Bill de Blasio

Who’s to blame for Thursday’s snow-fueled gridlock?

Who’s to blame for Thursday’s snow-fueled gridlock? Agencies are quick to deflect blame following severe commuter delays.

Snow in New York City

Snow in New York City Michelle_C/Shutterstock

The snowfall that blanketed New York City during rush hour on Thursday evening stalled traffic on several bridges, clogged streets on both sides of the Hudson River and kept commuters at the overcrowded Port Authority Bus terminal and other points in the city waiting for hours to get home.

And while more snow fell on the city than had originally been forecast, many frustrated New Yorkers wondered how a seemingly manageable situation had spiraled out of control.

The New York City Department of Sanitation, which is responsible for salting and plowing the city’s streets, pointed to the bridge closures, including on the busy George Washington Bridge. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages the George Washington Bridge, blamed the gridlock on unplowed streets on either sides of their tunnels and bridges – implicating the city Department of Sanitation and the New Jersey Department of Transportation. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority claimed that its subways and commuter lines had performed well, but that its buses had also been impeded by accumulating snow on the city’s streets.

“It’s like everybody sits in a circle and they all point to the right as it goes around in a circle,” said Dr. Robert Paaswell, a former executive director of the Chicago Transit Authority and a current professor of civil engineering at the City College of New York.

The New York City Department of Sanitation’s biggest challenge was the George Washington Bridge closure, which caused many highways and streets to back up, according to an agency spokeswoman. “Complicating issues was the fact that several bridges were closed and traffic, particularly in the Bronx, upper Manhattan and on Staten Island, came to a halt with our snow clearing equipment stuck within,” Director of Communications Belinda Mager said in an email. “Tree branches also snapped from the weight of the snow, blocking many streets.”

Magers said the city deployed its salt spreaders early on at key points, but the second wave of defense – snow plows – were stuck in backed up traffic like everyone else.

Because of the congested roads, many buses simply couldn’t reach the Port Authority Bus Terminal. With so few buses taking passengers away, the Port Authority blocked access to its second and third floors. The line of people waiting to get into the terminal reportedly spanned an entire block. By 5:30 p.m., Port Authority officials were advising commuters to utilize trains or ferries.

Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesperson, attributed the gridlock to unplowed streets on either sides of their tunnels and bridges, which is the responsibility of the city Department of Sanitation and the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Coleman also said drivers were responsible for the George Washington bridge pile-up that resulted in the closure of the bridge’s top level. He also cited one especially slow driver on the Bayonne Bridge, which only has one lane in each direction currently, for the backup and eventual closure on that bridge.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority did everything it could and should have done to prepare, said MTA spokesman Shams Tarek. Buses were equipped with all-weather tires and de-icer trains were deployed. Tarek reported that the Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Railroad and the subways all performed well given the challenging conditions. The problem for the MTA was the gridlock on the roads.

“Our buses were held hostage to massive gridlock citywide,” Tarek said. “Our bus operators and front-line employees fought through epic traffic and kept the subways moving – and we’re grateful for their dedication during a tremendously difficult commute.”

On Friday, the major agencies involved promised to reach out to each other to review what happened. However, experts said there should be better communication beforehand, as well.

“You need better coordination and certainly much better coordination while the event is occurring,” Paaswell said. “Like it looks like we’re going to have trouble on the bridge, stay away from the bridge, etc.”

Of course, while forecasts predicted a few inches of snow and then rain and temperatures in the forties, the temperature plummeted and five to six inches fell on New York City right before rush hour on Thursday. Tree branches fell and closed streets, and schools and businesses all let their students and workers go home at the same time. One domino after another tipped and it created the perfect storm of catastrophes for a city that had weathered storms five times the size.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said nobody is to blame for the problems. After being asked during a press conference Friday afternoon whether he owes New Yorkers an apology like the one New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson posted on Twitter, de Blasio said, “I’m upset that New Yorkers went through it. I don’t think it’s fair to say the city agencies could have stopped all of this. People want to blame city agencies on something they literally could not have stopped. I’m not going to be a part of that.”

Paaswell didn’t blame the mayor, but he noted that “snow storms bring down more mayors than any other event.”

“One of the things you have to realize is sometimes God doesn’t want people to travel,” he said. “And the idea is sometimes things are totally out of your hands but you have to be prepared for them.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.