NYC Gets New Snowplow System 2 Years After Last Plowable Snow

NEW YORK CITY — A state-of-the-art software system will direct snowplows for a city that hasn't had plowable snow for nearly two years, said Mayor Eric Adams.

The system dubbed "BladeRunner 2.0" will track and deploy the city's flurry-fighting fleet of 5,000 vehicles whenever major snow returns, Adams announced Thursday.

"With Bladerunner 2.0, we'll be able to track real-time progress more efficiently, deploy our plows and salt spreaders and keep the snow and ice off our streets, so that the City That Never Sleeps will never have to be stalled due to a snow storm," he said.

Adams' announcement came on the city's 645th day of no measurable snow — a record, according to the National Weather Service.

But, as Adams pointed out, forecasters are predicting a snowy winter will end the snowless streak.

Long-range meteorologists with AccuWeather predict 18 to 26 inches of snow will fall in New York City this winter season.

BladeRunner 2.0 — which, despite its namesake, doesn't appear to be also used to track down sci-fi replicants — will do away with the city's old system of first-, second- and third-tier streets whenever snow needs to be cleared, Adams said.

All city streets, from the Upper East Side to Brownsville, will get equal attention under the new system, he said.

"We must make sure that all of our streets, with all of our pedestrians, with all of our citizens receive fair distribution of resources," he said.

But the announcement, rather than drawing wintry revelry, drew much mockery on the social media site formerly known as Twitter. They noted that New York City hasn't exactly been flush with snow lately.

"The planet: getting untenably hotter…
Eric Adams: we’re preparing for snowstorms!" one user wrote.

Others snarked on Adams' troubles with the FBI.

"maybe you should move to Turkey, where there is less snow," one user wrote.

And still others weaved both sentiments together.

"This is the funniest possible thing you can do to distract people from an impending indictment for campaign financing fraud: introduce new snow plowing technology in a city that hasn't had an inch of snow in nearly 700 days," another wrote.