Sign the Petition for a Snow Removal Plan That Clears Streets for Walking

New York is a walking city. StreetsPAC wants it to function like one when a snow storm hits, and you can help.

The success or failure of the city’s response to a winter storm is usually gauged by the volume of motorist complaints. If drivers are satisfied, the mayor gets credit for a job well done.

Remarkably, there is no equivalent strategy for removing snow, ice, and slush from the pedestrian network. It’s up to property owners to clear the sidewalks by their buildings, but even if compliance is perfect (which it never is), that leaves a lot of obstructions, as plows pile up snow and ice by street corners and bus stops.

StreetsPAC has posted a petition calling for the City Council to develop “a comprehensive plan for improving snow removal” where people walk:

We’ve all encountered mountains of snow and ponds of slush when simply trying to cross a street, but what’s annoying for the nimble and able-bodied can be dangerous and impossible for the elderly, the disabled, young children or parents pushing strollers. Clear streets are not enough if they can’t be crossed by pedestrians!

“While the Department of Sanitation did its usual yeoman’s job of plowing and salting the city’s streets,” says StreetsPAC, “too much of that plowed snow ends up creating headaches for pedestrians, and for less able-bodied New Yorkers, dangerous and impassable obstacles.”

Now, about those subway stairs.