New York City makes all efforts to confront snowfall

01-08-2011 11:09 BJT

NEW YORK, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- New York City pulled out all the stops on Friday as the city was confronted with another blast of snow.

People walk amid the snow in New York, the United States, Jan. 7, 2011. Less than two weeks after a post-Christmas blizzard paralyzed much of the U.S. Northeast and its airports for days, snow was falling again in the region on Friday. Fewer than 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow were expected this time in New York. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

The National Weather Service said three to five inches of snow are expected in the city. It issued a winter weather advisory in effect through midnight Friday and warned drivers to watch for slippery roads and poor visibility.

While still recovering from a blizzard that crippled the traffic last week, New York City mobilized "SCOUT"teams (street condition observation unit) to monitor the streets with cameras, to make sure the city is up to speed on the state of the snow.

In addition, the city equipped 50 sanitation trucks with GPS tracking systems, and planned to outfit all 1,700 plows if things went smoothly.

"While I realize there were problems with the city's snow clearing efforts last week, we want to assure all New Yorkers that we are doing everything in our power to make sure we don't experience those kinds of problems again," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "We plan to do a great job, the kind of job that the public expects us to do."

The Bloomberg administration has been criticized for the slow response to the blizzard. The Marist College/NY1 poll released on Thursday found that his approval rating reached 37 percent, the lowest point since Bloomberg took office.

When asked specifically about how he handled the snow cleanup, 71 percent of responders disapproved of his management of the 20- inch snow blizzard which crippled the city.

"Mayor Bloomberg clearly will need a big shovel if he wants to dig himself out of this political storm, and it looks like the next opportunity is heading his way," said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.