Thursday, January 28, 2016

We were victims of "sectoring"

From the NY Times:

Well before the blizzard of 2016 descended on New York, city officials had prepared a new blueprint to tackle the accumulating snow, creating new plow routes and a different hierarchy of roadways.

The plan was called sectoring, an approach that would replace the city’s pecking order of primary, secondary and tertiary roads — a ranking that came into focus after a blizzard paralyzed parts of the city in December 2010 — with a two-tier system.

The Sanitation Department’s new plowing hierarchy began as a pilot program that was expanded across all of Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island, according to the city’s published snow plan. (The new approach was also used in two small sections of the Bronx and Brooklyn.)

Under the new approach, which had been tested in areas of the Bronx and Staten Island in the last two years, the department replaced the old three-tier system with two levels: critical and sector. The critical streets correspond roughly to primary streets in the old classification, still used on the city’s PlowNYC map; the sector streets include both secondary and tertiary roadways.

The new system was an outgrowth of the problems faced by the city in 2010, when many Brooklyn streets became buried in snow and took days to clear. The idea, sanitation officials said, was to devise routes that would keep drivers, as much as possible, on roadways that they are assigned to plow. Many of the old routes forced drivers to spend part of their time along streets they were not assigned to plow so they could reach their appointed streets.

The union representing sanitation workers said that while sectoring appeared to work in most areas of the city, the new routes might have been too long in Queens.

In previous years, the city used a contractor, CSB Contractors, to plow minor side streets in those areas. This year, the Sanitation Department assumed responsibility for all streets in those neighborhoods, as well as about 50 miles of tertiary roadways in Brooklyn formerly handled by the company.

The city kept a different contactor, Natural Landscapes, for areas in southern and eastern Queens, including Flushing and Jamaica. Those areas generated fewer complaints, according to the borough president’s office, which heard from many irate Queens residents.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem here is that we go through this time and again.

We are treated as second class citizen compared to the other boros. Shit happens. We complain. The issue is addressed soooner or later.

We forget.

The same jerks are put in front of us to vote, and reformers are bounced off the ballet. We say nothing about this. We vote the same jerks back into office.

Repeat the cycle once again.

BTW, where was Joe Crowley, the man responsible for so much of this? Any pictures of him in Queens?

Of course not. A boro of 3 million subjects who are paying the price for his choices over our lives, and no one can see fit to even ask this question.

Anonymous said...

When and why did snow plowing become so complicated?

Anonymous said...

Sector grew is correct....but the sectorial was based upon WHICH nabes you live in. Northeast Queens got better service than middle Queens. That's where the political juice is centered. Look at who lives in Douglas Manor.

Anonymous said...

QUEENS IS THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT BOROUGH.
WE HAVE TWO AIRPORTS (although a bit crappy, no other boro has any).
WE HAVE MAJOR SPORTING VENUES (Citi-Field, USTA Tennis Center,
WE HAVE A CASINO (not up to Vegas standards but it provides jobs, lots of revenue)
WE HAVE MORE DIVERSITY (culturally speaking)
WE HAVE BETTER NEIGHBORHOODS (minus a few Housing developments)

YET, WE LET OURSELVES GET TREATED LIKE SHIT !!
KEEP UP THE PRESSURE ON OUR LAZY POLITICIANS AND MAYOR DIBLASIO !!

Anonymous said...

If I had a job I had to get to I'd care but I dont,
I have all I need thanks to the Democratic Party and you the taxpayer
I don't care who gets elected as long as they keep me fat and happy
LET IT SNOW

Anonymous said...

Oh, if only Dan Halloran were still around, I'm sure he would have come up with an alternative theory of how and why the plows showed up late...

Anonymous said...

Why cant our politicians give us promises that they guarantee that the snow will be removed. They seem to have no problem spending millions of dollars buying votes or squandering money of doubtful things that only help their donor pals.

Everyone knows what the mayors are like - Lindsey, Bloomberg - so why can't our Queens pols deliver the goods - or promise to step down so someone else gets the chance.

Anonymous said...

Dontcha mean the fourth most important borough?
We are invisible and will remain so, because it's residents are afraid to act up.

Anonymous said...

Funny how the second most important, second most populous borough is also the forgotten borough.

Anonymous said...

First of all the predictions from the weather forecasters were wrong. This was one of the biggest snowfalls in NYC history and there was no way it could plowed any faster.The big mistake the Mayor did was not declaring a snow emergency and that would have kept people from parking on those main arteries and they would have been plowed first.The other mistake the Mayor did was not cancelling school on Monday,this would have kept children and parents and cars and buses off the roads.
In the past school was cancelled even before there was large accumulations and they erred on the side of caution.This time they knew they had one of NYC biggest snowfalls and they threw caution to the wind.I hope this guarantees the Mayor will be a one termer.

Anonymous said...

Residence - your were a victim of mis management at the DSNY. They choose to non renew the contractor that had successful serviced your roads for the past 3.5 years.

r185 said...

Gee, I have an idea (extrapolated from earlier comments). Let's hold public officials and City employees to a rock solid, no explanations 100% success rate. You know, just like the one you hold yourself to at home, and the one you hope and pray your own employer does to you at your job! Grow up folks. Perfection only exists in your own minds.

Anonymous said...

Perfection only exists in your own minds.


Yes, but second class shipshod clumsyass seems to be a speciality only on this side of the east river and newtown creek.

the point is the other boroughs got the same snow, the same mayor .... but different politicians.

Anonymous said...

This was one of the biggest snowfalls in NYC history and there was no way it could plowed any faster.

Baloney. Only happens when unqualified, incompetent people are running the show.
We are 5 days past the "biggest snowfall" and the streets are still not clean.
Heck Manhattan wasn't cleaned until Tuesday!
Today the Sanitation Dept. is pushing snow from the side of the road into the middle of the road realizing the great vision of their commissioner who was wishing for warmer weather for the snow to melt.
Russia, Sweden and most countries with colder climate are light years ahead of us when it comes to snow removal.
Not to mention the use of corroding rock salt which destroys roads and cars alike.

Anonymous said...

NYC got the mother of all snowfalls and we have gotten the mother fucker of all snow jobs from Duh Blasio and his crew.
Makes you wonder what would happen with our unprepared departments of we had, God forbid, another terrorist attack.

Anonymous said...

Look at it this way, if Bloomberg were still mayor, he would have snow birdied it to his Bermuda compound until the snow melted.
De Blaz just pops an Ambien and snoozes until he has to hold a press conference to explain his screw up. Then he arrives late, as usual.

Anonymous said...

GOVERNOR CUOMO HAS BEEN UNUSUALLY QUIET DURING ALL THIS SNOW REMOVAL DEBACLE. I GUESS THE OLD MAN HASN'T GOTTEN TIRED OF CHALLENGING DIBLASSIO.

Anonymous said...

No one can answer why this is only a problem in Queens, or why our pols knowing this has been an on going issue, done nothing to avert it.

Sure we all know the mayors are morons. So, why did our local talent take action? eh?

Anonymous said...

More dumping of snow, ice by the Sanitation Dept. into the middle of the road.
If we did this we would be fined big time!
Tonight it was Queens Blvd's turn to enjoy the stupidity of the powers to be in charge of cleanup.
West bound express lane had huge pieces of ice, snow plowed into the center lane by first truck.
Second truck was salting, at least 1 inch of salt.
Lots of front loaders and trucks also, but seemed to me there was no plan, just doing stuff as they went along.
Half the blvd was cleaned - East bound mostly via front loaders and trucks, West bound plowed and salted.
Game plan must have been determined by the residents of Creedmore.

Anonymous said...

WHERE IS OUR BOROUGH PRESIDENT???

Anonymous said...

Take the fucking subway. All of you New Yorkers driving to work are driving us all crazy.
BTW.....
NYC used to have those snow melting vehicles that disposed of melted snow water down manholes.
Then some big mouthed "environmentalists" complained about that water winding up in the rivers.
Where the fuck do you think it winds up anyway you mother Earth mother fuckers?

Anonymous said...

They cleaned up bike lanes yet bus stops in Queens are still not dug out. Bus riders, mostly middle class folks, again take a back seat to clueless hipster kids whom are being pandered to by politicians.

Anonymous said...

Take the fucking subway. All of you New Yorkers driving to work are driving us all crazy.

What a great idea!
Except on the weekends with all the Fastrack work you getting nowhere quick.
During the week a 20 minute ride sometimes takes 45minutes to an hour.
So I'd take the fucking subway, but is not fucking running mate.
BTW ever increasing tolls and taxes are OK from the drivers, arm and leg parking fees also, but they get zero in return. So figure that one out.

JQ LLC said...

@last anon

Thanks for confirming my suspicions about our cities road snow removal sectoring priorities.

The Blaz did not envision people waiting in the street for buses and walking in the way of traffic to avoid snow on the crosswalk medians in his Vision Zero mission

Anonymous said...

Live in Rego Park. Third year in a row we've witnessed trucks with the plows up just driving through the streets. Even on Queens Blvd and 63rd drive. Have pictures to prove how horrible the streets were.

Yesterday, one week after, we drove to Maspeth, only to witness a DSNY truck and management vehicle tying up traffic on Grand Avenue -- to do what? Go to a top of the line Italian deli and wait on line for an extensive period of time before us. Unfortunate.