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Snow activation events
Prepare and clear snow and ice from City streets and roadways. — Stay ahead and be prepared for winter storms and impacts.
This indicator counts how many times DSNY activated its winter storm response, which tracks how many storms actually hit the City each year — DSNY's own reporting explicitly ties the swings to winter weather, not agency readiness (for example, FY23 had an unusually mild winter with far fewer storms, while FY22 and FY25 saw more snow events). It's a weather-driven number that is expected to bounce around year to year.
Researched July 16, 2026 — DSNY, Fiscal 2023 Mayor's Management Report, DSNY, Fiscal 2024 Mayor's Management Report, DSNY, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 17 events |
| FY23 | 11 events |
| FY24 | 6 events |
| FY25 | 13 events |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available |
Why this is tracked
The Great Blizzard of 1888 dropped around 21 inches of snow on New York City over three days and contributed to roughly 400 deaths in the city, with no snowplows available to clear it; workers organized into an "Army of the Shovel" to dig the city out by hand. The disaster exposed how unprepared the city's street-cleaning apparatus was for a major storm, and spurred the more organized, systematic approach to street and snow response that Colonel George Waring built when he took over the Department of Street Cleaning a few years later. Today's snow response, run by DSNY, exists to keep streets passable for emergency vehicles, commerce, and daily life, and failures in that response can still be dangerous and disruptive.
The origin of snow removal for all New Yorkers, rich and poor - Bowery Boys, Virtual New York City: The Blizzard of 1888
Source: Bureau of Operations — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported annually.
Definition: The number of times that the agency needed to mobilize for a snow event.