As Queens continues to dig out after being blasted with more than 30 inches of snow in some areas, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has increased its efforts to unbury the “World’s Borough.”
Since the end of the storm, DSNY announced on Tuesday that it has plowed up to 97 percent of streets, with all primary and secondary streets getting plowed at least once.
“Only some tertiary streets remain impassable, and DSNY has been focusing plows to those streets in Queens,” a DSNY spokesperson said. “DSNY is also revisiting some secondary areas where snow has been dumped back into the streets.”
According to DSNY, they have plowed 96 percent of the routes in Queens since the end of the blizzard, a 26 percent increase since 8:30 p.m. Sunday night.
“There has been a significant increase on tertiary and smaller routes since [Jan. 24], 34 percent on all citywide routes, including a 43 percent increase in Queens, 65 percent increase in Staten Island, and a 42 percent increase in the Bronx,” DSNY said.
The Sanitation Department has diverted several front-end loaders from other boroughs and hired private contractors to assist in the digging, piling and hauling of snow to melters.
DSNY workers remain on two 12-hour shifts, with 2,300 workers per shift. DSNY is currently hiring snow laborers to assist with continued cleanup, and 920 snow laborers have already been hired.
For more information on how to become a snow laborer, visit nyc.gov/snowlabor.
