Metro

Mayor Bloomberg says plows have cleared streets as city gets 9 inches

A man slips while crossing the street on West 72nd Street.

A man slips while crossing the street on West 72nd Street. (Getty Images)

With the post-Christmas blizzard behind him, Mayor Bloomberg praised his administration’s response to today’s snowstorm, saying that the 8.8 inches that fell on the city caused few problems.

Bloomberg, who had come under heavy criticism for what he called an “inadequate” effort to clean up from last month’s blizzard, vowed last week that they would see better results this time around.

“By midday we expect every street in the city to have received at least one pass of the plow,” Bloomberg said, adding that he was lifting the weather emergency declaration put in place on Tuesday night.

SEE THE PHOTOS: NEW YORK UNDER A SNOW BLANKET

Public schools remained open and only minor delays were reported on public transportation.

Areas to the north and east of the city, including parts of Connecticut and Long Island, saw up to 30 inches of snow.

Bloomberg said crews would work even harder after criticism of how the city handled a storm just after Christmas, when hundreds of streets went unplowed, subway riders were stranded and medical calls were left unanswered because ambulances were unable to navigate snowy streets.

“The bottom line is that plows did not have to contend with buses and cars that were stuck,” said Bloomberg of today’s snowfall.

Bloomberg gave sanitation crews a thumbs up, although Brooklyn residents of East 7th Street between Greenwood Avenue and Ocean Parkway in Windsor Terrace were not so quick to laud the mayor’s performance this morning.

Their block was one of the last to be plowed during last month’s fiasco.

Exasperated residents were compelled to spray paint a “Not Shoveled” sign on plywood and plant it in a massive snow drift that left them completely marooned for several days.

Smirking residents said they heard snow plows rumbling down their block throughout last night and that they woke up to a neatly cleared roadway.

“I mean you have to wonder why they could do this last night and not last time,” said Erica Barrett, 20, as she trudged off to work. “That’s what popped into my head when I saw the plows last night. Where was this when we needed it?”

“The snow wasn’t nearly as bad this time,” said Robert Bandini, 61. “But they got to it early. You could hear the plows all night. Why did they do it this time? I think it was the backlash from the public. They had to do this.”

As for today, most subway lines are running as usual, however some normally scheduled express trains are running on local routes instead.

Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and NJ Transit Rail were all reporting some delays or schedule changes.

The LIRR is operating on a “significantly reduced” schedule, including the cancellation of 23 westbound trains and limited train service in the LIRR’s diesel territory, according to the MTA’s Web site.

Metro-North is on a Sunday schedule and the MTA is warning riders to expect crowded trains and delays.

NJ Transit rail and bus lines are running on normal weekday schedules, but the agency asks morning commuters to allow for additional travel time. NJ Transit is also cross-honoring all bus, rail and light rail passes through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

The Port Authority reported there had been 675 canceled flights Wednesday morning at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, while John F. Kennedy International Airport had 300 cancellations, and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey had 440.

With the city spared, Long Island was hit with the brunt of the snow.

Matt Guinta, who works as a driver for a beer distributor on eastern Long Island, said the company closed down for the day because of heavy snow.

“It’s a whiteout, pretty much,” he said. “The plows can’t keep up.”

With AP and NewsCore