Mayor Bloomberg traded in his blood red comfort sweater for a Fonzie-esque leather jacket to give this morning's weather update in Queens. “I think it’s fair to say that we were very lucky,” Bloomberg told reporters about the state of the city after the nor'easter blew through the East Coast last night. "It looks like we've dodged a bullet."
"The storm certainly brought plenty of snow—about a foot in a lot of areas in New York City—but we certainly avoided the worst of it," he added. As of the 8 a.m., roughly 2,200 pieces of equipment were out spreading salt.
While things are obviously are not so great right now on Long Island, Bloomberg said that NYC highways were clear and all primary roads had been plowed. He added that most secondary, and 60% of tertiary roads had been plowed as well—he urged people not to drive unless they had to, so those streets could be taken care of. You can check the status of your street via the new PlowNYC website.
All Metro-North Railroad Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Line service is suspended until further notice—but besides Grand Central, which was closed Friday evening, Bloomberg said all subways and buses are up and running normal now. There will be no trash or recycling pickup today, alternate side and parking meters are suspended, and all public school activities are canceled.
Altogether, CBS reports the highest snow total for NYC was 15 inches in the Bronx— Central Park saw 11.4 inches. Bloomberg reiterated that although we are past the worst of it, "it's wet, it's slippery, and there's still some blowing, the winds today are not calm by any means."
Two other notable things: Bloomberg didn't translate today's updates for spanish listeners (to El Bloombito's disappointment, or um, relief)—and he answered a question at the end by noting, "a lot of Twitters saying people loved it," but we couldn't hear what the question was. What do the Twitters love? Is it PlowNYC? Is it your red sweater?
