New Yorkers who want to earn extra cash can now expect to make as much as $45 an hour shoveling snow this winter.<\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday that the city\u2019s emergency snow shoveling program has raised its hourly rate to $30, rising to $45 after the first 40 hours worked in a week.<\/p>\n
The raises come after more than 7,800 people signed up for the city\u2019s longstanding emergency snow shoveling program last winter amid heavy snowfall, blizzard conditions and freezing temperatures. Altogether, the record-breaking number of shovelers, along with city sanitation workers, cleared 135,000 crosswalks, 34,000 bus stops and 29,000 fire hydrants, city officials said.<\/p>\n
The new rate is up from last winter\u2019s $19.14 an hour, which rose to $28.71 after 40 hours worked in a week. The city is also moving registration to the fall and offering a paid four-hour orientation in December, with the first registration event scheduled for this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast winter, thousands of New Yorkers stepped up to help their neighbors dig out from heavy snow and ice. This year, we\u2019re raising their pay and making it easier to join the program \u2014 because when the snow comes, our city needs to be ready,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Those who register at a Department of Sanitation event before Nov. 30 will be eligible for the paid orientation and expedited payment processing, with the goal of receiving a paycheck within two weeks of working. The first registration event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at Taft High School in the Bronx.<\/p>\n
Snow shovelers must be at least 18 years old, legally authorized to work in the U.S. and physically able to perform demanding work in harsh winter weather.<\/p>\n
Any would-be shovelers also needs a valid phone number and email address, a Social Security card, completed federal and state withholding forms and a completed I-9 form with the required identification documents.<\/p>\n
Another change from last year is that applicants no longer need to bring their own printed photographs. Instead, the sanitation department will take their photos at registration events.<\/p>\n