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In a bit of Mid-Atlantic rabble-rousing, the Daily News makes the case that unlike New Yorkers, residents of Washington DC are cold-weather cowards. Despite the fact that the nation's capital got hit with between three and four feet of snow in less than a week compared to our relatively paltry 8 to 17 inches, politicians who know both cities say DC residents can't handle snow. "Wimp is the word, let me tell you," said Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel.
"In New York, I think I can count on one hand all the time they've closed the schools for my kids or even for me and my wife. Yet in D.C., there only has to be a threat of snow and they're closing the schools for a week," added Engel. "In New York, there's no way that would happen. It's like night and day." Though Mayor Bloomberg did preemptively close schools before the snow started falling, the storm didn't stop the MTA from offering relatively normal service and life in New York went on as it usually does, albeit with more slush on the sidewalks.
But in DC, some streets were being plowed for the first time on Thursday—nearly a week after the first storm—and life in the city reportedly isn't expected to return to normal until Tuesday, following a three-day Presidents Day weekend. "Certainly there's a different mindset where every threat of snow is the storm of the century," said Rep. Mike McMahon (D-Staten Island), who along with other congressional delegates had no work this week because of the snow and no work next week due to a holiday recess. "[In New York] we plan for it. We budget for it. Every inch of snow costs about a million dollars."
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Well of course they are. Anyone who has driven south of the Mason-Dixon line in the winter is well aware that southerners are either a. pathologically terrified of snow, or b. pathologically overconfident that they can handle the snow when actually they can't. And also, as soon as the first flake falls from the sky, everything is closed. I'm pretty sure this has been the case for at least 60 years so the Daily News is pretty behind.
I've been giving everyone shit back home, but for real they have a ton of snow.
The Federal government is at the root of DC's problems. They underfund the city's services in proportion to how much it relies on them and allows it no representation to plead it's case. I'm always amazed when the mayor can do as much as he/she can with what they have to work with.
The ability to hire out an army of day-laborers from among the general population makes all the difference in NY's snow emergencies, but you need money to make that happen.
I would imagine it also gets complicated since most Federal employees do not live in DC itself but in the outskirts in Maryland and Virginia. Could be dozens of different entities responsible for keeping the roads clear, and as we see in our own 'hood, as soon as you cross the Queens/Nassau border, for example, you go from a clear road to a land more closely resembling the North Pole.
Yes, that's true. And also the DC Metro is inoperable above-ground with more than eight inches of snow, as it begins to cover the third rail. Most of the suburban lines are above-ground.
USA! USA!! WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1...oh, i guess that doesn't really apply here.
Not only should they be embarrassed as a city, but it is shameful for the entire country that snow can literally shut down the government for a week.
...but it is shameful for the entire country that snow can literally shut down the government for a week.
The federal government was not shut down. Not even figuratively.
"Not even figuratively."
No more than usual, anyway.
What? You have another business sector for us that needs a $845 billion bailout?
While we can debate the merits of New York City over Washington, or Washington over New York City, neither of us is as great as Australia.
You mean the Australia that's adopting China-like internet censorship policies?
No, not that Australia. I am talking about the land of Australia. Nothing to do with politics, people, or baby-eating dingos.
This is just the dumbest and most pointless posturing, ever. The infrastructure isn't in place to cope with the situation efficiently.
DC budgets for snow too, but since they get a lot less snow than we do, they budget a lot less too. There's just no reason for them to be completely prepared for a storm that dumps as much snow on them as they've gotten over the past couple of weeks, because storms like that happen in DC once every few decades, if even that often; most of the time, it would just be wasted expenditure.
In the past, they haven't even been prepared for a few inches of snow. Six inches? Quick, shut down the city and send everyone home!
Our Congress is so useless that they have to blame their ineffectiveness on snow.
What would they have accomplished this week had the government not shut down. NOTHING, so shut the F up Mr. Engel & McMahon.
If they're so outraged at the shutdown, then maybe they should propose to the chamber that they actually go to work next week, being that no one above the age of 17 gets an entire week off for President's Day except for our lovely government representatives.
If you haven't lived in DC, you have no idea how disfunctional the city government is there.
If Engel & McMahon would like metropolitan Washington to be equally prepared to function underneath 4 feet of snow, I suggest they campaign to grant the necessary funds to be given to D.C., Maryland and Virginia. In seven or so years, a single snow may (or may not) come around to justify the expense... for a couple of days. News flash: the south does not cope with snow as well as the north. Shocking.
Let's not kid ourselves. New York is a city full of snow-pussies, too. I have to laugh at the way snow storms make front page news in NYC. I guess I feel that way, since I grew up in the Rockies, where winter storms are more frequent, and routinely left over 14" of snow. Nothing every shut down, school was never canceled (and there are no subways). So, maybe Engel can point to DC and feel good about himself. But, in by book, he is lumped into the "wimps" category, along with DC and the rest of the people who: A. pretend like it never snows in the northeast, and B. don't know how to operate when it snows.
"Nothing every shut down, school was never canceled (and there are no subways)."
And everyone has a four-wheel drive vehicle and maybe a snowmobile, and the highway departments have 8-foot v-blades, snowthrowers, and towplows.
DC city government is totally dysfunctional, but in this instance it's pretty ridiculous for New York to start name-calling. DC normally gets something like 13 inches of snow a year on average and this year has gotten something like 55 inches. It would be totally unreasonable for DC to have budgeted for 4 or 5 times the amount it would normally need for snow removal. This is a freak event that has set weather records.
so three senate pages are out standing in a snow bank with their pants down, dicks in the snow...
...when michelle obama comes by in a big black suv. she rolls down the window and says "wtf are you doing? pull your dicks out of the snow, you'll catch pneumonia!"
at which point the tallest of the pages turns and says "relax lady,we know what we're doing. we heard Representative John Boehner (R-OH) say he would like to have a couple of cold ones after todays joint session"
I'm sorry... was I the only one who watched the entire city shut down on Wednesday hours before the snow even began to accumulate? I'd say you're all wimps. If you had access to a subway, you had a way to get your lazy ass into work. I had no problem whatsoever going to or from Manhattan that day. Probably because most of you stayed home crying over a little snow.
D.C. Metro shuts down once 8 inches of snow covers the third rail. The Metro was designed with Washington's climate in mind. The problem is the overwhelming majority of workers did not have any access to the Metro.
Also, you did not have any problem getting to and from Manhattan that day because NY got a cute little dusting.
Which is what I'm talking about. NYers are just as wussy as anyone else whining about this snow.
Ya know, I completely misread your comment. I apologize unreservedly.
Give me a huugee f'ing break!!! We in DC received 3 TIMES the average annual snow fall in just two weeks. It is so easy to trash DC.
Of course it's easy to trash DC. Poopy the Magic Hobo does it all the time.
Now now Monkey, no need to air all our skidmarked laundry to these nice New Yorkers.
"It is so easy to trash DC."
Yes it is.
Ted Kennedy used to keep the rain from turning to snow.
Isn't Engel the guy that waits in the Senate chamber over 12 hrs just so he can get the President's autograph?
The District is fine... it is the suburbs in MD and VA that have issues.
After Mr. Engel has shoveled snow for 13 hours in less than a week I'll be happy to have him call me a wimp. Alternatively, he can prepare to kiss my a** in Macy's front window.
As someone who grew up in DC, I'll admit the city doesn't handle snow storms as well as New York, Chicago or Boston, but cut the city some slack on this one. Over 3 feet of snow were dumped on the city in less than a week. That's a once in a century storm.
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
{switches classroom lights on and off}
Hey, at least we both NY and DC can agree on one thing: it's Pantytime™
You have that right!
Kind of jealous of DC. We only get rainy days every once in a while (LA)
Yeah, well we in DC are jealous of you for that very reason. (But really, the weather's pretty much all you guys got going for you.)
Don't hate of love LA. Tolerate it.
or, not of
Being that they, in past years and decades, have received far less snow than us, they don't have the equipment for removal etc.
And who cares? Our weathermen up here can't even predict a storm. Blizzard? No. more like 6 inches. In fact the storm from the weekend, we were supposed to get up to a foot and got nothing.
Easy to make fun of us in DC, since NYC got no blizzards and we got 3 (so far). You can only boast about how you would have toughed it out--but then we'll never know will we, since it DID NOT happen to you! But here's what's important--there is nothing to be gained about being stoic and sticking to usual work routines in the face of weather adversities--there is much to be gained in being a hysterical wimp, I call it snowcation!
they weren't blizzards. They were bad snow storms.
Why must you be such a snob! I guess you better contact the local DC weathermen and tell them their terminologies are all wrong--as well, contact all the people who were enclosed in huge white-out conditions that consumed and stopped their SUVs, stuck in snow drifts that couldn't be escaped from, that it was just a snow storm:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021105046.html
Why can't you reply to a thread correctly? ;P
okay, i feel the need to speak my case. i'm a native new yorker going to school in dc. there's several reasons why this snowstorm in particular gives us the right to complain. first, this was literally the most snow dc has gotten in 100 years. we beat a record set in the winter of 1898-99. so, dc simply doesn't get this much snow. last year, the total all winter was 7". the winter before was 4". so of course snow removal for 4 feet of snow wasn't in the budget. even still, the snow removal budget was strained during the storm in december. the entire city was forced to shut down because it wasn't possible to clean up all this snow.
second, dc has a much different transportation and commuting situation than ny. it's true that many commuters must take the LIRR, metro north, nj transit, etc... but most maryland and virginia residents rely on the metro, which is notoriously horrible in the snow at the above-ground stations. the dc population literally doubles on weekdays. i don't know the exact statistics, but i doubt this happens in nyc. so while a lot of dc was cleaned quickly, some areas of maryland and virginia didn't see a plow until thursday.
third, dc as a city is different than nyc... i've had to learn this the hard way. portions of dc proper are like the suburbs. i'm a full mile from any grocery store which is difficult to get to when there's no transportation and snow is up to your hips.
before this storm, i'd had one snow day during my 2+ years dc... so please don't jump to conclusions that everything shuts down the second there's a drop of snow. and yes, i'll admit that in most cases dc can be wimpy about snow, but this time it was justified.