and salt spreaders to further stall the cleanup effort.
“That is a disgrace. I had to walk three miles because the buses can’t move,” said salesman Yuri Vesslin, 38, of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg — quickly becoming the public face of failure this week — spent a second consecutive day yesterday defending himself to critics of his administration’s handling of the storm.
He took reporters to The Bronx to explain that the city is coming back to life and to tout his administration’s efforts.
“Can’t work much harder,” Bloomberg said.
But Hizzoner admitted, “We didn’t do as good a job as we want to do or as the city has a right to expect.”
Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty promised that every street will have been plowed by 7 this morning, but then he offered this hedge: “Will somebody find a street that I missed? Maybe.”
Bloomberg and Doherty also offered a series of excuses for the failed response to the blizzard. They blamed residents for shoveling snow into streets that had already been plowed and for tying up 911 with non-emergency calls.
“This was a failure in the operations and ultimately, as the mayor tells us very often, the buck stops with him,” said Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-SI).
BASTERD BLOOMBERG!!!
BLAME IT ON BLOOMBERG, HE IS AT FAULT. IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF HIM THAT THIS IS ALL HAPPENING, ALL HIS BUDGET CUTS GARBAGE, HE IS A MURDERER FOR KILLING PEOPLE DURING THE BLIZZARD!!!
a concerned citizen
i think Hizzoner should fire every single one of the sanititation workers and then hire new ones—-based on merit, not nepotism.
the fired workers should be denied their pensions AND unemployment benefits
The only way Bloomberg can save face
And then only somewhat, is by firing the lot of them. This selfish protest actually made some people pay with their lives.
Bloomberg and Doherty....
These two clowns should stop denying the fact that they didn’t get the job done properly!! and stop putting the blame on everyone else!! to quote “Will somebody find a street that I missed? Maybe.”… Yes how about montgomery, crown, caroll… etc!! and then to blame pple fro shoveling into the streets… common!!!
Though it does make sense that it was the sanitation workers who were delaying the process!!! I hope they all get what they deserve for causing such havoc!!!
ch resident
I just heard that Boro park had a helicopter land and they photographed boro park to see how the place looks 4 days later…..
how come crown heights gets no attention. cant someone make some noise for us?
ch.info could u write an article how proactive the chjcc is for us??
CN
The “keystone cops” act the sanitation department put on was obviously intentional on someone’s part. Things can go wrong, but not as wrong as what happened unless there is intentional misconduct. There should be a thorough investigation done to find out who was responsible, and then they should be prosecuted criminally for manslaughter. If the mayor can’t find out who is responsible, then he should fall on his own sword.
Privatize
The sanitation workers stepped over the line. The city should fire them all from snow removal (they made their own bed) and in the future the city should rely only on private contractors to do snow removal.
Eli B.
Ye, that’s really explains everything!
What a disgrace!
Criminals
There should be a criminal investigation and the union officals who are responsible should be proseuted for Murder!
lloyd a cohen
The real problem is Bloomberg, he cannot run the city. Forgot how the city is even after a minor snow storm??????? The only way to let city hall to know that they have ignored us is by the vote and Bloomberg and his colleagues take our vote for granted, hence we do not count in the pecking order.
selfish workers
its not bloomberg they hurt…its new yorkers!
to #2 and 9
First of all you could all take a lesson in achdus.
Second of all regarding murder even in halacha one could never be charged in such a scenario.
Thirdly, the power of unions you cannot fire them.
They most Definitly CAUSED MURDER
Whether you like it night these people are murderers. Making a decision to delay snow plaowing you know or should know that ambulances will not be able to get to their destination. They must all be fired for causeing murders. My boss told me aint an excuse, an example from WWII
many people suffered!
ONE HUGE MISTAKE that i hope they learn from.