{"id":113118,"date":"2026-01-26T19:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113118\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T19:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:23:07","slug":"did-nycs-bladerunner-tech-improve-snow-removal-on-staten-island-residents-say-it-depends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113118\/","title":{"rendered":"Did NYC\u2019s Bladerunner tech improve snow removal on Staten Island? Residents say it depends"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 This weekend\u2019s snowstorm marked the biggest test of New York City\u2019s new snow-removal strategy<\/a>, introduced in 2023 by former Mayor Eric Adams.<\/p>\n

At the time, Adams and then-Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the Bladerunner 2.0 system<\/a> would centralize deployment and real-time tracking for the city\u2019s snowplows, salt spreaders and brine trucks.<\/p>\n

While some Staten Islanders said they noticed improvements in their neighborhoods, others reported little change \u2014 and, in some cases, new frustrations.<\/p>\n

\"MajorPeople shovel their cars out of the snow on Oakwood Avenue near Forest Avenue in West Brighton on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)Mixed reviews from residents<\/p>\n

Under an Instagram post on the Advance\/SILive.com page, Woodrow resident @alex_colalillo said the plows were more hindrance than help on her dead-end block.<\/p>\n

\u201cStuck in my block on a dead-end street in Woodrow,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThey came by at 8 a.m. Sunday and did one side of the street. Then 8 p.m. yesterday they came by and pushed all of the snow from my side of the street at the dead end and dropped it all in front of my house, blocking my car in the carport.\u201d<\/p>\n

A reader who emailed the Advance\/SILive.com, Tobi, said since the start of the storm Sunday, a plow came through Fort Hill Circle in St. George once very early Monday morning. <\/p>\n

By later Monday, Tobi reported, the street was \u201cbarely passable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the DOS works hard, but the North Shore…St George in particular… did not get plowed with the same thoroughness as other parts of the borough,\u201d the reader said.<\/p>\n

Praise for Sanitation<\/p>\n

Others praised the Department of Sanitation for its efforts.<\/p>\n

Instagram user @_riittaaaa applauded the department, acknowledging that even an upgraded system has limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did an amazing job!! Yeah the streets weren\u2019t 100% clear, but the main roads are drivable, and they don\u2019t have magic powers \u2014 so shoutout to them,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Another Instagram user, @ginaleebarrientos, said, \u201cthey did such a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

User @angkennyjewels said the trucks plowed snow all night Sunday<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat job,\u201c they said. \u201dIt\u2019s still going today on my block.”<\/p>\n

Conditions across the borough<\/p>\n

In West Brighton, plows came through around midnight Monday, according to Advance\/SILive.com photographer Jan Somma-Hammel, though the cleanup had mixed results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main streets are fine. The difficult part is navigating every corner,\u201d she said. \u201cMany of the corners have a bunch of snow and most of the roads have a little slush on them still, however, they are passable. I\u2019ve been everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MajorStaten Island is blanketed in snow on Victory Boulevard near Cebra Avenue in Tompkinsville on the morning of Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n

Highways were largely down to pavement by Monday morning, and had been salted \u2014 including some of the borough\u2019s major hills. <\/p>\n

At Silver Lake, Parks Department employees were seen digging out a walkway to allow pedestrians to cross safely.<\/p>\n

Manor Road was reported as fully plowed as well.<\/p>\n

According to the city\u2019s PlowNYC map<\/a>, roughly 50% of the borough had been plowed as of 1 p.m. Monday.<\/p>\n

What is Bladerunner 2.0?<\/p>\n

Bladerunner 2.0 is the city\u2019s revamped snow and operations tracking software, designed to provide better GPS data, real-time insights and improved performance during winter weather.<\/p>\n

The system includes:<\/p>\n

Enhanced GPS data and extended tracking windows.Google Maps integration with satellite and street-view modes.Real-time brine-application data.Layers showing brine coverage, snow-preposition points and protected bike lanes.Improved vehicle-locating tools and advanced search filters.A cloud-based system allowing more users and faster response times.<\/p>\n

At its launch, Adams said the technology would help monitor and support the city\u2019s roughly 5,000-vehicle fleet across the five boroughs.<\/p>\n

Ahead of this storm, Sanitation began brining operations at midnight, applying liquid solution to highways to reduce early accumulation. With new investments this year, the department expanded brine application beyond ramps and shoulders to include the main beds of all highways \u2014 about 700 lane miles citywide.<\/p>\n

A Sanitation spokesman said workers have been on 12-hour shifts and have plowed every city street at least once, with work continuing through the week. <\/p>\n

The spokesman also noted that clearing sidewalks is the responsibility of property owners \u2014 or NYC Parks, if the sidewalk borders park property. Property owners aren\u2019t legally required to have sidewalks cleared until 12:30 p.m. Monday.<\/p>\n

Once snowfall reaches 2 inches<\/a>, residents can track snow-removal progress at nyc.gov\/PlowNYC.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 This weekend\u2019s snowstorm marked the biggest test of New York City\u2019s new snow-removal strategy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-113118","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}