From the New York Times: “Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, said the problems late Sunday underscored how the city could not rely on outside contractors to help with snow removal and other jobs in such storms, particularly during a holiday weekend. ‘You can never count on the privates, because they don’t have to show up,’ he said. ‘What obligation do they have? The mayor can’t order them out. The commissioner can’t order them out.’” From the New York Post: “Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts — a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned… ‘They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important,’ said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot.’”
Now let’s get one thing clear. There are no Sanitation Department budget cuts. There are no cuts in most agencies, except for the usual suspects like parks, libraries, the Administration for Children’s Services and public higher education. If there was, taxes would be going down, and no one is suggesting that. What is happening is a huge shift of resources from people providing services today (public or private) to debts run up by Generation Greed, and retirement and senior health care that they had promised themselves but chose not to pay for (or, in another factor, cut a deal to retroactively enhance). And this is just getting started.