NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has issued a snow alert for Sunday, Jan. 19, beginning at 7 a.m. and continuing until 2 a.m. Monday. A snow alert is the department’s “higher level” snow-fighting notification, as opposed to the “lower level” winter operations advisory. DSNY officials said that while there have been several winter operations advisories issued this winter already, this is the first storm to warrant a snow alert.

They said current forecasts suggest that precipitation may begin as early as 7 a.m. as a wintry mix, becoming all snow by noon, reaching plowable depths of two inches in parts of the City by 4 p.m., and added that precipitation is expected to cease citywide by around 2 a.m. Monday.

In order to prepare for this plowable snow event, they said DSNY workers will be working 12-hour shifts beginning at midnight Sunday. They said sanitation workers will affix plows to collection trucks and spread up to 20 million pounds of salt across the City using more than 700 salt spreaders to prevent ice accretion. They said as soon as depths of two inches are reported, nearly 2,000 plows can begin rolling across all City boroughs.

They added that due to “historic investment” in personnel, equipment, and technology, the department will be able to salt and plow every neighborhood at the same time as warranted, and to treat both bike lanes and car lanes simultaneously.

They said DSNY is also activating snow equipment at NYC Parks, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and the New York City Department of Transportation.

They encourage New Yorkers to do their part during the snow alert to keep everyone safe by staying off the roads or if driving is a necessity, to drive slowly, safely, and carefully.

They also are reminding residents that clearing snow from sidewalks is each property owners’ responsibility, and property owners must do their part to make sure that sidewalks are passable. As a reminder, they said property owners and car owners may NOT push snow onto the street or onto bike lanes, as they said this impedes snow clearing operations and is illegal.

 

They said snow may be moved against the building, to the curb line, or to areas on private property, adding that sidewalks should be passable for all pedestrians, including a minimum 4-foot clear path, where possible.

They said if the snow stops falling between:

7 a.m. and 5 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 4 hours,

5 p.m. and 9 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 14 hours

9 p.m. and 7 a.m., property owners must clear sidewalks by 11 a.m.

They said the fine for failure to clear sidewalks is $100 for the first offense, $150 for the second offense, and $250 for the third offense.

When plowable depths of 2 inches or more are reached, residents will be able to track the progress of DSNY snow removal vehicles at nyc.gov/PlowNYC.

 

The department said there is no change to DSNY collection or to bin requirements at this time. However, there is no collection Monday due to the MLK Jr. Day holiday. Residents can find more information about post-holiday collection here.

Additionally, DSNY officials said tthere is no Alternate Side Parking on Sundays, and Alternate Side Parking rules are suspended Monday, Jan. 20, due to the MLK Jr. Day holiday.

Find information on Sanitation snow operations along with residents’ responsibilities during and after snow at nyc.gov/snow.