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Blizzard of 2010 Will Cost City $68 Million, Report Says

By Della Hasselle | January 25, 2011 7:52am

By Della Hasselle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — The Blizzard of 2010 that wreaked havoc on New York last December will ultimately cost the city more than $68 million, according to reports.

The Dec. 26 blizzard that stranded ambulances and stopped trains in their tracks also took its toll on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Bloomberg Administration in costs for MTA and sanitation workers.

Nearly $30 million of the cost is what the MTA had to cough up due to lost ridership and worker overtime, according to the New York Times.

Of that, $14 million came from holiday and weekend pay for workers who were called in to operate the system’s buses, subways, railroads and crossings while the city sludged through a snowy mess.

The other $16 million in MTA losses came from lost fares in subways, buses, bridges and tunnels, the New York Post reported.

The $38.8 million price tag incurred by the city exceeded the city's snowstorm budget for the entire year, the Times said.

The figures "represent a lesson to be learned" about being better prepared for winter storms, James Vacca, chairman of the Council’s transportation committee, told the Times