New York City Mayor, School Chancellor Slammed For Keeping Schools Open During Storm
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina are being heavily criticized for keeping public schools open despite meteorologists forecasting up to a foot of snow in the area for Thursday. Farina announced on Thursday that the public schools in the city would remain open on Thursday and defended her decision with some strange comments when she spoke to reporters:
“The reality is that we make decisions based on what we know at the time,. Because this storm was so unpredictable, and what we heard last night is not necessarily what we saw this morning.”
Farina added that it had “completely stopped snowing” by morning and the day has turned into “an absolutely a beautiful day out there right now.” Needless to say many were infuriated by the comments and didn’t know what the New York City School Chancellor was talking about. Take a look at these partial totals from earlier in the day, while the snow kept coming down:
New York City Snowfall Totals. pic.twitter.com/N26G7cnpsq — Storm Team 4 NY (@StormTeam4NY) February 13, 2014
Many that didn’t agree with what Ms. Farina was saying took to the CBS Facebook Page to express their thoughts in no uncertain terms. J.C. VanderPutten:
“I think I want to smoke whatever she is smoking. Does she realize what a complete fool she looks like for making that statement. There are cars stuck on parkways. People stuck on trains. Car accidents everywhere. But she thinks it’s a beautiful day! Idiot.”
Meanwhile New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio — who was also criticized for the handling of a storm in January — said the decision to close schools was a “grey situation.”
“We were convinced that kids could get to school this morning and we always emphasize in making these decisions, when you think about 1.1 million kids, so many families depend on their schools as a place for their kids to be during the day, a safe place, a place where they’re not only taught but get nutrition and they are safe from the elements.”
As more snow is expected in New York, we look at the biggest snowfalls ever to hit the city http://t.co/dj7bxCZKwl pic.twitter.com/DJDqFbo0Dg — Yahoo UK News (@YahooNewsUK) February 4, 2014
Farina said the New York City district will take more input from the public when making their decisions and was deciding when to dismiss students for the day. United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said:
“I understand the desire to keep schools open. The only thing that trumps that is safety. Having students, parents and staff traveling in these conditions was unwarranted. It was a mistake to open schools today.”
Forecasters are predicting up to 12-inches of snowfall in New York City by the time the storm is done late Thursday. Several other districts in the area cancelled school for the day. A winter storm warning is in effect until 6 am Friday. [Image via Champagne and Boxed Wine]
