patrick.net

I think you meant "decedent" not "descendant".

Anyhow, it literally is not the "end of the world", so he's right. Maybe some of those folks will examine the efficacy of those services now. If they aren't working, why not?

I realize we live in a FAST FOOD QUICK LET ME TEXT YOU ON MY OTHER BLACKBERRY world but.......

Maybe some of those people will learn to work from home, or push for having their train system better hardened against SNOWLOCAUST in the future! Grew up in the South myself, and I found it hysterical how the prospect of an inch of snow would strike terror in most and milk, eggs, etc would vanish from the store shelves.

The Onion did a good bit on this:

Snowy Conditions Proving Hazardous For Nation's Idiots

Vicente says

“decedent” not “descendant”.

Opps. Yes I did.

Vicente says

Maybe some of those people will learn to work from home,

You're obviously in CA. You guys there don't get it sometimes: even the thought of that option is very unpopular for a lot of employers on the east coast -they are certain it is a way to get paid and goof off. It's stupid but true. I know of one entity that allows it - and it's a branch of a CA based bank.

New Yorkers are upset because compared to same severe storms, that happen every 1-2 years or so, the city response was pathetic. February 2010 we got more snow in one storm than this one dropped - and the trains kept running. But this time, there were hundreds of people trapped for hours on trains without heat or information, hundreds more stuck at stations and bus stops with no way of getting anywhere. 1,000 - that's 25% - of all MTA buses required towing at some point and it was these, not ordinary cars, that hampered plowing. This is not normal nor acceptable. Our taxes are through the roof and we have a recent additional MTA tax forced on every one in the metropolitan area. We pay for, and thus deserve, better than Hizzoner telling the public to quit complaining, as 'Broadway was packed last night'.

Liz, Sorry to hear something like that happen to your hood. That remind me of what happened in DC last year. Remember the snowmaggedon year 2009? Electricity being cut off, roof callapsed, metro bus lines got all messed up etc. I didn't know they charged new tax for it. The bastards should start work when they already got the money. Shame on them. The last time we got 28 inches of flurry shit, we had to dig up our drive way ourselves for 6 hours. This time, we got little over 1 inches, their trucks were on alert and the roads were filled with salt in no time.

I know they should be used to snow, but this is a infrequently occurring massive snow event and they certainly can't handle that in a normal amount of time. Patience is required. Work from home or take off of work and just eat whatever you happen to have in the pantry and hope that your power doesn't go out.

The alternate would be to hire a bunch of more people and buy more equipment to handle peak loads, but that would be super expensive sine > 99% of the time the stuff will be idleing.

You blame Bloomberg, but the exact same thing happens in every other city as well.

Liz Pendens says

You’re obviously in CA. You guys there don’t get it sometimes: even the thought of that option is very unpopular for a lot of employers on the east coast -they are certain it is a way to get paid and goof off.

A. I only moved to CA in 2005, grew up on the East Coast. Last time I was pinned down like that was DC in ummm.... 2002? Can't remember.
B. Yes even in IT, it's still unpopular. However for a rare blizzard, accomodations must be made.

This storm is horrible, has caused massive problems all over the U.S. But with a 2.4 billion dollar deficit, how can they keep services up while dealing responsibly with the finances? They've laid off thousands of workers.

On the other hand, it is interesting to see how perfectly plowed the Mayor's street is vs other streets. So far as cars being in the way, according to the video of the plow smashing the SUV parked cars don't seem to be in the way.

Ya lost me, shrekie. My statement was that NYC is facing a huge economic crisis and can't afford to pay the overtime that it takes to plow all of the roads, although the one where the mayor lives is spotless.

It was NOT 'rare blizzard' conditions that caused the screwed up response. This comes down to... sorry all, the Bloomberg administration rolling the dice trying to save money and instead wound up making a bad bet that blew up on them. A few details coming out:

EMS was put on notice over 24 hrs. before (Christmas Eve) that for the 1st time, the Dept. of Sanitation would not be towing them if they got stuck. Instead each vehicle was issued a brand new shovel and told to deal with things themselves. Additionally they wouldn't hire anyone, existing staff or extra contractors, for road plow help. Opps... seems this directly contributed to one-person staffed ambulances idling in drifts for several hours with dead guys. No matter 'cause according to the mayor - the same one who just backed the tax increase- Broadway was packed!!

Note that Westchester and Nassau Counties had the same snow fall and did NOT have the problems: They also have big budget issues but didn't gamble.

Ya wanna tell everyone 'it's not the end of the world', that's fine. Pretty obnoxious coming from a guy who can helicopter his daughter to treatment after being thrown off her million dollar horse. But whatever.

But then tell businesses to excuse the workers who can't get in, and stop trying to snow the public about what really exacerbated the problem (no pun intended).

Bloomberg better watch it. It was Mayor Michael Bilandic's very slow response during the blizzard of 1979 that won him a defeat to Jane Byrne who was to become Chicago's first female mayor. Voters tend to rebel when they're held hostage in their homes due to the uncaring incompetence of their mayor. A Bungling Mayor's Poor Response to A Blizzard Emergency Ends His Political Career

Bloomberg didn't need the gig. It has been a vanity exercise, from what my NYC friends tell me.

Btw, I was only 9 years old during those blizzards. I remember it being so much fun. We had a week or two off of school because of snow days. We made giant snow forts. My poor Dad was throwing the shovelled snow so high it got up to our second story of our townhouse. Once school started again, we would wait for the bus on snow piles higher than the street signs. When the bus came, we'd pelt it with snow balls and slide down the snow bank to meet the bus. Some of us would catch the bus's bumper and skitch pissing off the bus driver.

Our parents weren't as thrilled as us kids to say the least.

Oh and I also remember going to the grocery store in a sled being pulled by Mom. Lol! For a good while cars were useless. :-) But then again we Midwesterners are of hardier stock than those wimpy New Yorkers. Lol

shrekgrinch says

Ya mean he’s an East Coast version of a SchwarzenKennedy? I’m shocked!

With a cuomo on top. ;)

elliemae says
With a cuomo on top.

You do know the NY Governor elect is dating Sandra Lee, queen of QVC and Walmart pre-made cakes/tubs of carcinogenic, 10yr. shelf-life icing to make her 'homemade' delights? Here's one of her notorious train wrecks, the festive Kwanzaa Cake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2iWTJqo98

Wonder if she'll serve this baby up in Albany.

That cake looked alot like something I made in college when I was stoned. I should sue her for copyright infringement.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/nyc_we_ve_met_goal_to_plow_every_KnN3NILm3zG0x6yHaKjhqL
This article says that the sanitation department staged a slow-down to protest cutbacks.

elliemae says

This article says that the sanitation department staged a slow-down to protest cutbacks.

Yeah, now the real nasty dirt is flying. Hah.

And the MTA had admitted that it tracked the storm for a week, and instead of classifying it as a response level 4 as they have with similar past blizzards, they called it a ONE ... meaning all the trains got... uh, stuck; and stairs to the tracks weren't shoveled for about 3 days. And today they've called for another fare hike.

So we have gone from dead guys, to the mayor blaming homeowners of clogged the street because they shoveled their walks and put the snow in the wrong place, to union bosses being vindictive assholes, to investigations into everything called by both outgoing and incoming governors.

Hahaha!! Cluster f*ck all around!!