DSNY debuts ‘first line of defense’ trucks to salt NYC highways ahead of looming snowy winter

It’s just snow-biz.

The Big Apple is gearing up for a white winter, sanitation officials said Monday – as they showcased their beefed-up arsenal of snow-busting tools ahead of the city’s first snowfall.

The sanitation department unveiled four new brine trucks — upping its fleet to 17 — to not only prepare the on and off ramps of major New York City highways, but also cover additional miles of highway for the first time.

The New York City sanitation department unveiled four new salt spreading trucks added to its fleet this year.

“We’re looking at new technology … every single year to make this operation run smoother and more efficient,” DSNY Chief of Bureau Operations James Miglino said at the agency’s Hudson Square garage.

The new brine trucks are DSNY’s “first line of defense” — deployed about 24 hours before predicted snowfall — that release a liquid-sodium brine solution to prevent snow and ice from sticking, Miglino said.

The agency is also planning to bolster its ranks by adding four more brine storage tanks across the city by January 2026, which can store an extra 10,000 gallons each, according to DSNY’s draft snow plan.

New York is expected to be hit with between 17 and 21 inches of snow this winter – up from the less than 13 inches it faced last year, according to AccuWeather.

Once snowfall surpasses two inches of ground coverage, DSNY deploys plows on assigned routes that clear 19,000 miles of roadway, officials said.

The Big Apple can expect between 17 and 21 inches of snow this winter – up from the less than 13 inches it faced last year, according to AccuWeather. Paul Martinka

More than 2,000 garbage collection trucks fitted with detachable plows are on standby, while nearly 30 “snow-melters” are ready to burn snow piles at over 100 degrees.

The new brine trucks will join a snow squad of ATVs that debuted across the five boroughs last year to salt the city’s protected bike lanes, which DSNY Acting Commissioner Javier Lojan said, are now treated “equally as vehicular roadways.”

In anticipation of an uptick in snowfall, DSNY officials said they’re preparing all options as they kick into “snow mode” — even consulting a handful of meteorologist vendors like AccuWeather, CompuWeather and Metroweather to monitor the situation.

DSNY’s vehicles used to manage snow accumulation include ATV bike lane plows, brine trucks, snow-melters and plow-carrying garbage trucks. James Messerschmidt

“Our forecast numbers for New York City are conservative right now, but we’re still watching out for the potential for it to be a higher impact season,” AccuWeather’s lead long-range meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.

Overall snow totals are expected to measure well under the city’s winter average of 29.8 inches, according to AccuWeather, while temperatures are expected to remain average.