Snow fight!
An infuriated City Council gave the Bloomberg administration an icy reception after it rejected the council’s 17 proposals to improve the city’s response to snowstorms in the wake of the botched December blizzard.
The council wants the city to appoint emergency managers in each borough, require snow removal from bus shelters and establish a snow removal volunteer registry, among other proposals.
If the bills have enough support, the council could override a mayoral veto.
“The arrogance of this administration can’t even fit in this room!” Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) shouted at the four-person panel the mayor sent to a council hearing to defend his plan for dealing with storms.
“There are 17 proposals . . . 17! Not even one can be supported,” Williams said.
Liz Weinstein, director of the mayor’s Office of Operations, urged lawmakers to forgo their attempts to create laws governing storms.
“Many of the proposals, although based on sound reasoning, propose actions that [the city] already performs in a typical snow response,” Weinstein said.
“In addition,” she said, “some of the proposals attempt to legislate issues where agency discretion is paramount.”
