Post date: Jan 03, 2014 7:28:11 PM
Newly sworn-in mayor Bill de Blasio urges New York City residents to stay home so workers can clear the streets after the city is hit with its first major snowstorm of the season.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 3, 2014) (REUTERS) - New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio urged residents to stay home on Friday (January 3) during the worst snow storm of the season.
Heavy snowfall and dangerously low temperatures gripped the northeastern United States on Friday, grounding flights, closing schools and government offices across the region.Speaking from a sanitation facility, de Blasio said, "You have to realize how hard these guys are working and we can help them by getting out of their way so they can clear the streets. So I want to say to my fellow New Yorkers, if you want safe, clear streets stay home and let these good folks at sanitation do their job to clear the streets. Obviously the other reason to stay home is for safety. It's very slick out here. It's hard to drive out there. The wind, ice, there's a lot of blowing snow still so that's going to affect visibility. If you do not need to travel today, please stay home."
The storm posed the first major challenge for de Blasio.
He said nearly 2,500 snow plows were on the streets of the biggest U.S. city as of early Friday.
De Blasio praised the sanitation workers who have been working since before the storm began on Thursday.
"The statistics of what they've done so far are entirely impressive and every New Yorker should be grateful when you hear this. One hundred percent of primary roads have been plowed. Ninety-two percent of secondary roads, 92 percent of tertiary roads. So this is an extraordinary level of performance under tough conditions," he said.
Up to 6.5 inches of snow fell on New York City and temperatures dropped to 14 degrees F (-10 C).