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Inside DSNY’s Snow-Clearing Operations

January 14, 2023 | 11:37 AM
in NEWS, OUTDOORS
4
DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Photographs by Scott Etkin.

By Scott Etkin

Saturday morning’s flurries gave a glimpse into the heavier snowstorms likely to come later this winter. When these storms do eventually happen, the New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY)  will be largely responsible for keeping New York City’s streets usable. 

Every winter, New York’s Strongest use their muscle to clear snow and ice from 19,000 lane-miles of roadway. This past November, DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch gave a view inside the massive scale of this operation, how it works, and what residents should know. 

Laying down salt is DSNY’s “first line of defense” against frozen roads, said the Commissioner. DSNY has 42 salt sheds across the city and more than 700 salt-spreading trucks, which can coat the asphalt with a mix of rock salt and calcium chloride, an additive that remains effective when temperatures dip below 24 degrees Fahrenheit. They also sometimes use salt brine — a salt and water mixture — which has proven to be effective and less environmentally damaging than salt.  

Front-loader truck carrying salt.

During a snowstorm, DSNY can mobilize up to 2,200 garbage trucks with plows affixed to the front. Snow is removed by the same trucks that collect garbage, which is why garbage collection can be delayed when there’s a snowstorm. 

For speed and to avoid the plows getting caught on cracks in the asphalt, the plows are always slightly elevated from the ground. That’s why it’s normal to see a thin layer of snow on streets that have been plowed. “Even after the street is plowed you won’t see blacktop right away. That’s very important to remember.” Tisch said. 

Also, to maximize efficiency, plows are always positioned to face to the right — no matter which direction the truck is driving.

After the snow is piled up, two kinds of scoopers break up and move the piles. The mounds can then be transported to one of DSNY’s seven snow-melting vats around the city (there’s at least one in each borough). These gigantic machines can melt 60 tons of snow per hour.

The insider of a snow melter.

Commissioner Tisch also addressed some misperceptions about DSNY’s snow removal operations: namely, that streets are prioritized for plowing into primary, secondary and tertiary roads. “This is a thing of the distant past,” she said. “All streets in the city are on a route — plows run the route again and again. Streets are not prioritized,” she said. 

Residents can track the movements of salt spreaders and plows throughout the city using PlowNYC, a live map maintained by DSNY. 

The commissioner pointed out that it’s illegal for people to “throw” snow back into the street when they are clearing out snow from the curb or parked cars. Instead, “snow may be moved against the building, to the curb line, or areas on private property,” according to a previous “snow alert” from DSNY. 

Perhaps the biggest difference in DSNY’s operations this year will be the addition of more bike-lane plows. DSNY is increasing its number of these narrower vehicles from 30 to 47 in order to cover 165 miles of bike lanes. Still, road clearance is prioritized over bike lanes in order to enable access for emergency vehicles.

DSNY is fully staffed for the winter, with more than 140 workers. Winter is the toughest time of year for the workforce, said Assistant Chief Christian Hourihan, due to the long hours and inconsistencies of forecasts. Prepping DSNY’s snow operations is “a year round thing for us,” he said. 

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julia davis
julia davis
2 years ago

Every time it snows in New York — despite its frequency — it’s like the first time ever. The snowplow-cum-garbage trucks leave ice on the roads; salt destroys dog’s paws and tires. Because snow is common, why have we never taken a card from Montreal’s super-efficient deck (and frequent winter blizzards) and invest in snowblowers? They leave clean roadways and (using smaller machines) sidewalks.

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JHB
JHB
2 years ago
Reply to  julia davis

No offense but you may not be old enough to remember the Blizzards of Mayor Lindsay. NYC has changed. Go anywhere 20 miles from Manhattan on the day after a blizzard and you can’t move. But in NYC, everything works. People can get to work and school. The kids these days don’t know what a good snow vacation is because NYC is too efficient in getting rid of it.

And that’s before Ms. Tisch took over sanitation. It’s been for quite a while now.

Not that her job is easy. She’s going to cut the rat population in half and then someone will say we’re cold hearted SOBs in NYC because rats are part of nature just like polar bears.

Good luck Commissioner Tisch and your whole crew. We have become so much better over the years (even with the rats) and we look forward to it getting better and better.

JB

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Lawrence Braverman
Lawrence Braverman
2 years ago

Snow?

Isn’t that a meteorological term for a fluffy artifact from the past, back in that 20th Century, back when people drove their much-loved Valiants, Edsels & Chrysler New Yorkers and that merry chink-chink-chink sound was the comforting background music of chains on tires, a reminder to one and all that it was time watch out for those snowsuited kids hiding behind those endless rows of thick gray snowbanks lofting snowballs at your car window, little fantasies in their kiddy minds of all those WWll movies playing all day on Million Dollar Movie, where our guys were eternally lofting grenades at the shadowy enemies of all that was good and true (for example: A WALK IN THE SUN [Dana Andrews Richard Conte et al])?

The last time MEASURABLE snowfall fell, meaning in HUNDRETHS OF INCHES in NYC, was way back near the beginning of last year, while on the other hand I, for one, don’t even remember what I ate for breakfast 2 short days ago.

So much for snow.

1
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Elisabeth Jakab
Elisabeth Jakab
2 years ago

Thank you for all this information. One thing that is never never properly done — the scraping away of the snow always leaves the curbside almost impassable. I and many other people try to figure out how to get across the street without falling. Not always successfully! As for folks with baby strollers or wheelchairs or carts or canes – forget it!

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