00:00Ahead of the blizzard today, heavy snow
00:02going to bury the Big Apple right after
00:04the snow from the last storm
00:06just seemingly really started
00:08to melt. The mayor of New York
00:10Zoran Mamdani joins us now
00:12Mr. Mayor, we're honored to have you with us
00:14on Fox Weather. Listen, no matter
00:16what side of the aisle people are on
00:18today it's all about keeping everyone safe
00:20during this blizzard, right? So let me ask you this
00:22the first major winter storm
00:24under your leadership happened about three weeks
00:26ago with 11.4 inches
00:28of snow recorded in
00:30New York City. We could double that
00:32this time around. Did your team learn
00:34anything from that storm and how
00:36prepared is the city's snow
00:38removal operations and garbage pickup
00:40this time around?
00:41Well it's a real pleasure to be on first and foremost
00:44and what I will say is as you said
00:46last time we saw up to
00:48about 12, 13, 14 inches in New York
00:50City. What we're seeing now is a
00:52forecast of between 18 to 22
00:54inches with certain parts of New York
00:56City seeing up to 28
00:58inches. And so what we've done is always
01:00push ourselves to deliver the best possible
01:02snow response in our city and that means
01:04enhancing some of our response this time
01:06around. A few things that are different
01:08we've expanded the number of emergency snow
01:10shovelers we have. Last time it was about
01:12500. We've done sustained outreach
01:13to bring that number up to 1400.
01:16They'll be shoveling a lot of crosswalks
01:18and sidewalks across New York City.
01:20Secondly, we've also geotagged
01:22a number of those same crosswalks and
01:24unsheltered bus stops to make sure
01:26that the city has an accurate up-to-date
01:28understanding of what the snow
01:29response is for every New Yorker no
01:31matter if they're walking, if they're
01:33biking, if they're taking the train or
01:34the bus or if they're driving.
01:36And what we're also going to be seeing
01:38this time around is that
01:40we are utilizing every single
01:42tool at our disposal and
01:44everything that we've seen work in the
01:45past. We're bringing that up from the
01:47first day of this response.
01:48Let me ask you this. You mentioned it.
01:50Talk to me a little bit more about
01:51transportation. A lot of New Yorkers rely
01:53on public transportation.
01:54What are your plans or do you expect
01:57to shut anything down in terms
01:59of the buses or the trains when
02:01the storm really gets rolling?
02:03At this time, there is no plan to
02:05shut down our public transit system.
02:06What I will tell you is that thanks to
02:08the incredible work of the men and
02:09women at DSNY, our sanitation
02:11department, they're going to be plowing
02:13the streets as soon as there's two
02:15inches of snowfall. We're transforming
02:17the sanitation department into the
02:18largest snow fighting fleet in the
02:20country. And that is going to be a key
02:22part of why our buses can continue
02:24to function across the city.
02:25We'll also have our trains doing so as
02:27well. I love it. The city is calling
02:29on people to act as emergency snow
02:31shovelers, right? So they can show up at
02:33their local sanitation garage and make
02:35up to 19 bucks an hour shoveling snow.
02:39Is it too late to register for that?
02:41And what are the exact requirements if
02:44folks can still register?
02:46So it is not too late. You can go to any
02:48of your local sanitation garages any time
02:50before 1 p.m. today. You can sign up
02:52without having to make any kind of an
02:53appointment. And if you go to NYC dot gov
02:56forward slash snow, you'll find out all
02:58of the information you need to bring with
03:00you in terms of identification and
03:02documents so that you can be enrolled in
03:04the city's payment system and get paid for
03:05the work that you do. Listen, I heard that
03:07the call to cancel New York City public
03:10schools will be made likely by noon.
03:13afternoon. It's 1020. What are you
03:15thinking? Do you want to make the call
03:17right here on Fox weather? And if not, what
03:19are some of the deciding factors that
03:21you're still thinking about?
03:23I got to disappoint you without some
03:25breaking news right now. We will be
03:26making it at 12 p.m. But I will tell
03:28you the factors that we're taking into
03:30account is making sure we have the most
03:32accurate up-to-date weather forecast
03:34because, as you know, on Friday we were
03:36looking at 3 to 4 inches. Then it was
03:396 to 8. Then it was 13 to 18. Now it's
03:4218 to 22. So we want to make sure we
03:44make a decision as consequential as
03:46whether or not to keep schools open.
03:47It's one that we have all the
03:48information of. We're looking forward to
03:50getting that over the next hour and a
03:51half and making that decision at noon.
03:53So you put New York City under a code
03:56blue. For those that aren't maybe
03:58familiar with that, can you tell us and
04:00expound on what a code blue means for
04:03residents?
04:04Absolutely. It is a period in which we're
04:07seeing the weather dip to the levels
04:08that we need to use every protocol we have
04:11to get people from the outside indoors, get
04:14people safe, get people warm. This
04:16usually happens when the weather dips
04:17below freezing. It's also in place now
04:20for this blizzard, the first since we've
04:22had it in 2016. And what this is going
04:25to mean is that if a New Yorker sees a
04:26homeless New Yorker and they call 3-1-1
04:28for help, we're going to reroute that
04:29call to 9-1-1. This also means that we
04:32have a number of additional protocols of
04:34warming spaces, warming centers, warming
04:37buses, every which way that we can connect
04:39homeless New Yorkers with warmth and safety, we're going to be utilizing it today.
04:43Let me ask you this. What's maybe your biggest concern
04:45for New Yorkers? Is it travel? Is it power outages? Is it emergency response times?
04:53At this time, I would say it's travel. We want to make sure that everyone takes this weather very
04:57seriously, stays home, because in staying home, you are staying safe. And we know that right now the
05:02snow is beginning. It's only going to intensify through the night. We're going to see very hazardous
05:06travel conditions. And so we're saying to New Yorkers, if you do not have to leave your house
05:10for anything except for an emergency, then don't leave it. Stay home, stay safe.
05:14I second that. That's really good advice. From a social media standpoint, a lot of New Yorkers were
05:19frustrated by maybe the single file line they had to walk in due to the snow removal along the
05:25sidewalks, right? Are there any plans in place to maybe make those sidewalk pads a little bit more
05:31clear this time around or a little bit wider? Absolutely. There's a mandate to increase that
05:36to four feet. So to make sure that every New Yorker, including New Yorkers with wheelchairs,
05:41can actually access their sidewalks. And also, we know that this is the responsibility when it's in
05:46front of a property owner or a small business owner's entity that they have to clear up the
05:51sidewalk in front of them. Sanitation did issue about 4,000 citations last time around. Our interest,
05:56however, is not in issuing violations. We just want to seek compliance. And so this is also a reminder
06:01to ensure that everyone is following through on that responsibility. The city will be doing so as well.
06:05Obviously, the snowplows are going to really hone in on the biggest throughways, right? But
06:10for those residential areas, how quickly can residents realistically expect plows to make it
06:17through some of the more residential areas with a snowfall like this? So we actually have a great
06:22tool in New York City called Plow NYC, where you can follow along to see when your street was last
06:28plowed. Because what it does is it's both transparent and it keeps the city accountable. Because we're
06:32looking to ensure that every part of our city receives the same service, no matter what zip code,
06:37no matter what neighborhood. My last question. I know you're going to be busy 24-7 here with this
06:42storm. But if you get a free five minutes, you're going to do any sled riding? You're going to start
06:47a snowball fight, make a snowman? It's going to be packable snow. What are you thinking?
06:51You know, I will say of all those options, snowball is always the best.
06:56Well, I'm going to steer clear of striking range from you, my friend. Thank you so much for your time
07:02here. We really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule here during this snowstorm
07:07to talk with us here on Fox Weather. That, of course, is New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani. Thanks again.
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