NYC officials: We're prepared for snow

After last year's Christmas blizzard, the city learned its lesson and will be ready for the next big snowstorm -- with more sanitation workers, GPS technology on every plow and plans to bring in an army of temporary day laborers, officials said Wednesday.

"I think we are in much better shape this year," Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty told City Council members at a hearing on winter snow preparations.

For the moment forecasters are giving the city a break. Doherty predicted that December weather should be "very good" and said that the long-range forecasts were for a "little less than average" snowfall, which now is 25 inches.

Doherty told members of the committees on public safety and sanitation that the city took many steps after the devastating Dec. 26 storm that dumped more than 20 inches of snow and caused havoc on the roads, giving a black eye to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"What the public expected was not what we gave them," Doherty admitted Wednesday. "We had a lot of snow coming down very quickly after a holiday and people not taking it seriously were out on the roads a little bit too long."

Stuck motorists and stranded emergency vehicles put plowing operations behind schedule and caused many streets to remain untouched for too long, said Doherty.

Doherty said his department has initiated aggressive steps after that storm to make sure operations run smoother should another major one hit.

SEE PHOTOSSnowstorms that buried LI over the past 100-plus years

GPS units will be on every truck with a snow plow and on salt spreaders to help supervisors move vehicles around to better clear the thousands of miles of roads in the five boroughs. All sanitation workers also have been trained on snow removal equipment, he said.

There will also be faster and better outreach to recruit day laborers to clear snow, officials said.

Since a number of tertiary streets remained unplowed, Doherty said his department planned to hire contractors dedicated to clearing those roads without waiting for regular plows. The city will have about 140 additional uniformed sanitation workers, totaling 6,140, while the number of supervisors is down about 130 to 855, noted Doherty.

Special snow removal observation units will check up on plowing, said Kelly McKinney, an official with the office of emergency management.

"We are happy with most of the changes you have done," said City Council public safety committee chairman Peter Vallone Jr.