Last week’s fresh coat of snow turned the city into a winter wonderland, but too much of the frozen stuff can put businesses on thin ice.

Shutting down the city because of severe weather costs $700 million per day, according to a 2014 report from forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. Most of this monetary loss affects brick-and-mortar retailers and 
restaurants, but airline cancellations are also a drag on the economy, and hourly earners snowed in at home take a hit when the city goes into hibernation.

The snowballing costs of closures and slowdowns drive the need for speedy street cleaning. New York City spends $2 million per inch of snow to clear its more than 6,000 miles of streets, according to the most recent report from Comptroller Scott Stringer. But those costs fluctuate year to year. In 2014, when more than 55 inches came down, the city spent $130.7 million to keep salt trucks and plows rolling.

This year’s budget set aside $88 million for snow removal, and before last week’s storm, which dumped more than a foot on parts of Queens, the city had spent just $26 million, DNAinfo reported.

Last week’s fresh coat of snow turned the city into a winter wonderland, but too much of the frozen stuff can put businesses on thin ice.

Shutting down the city because of severe weather costs $700 million per day, according to a 2014 report from forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. Most of this monetary loss affects brick-and-mortar retailers and 
restaurants, but airline cancellations are also a drag on the economy, and hourly earners snowed in at home take a hit when the city goes into hibernation.

The snowballing costs of closures and slowdowns drive the need for speedy street cleaning. New York City spends $2 million per inch of snow to clear its more than 6,000 miles of streets, according to the most recent report from Comptroller Scott Stringer. But those costs fluctuate year to year. In 2014, when more than 55 inches came down, the city spent $130.7 million to keep salt trucks and plows rolling.

This year’s budget set aside $88 million for snow removal, and before last week’s storm, which dumped more than a foot on parts of Queens, the city had spent just $26 million, DNAinfo reported.

A version of this article appears in the February 13, 2017, print issue of Crain's New York Business as "Slush fund".

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