Assembly Bill A10294

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10294
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 20, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. RAJKUMAR -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Cities
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
   relation to enacting the "public leadership  for  obstructive  weather
   from snow (PLOWS) act"
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 the "public leadership for obstructive weather from snow (PLOWS) act".
   §  2.  Section  16-124.1 of the administrative code of the city of New
 York, as added by local law number 28 of the city of New  York  for  the
 year 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   §  16-124.1  Borough-based  snow  plowing  and  removal  plans. a. The
 following terms shall have the following meanings for purposes  of  this
 section:
   (1)  The  term "bus shelter" shall mean a location that has a cover or
 ceiling and is intended to be used as a shelter for individuals  waiting
 to  board  a  New York city transit authority vehicle, and shall include
 three feet on any open side of such shelter  and  to  the  curb  on  all
 portions of the sidewalk covered under this provision.
   (2)  The term "bus stop" shall mean a location that is not a bus shel-
 ter, designated by signage for New York city transit authority  vehicles
 to pick up or discharge passengers, which location includes five feet of
 the  sidewalk  and  the  gutter immediately adjacent to the curb for the
 portion of such curb.
   (3) The term "curb cut" shall have the  same  meaning  as  defined  in
 section 27-480 of the code.
   (4) The term "pedestrian median" shall mean a direct path between curb
 cuts  on  a median strip dividing a roadway or, where no curb cuts exist
 on such a median strip, the portion of the median strip designed  to  be
 traversed  by pedestrians in order to cross the roadway that such median
 strip divides.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14793-02-6
 A. 10294                            2
              

 
   (5) [The term "primary street" shall mean a street that is  determined
 by the department to be of the first priority for purposes of snow plow-
 ing and/or removal.
   (6)]  The  term  "snow  event"  shall mean any snowfall equal to or in
 excess of six inches within a period of twenty-four hours in any of  the
 five boroughs based on the department of sanitation's measurements.
   b.  Beginning  on  November  fifteenth,  2011,  and  on every November
 fifteenth thereafter, the  MAYOR IN CONSULTATION WITH THE  commissioner,
 NEW  YORK  CITY  EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION,
 THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND ANY OTHER AGENCY RESPONSIBLE  FOR  SNOW
 REMOVAL,  INCLUDING  PRIVATE  ENTITIES CONTRACTED WITH SUCH AGENCIES FOR
 SNOW REMOVAL, shall submit to the council AND THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  THE
 STATE  DIVISION  OF  HOMELAND  SECURITY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES, and make
 available to the public on the city's website a snow plowing and removal
 plan for each borough that shall include, but not  be  limited  to,  the
 following:
   (1) The address of each department garage and other department facili-
 ty  within  the borough identified by district or section and the number
 of uniformed department employees assigned to each such garage or facil-
 ity for purposes of addressing snow conditions;
   (2) An inventory  by  district  of  department-owned  snow  management
 equipment  and  resources  and a city-wide inventory of other city-owned
 snow management equipment and resources that  could,  if  available,  be
 used  during a snow event, as determined by city officials and the agen-
 cy, office, agencies or offices responsible for the deployment  of  such
 city-owned snow management equipment and resources;
   (3)  (i)  Definitions  of each of the priority designation categories,
 including criteria for making such designations and any changes  to  the
 previous  year's  priority designation category and the reasons for such
 changes; and (ii) a link to a website on which a map of  each  community
 district  with  the  priority  designation categories for each street in
 such district is viewable;
   (4) How the department plans to address the following types  of  tasks
 during  a  snow  event:  (i) plowing and/or removal of snow and ice from
 streets within each borough; (ii) plowing and/or removal of snow and ice
 from curb cuts and pedestrian medians at intersections on [primary]  ALL
 streets;  (iii)  plowing and/or removal of snow and ice from crosswalks,
 sidewalks adjacent to parks and bus stops; and (iv) dispersal  of  salt,
 sand  or  other  material  applied  to roads in icy or snowy conditions;
 [and]
   (4-A) HOW THE DEPARTMENT  SHALL  COORDINATE  WITH  OTHER  AGENCIES  TO
 ENSURE:    (I) SIDEWALK ACCESSIBILITY CONSISTENT WITH THE FEDERAL AMERI-
 CANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT; (II) CONTINUITY OF  OPERATION  OF  NEW  YORK
 CITY  TRANSIT;  (III)  SAFE  TRANSPORTATION  TO  AND  FROM NEW YORK CITY
 SCHOOLS WHEN IN SESSION; AND (IV) SNOW PLOWING AND  REMOVAL  THAT  MINI-
 MIZES WORK OF PROPERTY OWNERS TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 16-123 OF THE CODE,
 INCLUDING  THE  NUMBER  OF INSTANCES REQUIRED FOR COMPLIANCE PURSUANT TO
 THIS SECTION; AND
   (5) The MAYOR IN CONSULTATION WITH THE  commissioner  shall  designate
 and  identify the following: (i) the borough chief or chiefs who will be
 responsible for the implementation of  the  applicable  borough-specific
 snow  plan;  (ii)  department personnel who will report to the office of
 emergency management on a city-wide basis during  snow  events  and  who
 will  be directly responsible for communicating with such office and the
 department; and (iii) personnel from the department's  customer  service
 and  government  relations offices who will communicate on a borough-by-
 A. 10294                            3

 borough basis with council members, community  boards  and  the  borough
 presidents  in order to provide, receive and respond to information from
 such elected officials and community boards regarding snow event  condi-
 tions.
   c.  Beginning on October first, two thousand eleven, and every October
 first thereafter, the [commissioner] MAYOR shall  submit  a  draft  snow
 plowing and removal plan for each borough for comment to THE COMMISSION-
 ER OF THE STATE DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES AND
 the  council  members,  community boards and borough president from that
 borough. Amendments to the draft plan shall be  included  in  the  final
 snow  plowing  and  removal  plan for each borough to be issued no later
 than November fifteenth of each year pursuant to this section.
   D. NO LATER THAN ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS AFTER EACH  SNOW  EVENT,  THE
 MAYOR  SHALL  SUBMIT  TO THE   COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE
 DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES, AND MAKE AVAILABLE
 TO  THE PUBLIC ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE A REPORT ANALYZING COMPLIANCE  WITH
 THE PLAN PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION AND FULFILLMENT OF OBJECTIVES THEREOF;
 SUCH  REPORT SHALL INCLUDE NYC 311 DATA OF REPORTS RELATED TO SNOW PLOW-
 ING AND REMOVAL.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.