And of course there's an article on the weather

[conuly]

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/131198/snowfall-continues-as-new-yorkers-prepare-for-messy-commute

Probably several articles, but this one is good for two reasons:

1. Apparently the city is hosting park events tomorrow. Free cocoa and wintry activities at 5 parks throughout the city! Be there!

2. With that in mind, let's look at the following quote:

"It is expensive, but when a snow storm is in New York City, we can't look at the expense. We have to go out and get the roadways cleared," said Doherty. "New York is a city that doesn't sleep. It's a very busy city, Monday morning people will be looking to get about, but thank goodness there's no school tomorrow, so that cuts down on some of it."

I'm sorry, did anybody suggest that snow removal in the city was too expensive? Sure, it costs "millions", but equally surely we've budgeted for that, right? I mean, we live in a city where it snows. It would be certain to cost more if we didn't clean up after storms, wouldn't it? If this is a problem, I'd be happy to relocate the entire city to a warmer climate, but until that's a cheaper option than just paying to shovel and plow, I'm not really sure why this is even coming up.

But if we really lack the funds for this sort of thing, why not take it out of the hot cocoa budget for the parks?

Comments

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Don't give them any ideas. They might do it.

Watching CNN right now. @.@

[conuly]

Don't give them any ideas. They might do it.

This is the first I ever heard that they even had a hot cocoa budget for the parks, so it's not that huge a loss.

[kynn.livejournal.com]

It probably helps a lot of homeless people who might not have any other way to stay warm.

And hot chocolate is super cheap compared to the cost of shoveling snow. You are sort of barking up the wrong tree here to be honest.

[conuly]

1. In case of extreme cold or snow the city enacts emergency procedures to ensure that nobody has to be left on the street.

2. I highly doubt that the music and games help anybody stay warm.

3. Not really. The guy who thinks it's worth mentioning that plowing the streets is "really expensive" is the guy who's "barking up the wrong tree". I figure that's one of the costs of living in a place where it snows and that we already have budgeted for, not something that bears mentioning like it needs to be defended.

For that matter, I'm not sure they can take money from the Parks budget to pay for the Roads budget. And if they can, it's not clear if this money comes from taxes or donations to the Parks budget.

[kynn.livejournal.com]

I guess my question is how big is the snowplowing budget vs how big is the hot chocolate budget, then?

[conuly]

I'm guessing they're both as big as they need to be. I'm mostly baffled that anybody would question the cleanup costs of a snowstorm.

[conuly]

Oh, now I get it.

Apparently, some 400 sanitation workers were laid off after the last storm, back in February. And this is why my street has yet to be plowed (well, big surprise there). And for that matter, there are people speculating that the slow pace is deliberate, to convince the city to increase the budget for this sort of thing.