Syracuse, NY – On his last day as mayor, Ben Walsh praised the work of his snowplow drivers during the snowiest big city in America during the worst storm in 80 years.
He then ordered workers to be ready for more storms, which are expected to begin tonight, just before a New Year’s ball celebrating his eight years in office.
The city’s snowplow service encountered a short, six-inch dump Friday night and Saturday morning. City officials acknowledged their mismanagement of the plow and promised to improve.
So when another storm rolled in, Walsh said, they were ready.
Two feet of snow fell on the streets of Syracuse on Tuesday, the highest total in one day since 1946.
This time, Walsh said, the city’s public works commissioner ordered enough snowplow drivers to work overtime. Maintenance workers had 18 large plows ready to operate. They pulled a dozen other smaller plows and trucks.
Disappointed by the weekend service, residents stood ready to judge as the snow fell. A video of a stuck plow circulated on social media.
Walsh was watching too. At about 12:30 p.m., he saw a plow drive past his home on Austin Avenue. When the sun rose, the street was once again covered in snow.
“If I literally didn’t see a plow going down my street at 12:30, I wouldn’t believe a plow was going down the street,” he said.
Walsh drove down Bellevue Avenue to City Hall. He later drove his daughter to the East Side. All the main arteries of the city were navigable, he said.
According to him, by Wednesday morning, only narrow streets remained, where at least 150 illegally parked cars blocked the road.
“I think people take it for granted when they talk about how they remember it back in the day,” he said. “Unless you’re 80 years old, you don’t remember a storm like we had yesterday.”
Walsh spoke briefly about the community’s response to the latest storm.
He said he has made snow removal a priority in his administration. Eight years ago, the city’s fleet of usable large plows was exhausted and rapidly aging. Before the big storms of 2020, only 13 plows were available. The number increased to 23 and two more were ordered.
Walsh said he asked staff to measure the streets so they could alert people who live there the narrowest streets to make sure you park on the right side during thunderstorms.
During Walsh’s tenure, the city expanded the program to plow sidewalks when it snows three or more centimeters. The city now plows 145 miles of sidewalks.
Walsh said he also hired a fleet manager and urged the city to hire subcontractors to help. Only one answered.
Hiring drivers was difficult. The wages are lower than private contractors and the city hasn’t negotiated a new contract with the union through 2021. He said they haven’t been able to find a way to offer incentives outside of the contract.
“It’s not as simple as giving people a raise,” he said.
The city has ordered a full crew of snowplow drivers to report to work today and Thursday, which is New Year’s Day, and over the weekend, he said.
The city didn’t send enough drivers to work last weekend because they underestimated the expected snowfall. Walsh called it a “flaw”.
“Lesson there,” he said. “But now we are (fully booked) and I think the proof is in the performance.
At midnight, Walsh will hand over the shoveled snow to the next mayor, his current vice mayor, Sharon Owens.
What advice does he have for her?
“Just keep raising the bar,” he said. “I set the bar high.
Drivers note: There is a strange parking phenomenon in Syracuse tonight that affects which side of the street is allowed to park on.
The city has odd-even parking, which means cars must cross to the opposite side of the street at 6:00pm most days.
But today is an odd day followed by another odd day – December 31st and January 1st.
This means that cars should remain stationary at 6 p.m
Illegally parked cars could be ticketed or towed. On Wednesday, two dozen cars were towed.
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