Post date: Jan 26, 2011 7:51:49 PM
As New York City prepares for another winter storm, the mayor says the city is ready and downplays the problems associated with the coming snow, saying many other places have it much worse with natural disasters.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 26, 2011) REUTERS - As another winter storm began to make its presence felt in New York City on Wednesday (January 26) morning, pedestrians in Times Square seemed to go about their daily business.
New York is expecting up to 10 inches (25 cm) to fall over the course of Wednesday night into Thursday morning. It is the third storm to hit the area since 20 inches (50 cm) of snow fell on the city on December 26 and 27, a blizzard that left many streets closed for days and brought a lot of criticism on the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg for its snow removal performance.As the city prepared for Wednesday's storm, Bloomberg held a news conference where he said New York was prepared for this downfall, with huge reserves of salt ready and snowplow drivers scheduled to work 12 hour shifts.
Bloomberg also said the residents should keep the hardships of dealing with the snow in proper perspective.
"Look, I grew up in Boston. We had an enormous amount of snow and you have to deal with whatever nature throws at you. Fortunately, we have not had the problems other parts of the country or the world had from floods or droughts or storms that have taken lives. You have to be careful out there, it is slippery, but hopefully nobody will die because of this storm," said Bloomberg.
In the December storm many flights were canceled or delayed for days, leaving holiday travelers stranded. As of Wednesday afternoon at 1500 Eastern (2000 GMT), flights in the areas three major airports were taking off and landing, but there were some cancellations and delays reported of up to 5 hours.