Community Corner

Halloran Says He Will Not Reveal Sources On Snow Removal Slowdown

Despite "pressure," councilmember will not make public the names of Sanitation whistleblowers

A week after airing  made by city employees involved in the city Department of Sanitation's snow removal efforts, Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, announced he would not divulge the names of the whistleblowers to the public.

"My decision is one of principle. The sources asked for confidence. I agreed, and I am a man of my word," Halloran said in a statement sent this afternoon.

According to Halloran, at least five Sanitation workers, as well as two Department of Transportation employees assigned to work crews for snow removal duty, approached him with information regarding an intentional work slowdown initiated by DSNY supervisors in Queens.

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In an appearance on "Good Day NY" this morning, Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association head Harry Nespoli denied allegations of a systemic slowdown in snow removal efforts.

The two DOT employees are talking to investigators, according to Halloran, who added that he hoped DOI staffers would heed his call to keep the names of those workers confidential as well.

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"Would anyone, especially in the media, ask questions about a reporter keeping a vulnerable source confidential?" he said. 

Halloran has been vaulted into the national spotlight in recent days, including appearances on CNN, Fox News and a scheduled CBS 2 News interview at 6 p.m. tonight to speak about the slowdown allegations.

Reached this evening, state Sen. Tony Avella said he found speculation of a systemic slowdown "hard to believe" — instead focusing his criticism over the delayed snow removal response on what he called the Bloomberg administration's "failure" to declare a snow emergency as the blizzard hit.

"I would put the slowdown on the bottom of the list of possible reasons for the delayed response," said Avella, D-Whitestone.

Avella initiated several Freedom of Information requests on Thursday to the Mayor's office, Sanitation and other city agencies on the city's snow removal response.

By state law, the parties have several weeks to acknowledge and then respond to the information requests.


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