GREETINGS FROM SNOWED IN BROOKLYN!

If you haven’t heard, New York City along with the rest of the North-East was smacked with a blizzard this past Christmas Weekend. Of course 2-3 feet of snow would cripple just about every city in the nation if not the world. But this is New York City. You know… the city that never sleeps. We pay up to our noses in tax dollars to make sure that basic services exist during hard times. This past week, the services failed New Yorkers, and truly exposed where Manhattan Mayor Bloomberg’s priority lies.

Now I am a lifetime New Yorker and Brooklynite, and I was always impressed with the level of service that the city managed to provide its citizens, and the way the city behaves during hard times. Communities do in fact come together and help one another, and we help the city help us. We have had massive storms in the past, and the city always managed to remain functioning. Even at the basic level. Bus lines were running, subways were running and people, though slowly, managed to get from one place to another. This blizzard was different…

On Sunday night, right as we were getting pelted with the storm, Manhattan Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced to the city how “we’ were prepared for the storm and the assured us that the city would be operational. Because my job requires time sensitive analysis, I needed to go to the office in Manhattan. Though I knew it would be a messy commute, I along with thousands of New Yorkers were given the impression that we can get to work. (I found it odd that NJ already had declared a state of emergency).

Day One - So I get up at 6am, struggle to get past 3 blocks of 4 foot snow drifts to get to my bust stop which in the past has been plowed. To my amazement, the street was not plowed… and I along with dozens of people waited for a bus that would never come. After struggling to get to other non-working bus lines, we heard that the subways lines were shut down. Brooklyn was shut-down. Now for annoyed as I was, I managed to work from home as best as I could, and of course my superiors understood my situation since they were all snowed in as well. I enjoyed a glass of wine during conference calls and spent extra time with the family. But it would have been nice if an emergency was declared so I along with thousands of commuters didn’t have to risk personal injury getting to work.

Day Two- The City Website indicated that most subway lines in Brooklyn were still down. So I tried to alter my route to work. I once again struggled to get to the bus stop and to my amazement, the streets were still not plowed, and I foolishly waited for a bus that would never come. (my car was plowed in by the sanitation department nearby). I walked to several bus routes attempting to get in, but once again no buses were running which made the 2 subways lines impossible for me to reach. However, coworkers from Long Island and New Jersey managed to make it in. It was sort of embarrassing to simply call in for a 2^nd straight day. But it was what it was.

Day Three – I made it to the bust stop. The warmer weather melted the snow on the streets, but the snow was still everywhere, and once again nearby subway lines were shut down and nearby bus lines were suspended without ANY notice. I really became agitated knowing that this was unacceptable. I finally managed to flag down an off-duty cab who charged me 5X the basic rate to get to a working subway line (this line ran exclusively underground thus was not as affected as other lines). After a 2 ½ hour commute, I made it to Manhattan and passed by Times Square where I saw DOZENS of plows, snow trucks and clean streets. Typically I would be amazed o how the city agencies managed to keep the city running, but this time I was disgusted…

I am under no illusion of the pecking order of our city. I know Manhattan is the center of the city and understand the priority that it is given. But to have the outer boroughs completely ignored for days without basic services to cater to the needs of tourists who think it’s still cool to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve is unacceptable. Tourists spend money in NYC, but we pay taxes. We live in a city that we can’t afford to live in, but can’t afford to leave. The least they can do is provide us with some basic services, and a little respect. Bloomberg moved mountains to get another term as City Mayor and I always respected the work job he has done with the city. But I didn’t think he would have used the extra term to simply beef up potential Presidential aspirations so he could look good on TV for Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest. Fuck him and his money…