NYC Sanitation Department in hot seat over snow removal

Collecting garbage may be the least of the Sanitation Department’s worries.

The city Department of Investigations and city officials are probing the response to last week’s monster blizzard, reviewing reports that snow was intentionally unplowed and the cleanup were stalled because workers were upset about department cuts. Meanwhile, a City Council hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10 to determine what happened.

A spokesman for Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone), who had reported the allegations about Sanitation workers intentionally botching the job, said he’s interested in finding out what cleanup plan the city had in place.

The union representing workers could not be reached for comment Sunday, but its president has denied there was a deliberate slowdown.

The allegations include:

•Stranded sanitation supervisors in Brooklyn bought beer during the storm instead of working, according to the New York Post. DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said Sunday the department is investigating.

•Streets in the outer boroughs were neglected by plow trucks to protest downsizing and wage cuts in the department.

•Between 660 and 720 sanitation workers called out sick because of the blizzard – more than double the normal rate, the Post reported.