Does NYC have enough salt for the winter? Snow doubt. - Gothamist
New York City’s sanitation department is sitting on a veritable mountain of road salt thanks to a run of relatively snow-free winters.
City officials on Wednesday said that’s a sign the city is prepared for even the nastiest of blizzards this year.
Sanitation officials gave reporters a tour of the department’s massive garage on Spring Street in Manhattan, where they showed off an arsenal of snow-fighting equipment, including plows and salt spreaders. Across the street, a heap of salt sat inside a city-owned shed, part of the city’s roughly 350,000-ton stockpile of road salt. But as winters in the city continue to grow more mild, all that equipment and material is being used less and less.
New York City recorded a combined 15 inches of snow over the last two winters, according to data from the Office of Management and Budget. The two prior winters combined for roughly 62 inches of snow, data shows.
The decline in snowfall — which experts said is connected to climate change — has nonetheless saved taxpayers money. The city reduced its budget for snow removal by $25 million this fiscal year, but officials noted they could flex more money into salting and plowing during an emergency.
Still, sanitation employees said they’re not asleep behind the plow wheel.
“ Many people think it doesn't snow in New York City anymore,” said acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan, who started his career collecting trash and plowing snow in the 1990s. “Those people are wrong. Last year, 13 inches of snow fell across the five boroughs. And while winter is unpredictable, we have to be ready.”
Sanitation officials said they’ve also ordered new snow fighting equipment, including more miniature snowplows that can also spread salt as they clear bike lanes and pedestrian spaces.
The agency has also added large trucks that spread brine to prevent snow from building up to its snow fighting fleet.
“ The addition of brine and liquid salt that adheres to the roadway is one of the key snow fight innovations of the last few years,” Lojan said.
