DSNY Issues Snow Alert for Sunday, January 19 at 7:00 a.m.

January 18, 2025

Massive Number of New York's Strongest Reporting to Work on Holiday Weekend as Forecasts Predict Plowable Snowfall Across Much of the City; Do Your Part by Driving Safely – OR NOT AT ALL!

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has issued a Snow Alert for Sunday, January 19, 2025, beginning at 7:00 a.m. and continuing until 2:00 a.m. Monday. A Snow Alert is the Department's "higher level" snow-fighting notification, as opposed to the "lower level" Winter Operations Advisory. While there have been several Winter Operations Advisories this winter, this is the first storm to warrant a Snow Alert.

Current forecasts suggest that precipitation may begin as early as 7:00 a.m. as a wintry mix, becoming all snow by noon and reaching plowable depths of two inches in parts of the City by 4:00 p.m. Precipitation is expected to cease citywide by approximately 2:00 a.m. Monday.

In order to prepare for this plowable snow event, the entirety of New York's Strongest will be working on 12-hour shifts beginning at midnight Sunday. Sanitation Workers will affix plows to collection trucks and spread up to 20 million pounds of salt across the City using more than 700 salt spreaders to prevent ice accretion. As soon as depths of two inches are reported, nearly 2,000 plows can begin rolling across the City – driven by the heroes in green.

Thanks to a historic investment in personnel, equipment, and technology, the Department is able to salt and plow every neighborhood at the same time and level of service as warranted, and to treat both bike lanes and car lanes simultaneously.

For this weather event, DSNY is also activating snow equipment at NYC Parks, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and the New York City Department of Transportation.

New Yorkers should know: DSNY is working to ensure your safety. Do your part both for yourself and for the Strongest by staying off the roads or, if you absolutely must drive, by doing so slowly, safely, and carefully.

In a snow event, New York City's Sanitation Workers cover our streets, highways, and bike lanes, but all residents should remember that clearing snow from sidewalks is the property owners' responsibility. Property owners must to do their part to make sure that the sidewalks are passable.

Additional information about the City's winter weather response is available at nyc.gov/snow.

Operations Update

Thanks to historic investments in DSNY, the Department's Workers and equipment are more prepared for winter weather than ever before.

Every street is on a route, and unlike in past years, every route can be dispatched at the same time, bringing equity in snow clearance to the entire City. Thanks to historic investments in DSNY, bike lanes will also be serviced simultaneously alongside car lanes. DSNY will be tracking these operations via the new Bladerunner 2.0 platform.

When plowable depths of 2" or more are reached, residents will be able to track the progress of DSNY snow removal vehicles at nyc.gov/PlowNYC. Remember, a plowed or salted street will not show blacktop right away.

Trash/Recycling Collection

There is no change to DSNY collection or to bin requirements at this time, however, there is no collection Monday due to the MLK Jr. Day holiday. Find out more information about post-holiday collection.

Snow Clearing Information

While DSNY clears streets and bike lanes, property owners are responsible for clearing sidewalks. As a reminder, property owners and car owners may NOT push snow into the street, including bike lanes. This impedes snow clearing operations and is illegal. Snow may be moved against the building, to the curb line, or areas on private property. Sidewalks should be passable for all pedestrians, including a minimum 4-foot clear path, where possible.

If the snow stops falling between:

• 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 4 hours
• 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 14 hours
• 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., property owners must clear sidewalks by 11 a.m.

The fine for failure to clear sidewalks is $100 for the first offense, $150 for the second offense and $250 for the third offense.

Alternate Side Parking

There is no Alternate Side Parking on Sundays, and Alternate Side Parking rules are suspended Monday, January 20, due to the MLK Jr. Day holiday.

New Yorkers are also encouraged to sign up for NotifyNYC, the City's free emergency notification system, available in 14 languages including ASL. Through NotifyNYC, New Yorkers can sign up to receive phone calls, text messages, and emails alerts about severe weather events and emergencies. To sign up for Notify NYC, call 311, visit nyc.gov/notify or follow @NotifyNYC on Twitter.

Find information on Sanitation snow operations along with residents' responsibilities during and after snow at nyc.gov/snow.