The union snow removal threat was made in October by Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association.
“Look at what happened in Washington,” Nespoli continued, referring to the storm that buried the nation’s capital last year. “We don’t want that happening here up here in New York.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2010/10/20/2010-10-20_hire_hopes_for_sanitation_dept.html
I figured they made the call as soon as they heard the weather forecast; I didn’t realize it was planned so long ago.