Lincoln Center earlier today. (Photo: Getty)

As Winter Storm Nemo descends upon New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging residents of the five boroughs to "take it easy" and stay indoors tonight. At a press conference on the city's storm plans this afternoon he even shared some suggested activities for those who are snowed in.

"Tonight, what's a good idea? Cook a meal. Stay home. Read a good book. Just take it easy," Mr. Bloomberg said. "Remember there are a lot of people who are going to be out there shoveling the snow. ... You just don't want to get in their way."

Mr. Bloomberg also revealed his own plans for weathering the storm. 

First off, he hinted his dinner plans might be dictated by his girlfriend Diana Taylor, or as he referred to her, "the powers that be."

"I will be home tonight, you can [be] rest-assured," the mayor said. "Will I cook or get something from the Greek diner around the corner? I haven't thought about that yet. I have got to talk to the powers at be to see what we're going to do for dinner. I happen be lucky and live in a neighborhood [where] within a block there's four or five restaurants. I'm either going to do that or eat something at home."

After eating, Mr. Bloomberg expects to get some exercise and much-needed rest.

"And I plan to catch up on my sleep," he said. "The next thing I'm going to do is also run on the running machine."

2010. (Photo: Getty)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says today's snowstorm won't be as bad as the epic "Snowpocalypse" of 2010.

"We don't think that people are going to be that inconvenienced," the mayor said in a radio interview with John Gambling this morning.

Though he didn't give any dire warnings about the storm, Mayor Bloomberg did have some advice about helping your neighbors survive the wintry weather.

"There are some people that it'd be nice if you checked in on them," the mayor explained. "Somebody that might have a normal trip out for dialysis, make sure that they can get where they're going. Or [for the] elderly that you don't want them walking and slipping on the snow or ice, it'd be a good thing to knock on the door and say, 'Hey, I'm going to the local bodega, can I get you a quart of milk or something like that?'"

With memories of Hurricane Sandy's fatal flooding and 2010's debilitating blizzard still fresh on the minds of many, some New Yorkers may be wary of storms. However, Mayor Bloomberg said there is a possibility of only minor flooding during tonight's downfall and he hopes to have the streets cleared for traffic come tomorrow morning.

"A lot of people are buying food, just in case," he said. "But my hope is that, by mid-morning tomorrow, all of the streets will have been plowed once or twice. It just depends on when the snow starts and when the snow ends."

Mr. Bloomberg's main storm preparation advice was for commuters to arrange to head home a little early in the evening, if at all possible.

"Our biggest concern is making sure that people get home from their day and that they don't abandon their cars in the middle of the road," he explained. "But we don't think the snow's going to come down hard enough where that should be a problem. We have an awful lot of tow trucks ready and we coordinated with all of the different agencies that have plows. ... The M.T.A. is going to start having service changes, so be sure to check with them if you're counting on mass transit to get home or to get in or out of town. I think if people just make sure that they leave early and don't get stuck in tonight's commute."

Though Mayor Bloomberg said the city is "lucky" the storm is occurring on a Friday night ahead of lighter Saturday morning traffic, he said he wished the storm was scheduled to arrive later to avoid tonight's rush hour.

"We'll see," the mayor said. "It's supposed to start heavy snow about 4 or 5 o'clock."

(Photo: Getty)

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is keeping an eye on the assorted charities raising money for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. In a statement released today, Mr. Schneiderman announced he sent a letter to 75 Sandy-focused nonprofits requesting information on their fundraising and spending activities, which he intends to post online.

"Our office commends all of the charities, and their volunteers and donors, who have come to the assistance of New Yorkers after Hurricane Sandy," Mr. Schneiderman said in the press release. "In light of the importance of the recovery efforts, and the enormous amount of money raised in such a short period of time, it is critical that donors know where their money is going, and that funds are spent responsibly. In the name of transparency and accountability, we must ensure that funds raised for Hurricane Sandy relief are used for that purpose."

Mr. Schneidman previously busted a local breast cancer charity for allegedly pocketing most of their contributions with internal overhead costs. In order to ward off similar incidences in the name of another noble cause, he requested the following information from the Sandy-related nonprofits:

-The amount raised and spent to date for Hurricane Sandy relief;
-Whether donations will be used solely for Hurricane Sandy relief;
-The services provided to date to those affected by Hurricane Sandy;
-Whether the charity is providing funding to other organizations, or making direct financial grants to individuals, families or businesses;
-What the charity plans to do with any surplus funds.

And, noting they planned to request information from additional organizations, Mr. Schneiderman's office provided a list of charities contacted so far:

AARP Foundation
Acupuncturists Without Borders
Afya Foundation
All Hands Volunteers
American Humane Association
American Red Cross
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
AmeriCares Foundation, Inc.
Best Friends Animal Society
B’nai B’rith International
Breezy Point Hurricane Sandy Relief
Brooklyn Recovery Fund
Brother's Brother Foundation
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York
Catholic Charities Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, Inc.
Center for Disaster Philanthropy
Children's Hunger Fund
Church World Service
City Harvest
Citymeals-on-Wheels
Convoy of Hope
Direct Relief International
Disaster Chaplaincy Services
Emergency Children's Help Organization
Empire State Relief Fund
Episcopal Relief & Development
Feed the Children
Food Bank for New York City
Gleaning For The World
Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc.
Graybeards
Habitat for Humanity International
Heart to Heart International
Hispanic Federation
Hope for the Warriors
Hurricane Sandy Relief Foundation
ICNA Relief
International Rescue Committee
Islamic Relief USA
Jewish Disaster Response Corps
Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc.
Liberty Street Relief Fund
MAP International
Matthew 25 Ministries
Modest Needs Foundation
Movement for Peace
National Firefighters Endowment
National Urban League
New York Cares
New York Communities for Change
Occupy Sandy
Operation Blessing International
Rebuilding Together
Rebuilding Together NYC
Red Hook Initiative
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Robin Hood Foundation
Samaritan's Purse
Save the Children Federation Inc.
ShelterBox USA
Staten Island Strong
Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation
Team Rubicon
The Humane Society of the United States
The Jewish Federations of North America, Inc.
The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger
The Salvation Army
UJA-Federation of New York
United Methodist Committee on Relief
United Way of Long Island
United Way of New York City
Waves For Water
We Care NYC
World Vision International

(Photo: Getty)

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, properties throughout the city's flooded neighborhoods saw critical infrastructure collapse along with everything else in the storm's path. However, four weeks after the storm Mayor Michael Bloomberg isn't interested in hearing any more excuses from landlords who haven't restored heat and electricity. At a press conference this afternoon, he announced these landlords will face "enforcement proceedings" should these critical services remain absent from their properties.

"I won't even take this question," Mr. Bloomberg at an afternoon press conference when asked what these proceedings will entail. "We're expecting everybody to cooperate. This is New York, I'm sure there's going to be somebody who doesn't and then we're going to worry about it. You have an obligation to maintain your rental units in a safe manner. If you don't, you're breaking the law."

Along with his tough talk, the mayor noted struggling landlords in affected areas do have a lifeline as they can sign up for the NYC Rapid Repairs program to receive government-provided repairs. The mayor said this process simply needs to be handled expeditiously.

"We'll get to that very quickly," he said of the deadline for property owners. "Our hope is that everybody will sign up and the tenants will push the landlords to do so and that the landlords will do so because it's in their own interest! They're going to have a tough time collecting rent if they don't do something to get heat, water and electricity back."

(Photo: Getty)

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a likely mayoral candidate in 2013, can now be counted as a firm critic of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's handling of Hurricane Sandy.

"You remember the recent diplomatic phrase, 'leading from behind,'" Mr. de Blasio mused on Assemblyman Dov Hikind's radio show last night. "I think many times the mayor was not exactly on the front line. He was no Chris Christie, let's say that."

New York voters actually rated New Jersey's governor extremely favorably in a recent survey on the topic, so Mr. de Blasio's comment didn't exactly come out of left field. After Mr. Hikind, a frequent critic of Mr. Bloomberg's, accused the mayor of being "afraid" to go to the communities struggling in the storm's aftermath, Mr. de Blasio concurred and elaborated.

"He showed a tremendous unwillingness to be where the people were and where people were in need," he explained. "I went to the city and I said a lot of our seniors in the big buildings--whether it was public housing, whether it was the Mitchell-Lama buildings down in Coney Island and other areas--a lot of them went one week, two weeks, more without heat or hot water. No one from the city ever came to knock on the door. No one ever came to check to make sure they could get their medications when electricity was out, pharmacies were closed. So the mayor's attitude was very much hands-off."

In Mr. Bloomberg's defense, over the past couple weeks he repeatedly toured the damage and held press conferences in hard-hit neighborhoods. Additionally, the mayor did launch a program of medical teams going door-to-door in high-rise buildings, but Mr. de Blasio argued their outreach was insufficient.

Regardless, Mr. de Blasio's criticism reflects a new political reality that the 2013 mayoral race is underway again after the weather-induced hiatus. Indeed, one of his chief electoral rivals, former Comptroller Bill Thompson, went on Mr. Hikind's show last week to similarly allege Mr. Bloomberg hasn't spent enough time "being out there" in the city.

"It could be very, very soon," Mr. de Blasio said of next year's campaign. "Attention is starting to turn. Understandably, the attention has rightfully been on the hurricane and its aftermath in the last few weeks. But I think in the coming weeks, particularly when we get into the new year, attention is going to turn very intensely to the fact that we're going to choose a new mayor. We're going to choose a new leader after what will be 12 years of Michael Bloomberg. As you and I would be the first to say, some joys and sorrows in the Bloomberg years. I think, for many people, particularly in the outer boroughs, [there's] a real sense that City Hall is not paying enough attention to our neighborhoods. For many, many people in this community--and I'm thinking about what happened with childcare vouchers, among many other issues--a sense of really being left behind. This is going to be a chance to debate where we need to go as a city, which I look forward to."

(photo: itechbook.net)

Senator Chuck Schumer is known for pushing populist issues that may have otherwise flown under the radar, and last weekend, he didn't disappoint. In a letter to the  Federal Communications Commission last weekend, Mr. Schumer called on the agency to develop a nationwide plan to improve cell phone service in the aftermath of natural disasters. Earlier today, Mr. Schumer announced the FCC would at least give the New York area a better look by holding field hearings early next year on the issue.

"Field hearings will increase our understanding of the problems encountered during Superstorm Sandy and harvest the best ideas to ensure that mobile phone service doesn't fail after future storms," Mr. Schumer said in a statement. "Mobile communication has become an essential part of our lives, and increasing its reliability must be a top priority. I'd like to thank Chairman Genachowski and the FCC for their good work during the storm, and for beginning to tackle this important issue so quickly after."

According to the FCC, the field hearings will focus on the following issues:

Sandy was an event for which communications providers had substantial advance notice.
-To what extent did service providers take advantage of this advance notice to stage communications assets such as portable cell sites to reduce the effects of the storm?
-To what extent did service providers notify consumers of their communications options in advance of the storm?

There were several instances where communications providers worked together to share resources to improve communications performance during Sandy.
-How can service providers best work together by sharing resources, such as cell sites, WiFi networks and transmission facilities? What can the Commission do to facilitate this? In what ways can these arrangements be made in advance so that they are in place when disaster strikes?

Our communications systems are increasingly reliant on electric power, both for the infrastructure and in homes and businesses: e.g., to power consumers’ mobile and home communications devices and equipment, communications companies’ central offices and cell sites, and broadcasters’ transmitters and studios:
-What level of service is needed and expected during emergencies and for what modes of communications?
-When commercial power is unavailable, how long should back-up power sources be expected to last?
-Over the years there have been many developments in back-up power practices and technology for use in communications networks. What technologies and practices are in use today and how do they affect the ability of communications service providers to maintain service during power outages? What technologies, actions, practices or requirements should be considered to help improve the availability of power?
-What challenges exist to the deployment of back-up power solutions? What cost, safety and environmental issues need to be taken into account and are there different challenges to deploying back-up power solutions for small carriers and to service in urban, suburban, and rural areas, and tribal lands?
-To what extent is back-up power provided for equipment in the home? What can be done to improve consumer awareness of the limits of any back-up battery power that may be available when commercial power fails and what can be done to improve upon these limitations?
-What capabilities do communications providers offer their customers to alleviate disruptions to communications services during an emergency, or to help maintain back-up power supplies for Internet and cable access? For example, what kinds of solutions are made available to customers to help them charge devices like cell phones?

In addition to back-up power, transport connectivity between cell sites and other network nodes failed, resulting in disruptions to wireless communications:
-How can transport, interconnection, and switching be made more reliable in disasters and less vulnerable to floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards and other damage? What other interdependencies are there that should be reduced and how?
-What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of different backhaul technologies in terms of technical feasibility, vulnerability, reliability and cost effectiveness, e.g., microwave backhaul versus fiber, and does this vary with respect to aerial or buried plans and different types of terrain? What relative resiliency and reliability characteristics would these or other technologies have in different emergency situations, such as loss of primary grid power or major physical damage to network equipment or other infrastructure?
-How can backhaul redundancy across multiple providers be ensured when communications service providers lease backhaul facilities from other companies?

Emergency communications, particularly 9-1-1 communications networks, generally remained operational during Sandy.
-What obstacles are there to connect to and receive emergency help and what technologies and actions might help? Are there unique obstacles for the elderly or people with disabilities that affect their use and access to communications regarding emergency services?

Communications services took days to recover after Sandy. This not only includes service availability, but service availability at full performance.
-How can the restoration of communications services proceed faster or services remain operational longer? For example, how would changes in availability and prioritization of fuel or other power sources such as generators help, and how could these changes be brought about? How could communications providers be enabled with improved access to important sites like studios, transmitters, central offices, cell sites, public rights-of-way. Should specialized “boomer” cell sites be deployed?
-Why would services, once restored, perform at levels inferior to those customarily enjoyed by users? How long can these performance degradations be expected to last?
-How do communications providers prioritize services and applications during a disaster in which bandwidth is constrained? How are these priorities communicated to users so they can make most effective use of their communications services?
-How has the introduction of broadband technologies into commercial communications networks made them more or less resilient to major weather events like Sandy?
-Do the elderly and people with disabilities, and other communities, have needs that require additional attention?

Users of communications services appear to lack information about the performance of the services they pay for.
-Do consumers have enough access to information about their communications services during emergencies? What additional information would help consumers? For example, would it help consumers to know the performance and reliability of the companies’ service or devices as compared to competitors during past emergencies?

General observations.
-What steps can be taken to connect people better and more effectively to each other and to information in emergencies, via mobile, landline, satellite, broadcast, cable, social media or otherwise, and are there any laws or regulations that may require changing to accomplish this?
What role can libraries, community centers and schools play as temporary communication centers? How can service providers help them serve that role more effectively?

(Photo: Getty)

Is it the wet fleece? It's not immediately clear, but according to a new Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey, New York City voters gave the highest storm response-marks to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, preferring his tactics over President Barack Obama, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Quinnipiac's director, Maurice Carroll, said these numbers can be attributed to Mr. Christie's full embrace of Mr. Obama in the wake of the storm.

"The storm-of-the-century brings out the best in Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New Yorkers say. But that love fest between New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie and President Barack Obama seems to have moved voters especially," Mr. Carroll explained in a statement. "While all four leaders get very high marks - it seems a hug or two never hurts."

A total of 89 percent of New Yorkers voters said Mr. Christie's response was "excellent" or "good," with, 85 percent doing the same for Mr. Cuomo, 84 percent for Mr. Obama and 75 percent for Mr. Bloomberg. Placed side-by-side and asked to choose who was the best, Mr. Christie still came out on top with a 36 percent plurality.

Even though Mr. Bloomberg trails the leader pack in terms of ratings, Quinnipiac found his overall approval score to be the highest it's been in two years, 56 percent, undoubtedly helped by his management of the crisis. A huge 85 percent majority supported his decision to ration gasoline, for example.

But the biggest winner of all may be Mr. Bloomberg's now-famous sign language interpreter, Lydia Callis, who has an approve-disapprove ratio most politicians would drool over, 53 - 2 percent.

"Is it what she says, or the way she says it? Whatever, mayoral signer Lydia Callis is almost as popular as her boss," Mr. Carroll said.

More below:

(photo: sealevelrise.info)

On his weekly radio show with John Gambling this morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg delved into history to argue massive coastline protection projects are futile, at least in the face of future storm surges similar to Hurricane Sandy's. Specifically, Mr. Bloomberg referenced the tale of Denmark's King Canute, who stood before the waves and ordered the tide to recede.

"If you build a house on the water, there's a chance of tsunamis, tidal surge, big storms that come off the water," Mr. Bloomberg explained. "That's why insurance is so expensive on the water. People have been doing this from time and memorial ever since civilization started. Why do people do it? Because living on the water, for a lot of people, is a great experience and they're willing to run the risks. Nobody's happy when nature comes to call and everybody screams we should have done something different. In a practical sense you're not going to build a wall from the Florida Keys to the northern tip of Maine to protect the whole coast. In fact, you probably could not do that. There'll never be a technology that can do that. If you remember, King Canute of Denmark tried to stop the tides from coming. It's a classic story."

Of course, the 11th-century Danish ruler was unsuccessful in that endeavor. Both Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Gambling also pointed out that Denmark, a small country outside of the path of hurricanes, would be easier to protect than New York City, although the actual legend focuses on King Canute's divine power, or lack thereof, rather than infrastructure-building.

As he has done before, Mr. Bloomberg additionally emphasized the responsibility of homeowners to prepare for storms, rather than projects that come "at government expense."

"Building a big wall along the Atlantic coast is not going to happen," Mr. Bloomberg continued. "Every homeowner on a beach, when their beach gets washed away by a storm, says, 'Oh, we should rush in and replenish the sand at government expense, build jetties and that sort of thing.' Some of those things help, but if you go and read the history books, as long as people have lived on the Long Island coast--I'm sympathetic, but you can build your house stronger, maybe. You can build it slightly more inland."

President Barack Obama boards Air Force One. (Photo: Getty)

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, President Barack Obama toured New Jersey, but, at the request of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, did not go to the hard-hit areas of New York City due to concerns that he would drain emergency resources. That changed today, however, and Mr. Obama is currently in Staten Island along with Mr. Bloomberg, Governor Andrew Cuomo and other elected officials. According to our own Hunter Walker, who's traveling with the president, Mr. Obama surveyed the damage to Breezy Point and the Rockaways from the air, and received a fairly positive response when he landed in Staten Island.

"A group of residents who were here at the center, which was not closed today, are cordoned off about 200 feet from the tents," he wrote. "They cheered when POTUS arrived. Several became dismayed and shouted 'Get out of the way' when the press corps blocked their view of the president."

Additionally, Mr. Obama is scheduled to observe federal response teams in action. "After visiting the FEMA tent, President Obama will stop in a Small Business Administration tent," the pool report continued. "He will then greet a line of disaster relief workers with FEMA Corps, an AmeriCorps program started in 2009. The third tent he will visit is for food distribution."

After that, Mr. Obama, Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Cuomo will visit a street heavily damaged by the storm, and each of them are expected to deliver remarks.

Update (1:45 p.m.): More details from the pool report:

Inside the Small Business Administration tent, President Obama and Congressman Grimm spoke with some of the relief workers and local residents. The president hugged several people and also posed for photos. Pool's vantage point was about twenty feet away through a small opening in the tent so it was difficult to overhear their conversations. We overheard the president tell one woman "it's your anniversary." He told a relief worker "You guys are doing great work" before taking a picture with them and promising "We're going to do a big FEMA picture later."

Schumer, Gillibrand and Cuomo stood outside talking. We asked them for their thoughts and Schumer suggested we "wait until later."

When Obama left the tent, he greeted NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly with an enthusiastic handshake-slash-hug.

"You've been busy," POTUS said to Mr. Kelly.

We could not hear the rest of their conversation.

After visiting the SBA tent and greeting Mr. Kelly outside, Obama posed for photos with the FEMA Corps volunteers. Pool overheard him telling them something about how happy he was "having young people like you who are involved like this making a difference in people's lives."

Next, POTUS made his way to the cordoned off group of cheering residents many of whom shouted his name and "we love you!" Pool saw one woman wearing the president's photo on the brim of her winter hat. Along with the governor, mayor and senators, the president worked the line shaking hands and taking photos. As he walked away he shouted back, "God bless you."

He then proceeded to the next tent which had a sign outside saying "Distribution Loading Area." On the way in, he dropped a small piece of paper and picked it up. Inside there were canned foods, cleaning materials, blankets, gloves and other supplies. Some residents were inside picking things up. The president and other officials posed for more photos and spoke with them.

Pool talked with a man who said his name was Al Bevacqua and he was from nearby New Dorp. We asked what he had to say to the president.

"We just want our houses fixed. We just need help. It seems like FEMA can't do anything without the insurance companies. They help with goods but we need the insurance companies," he said. "There's a lot of help out there. The community's been off the charts. Government's been doing what they can...but the insurance companies just keep people on hold. The community's been tremendous."

He later got a chance to speak with the president, but we could not hear.

(Photo: Macys.com)

Earlier this morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Macy's announced 5,000 tickets for the city's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade will go to families who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

“Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy friends and family and reflect on life’s blessings, but this will be a particularly difficult holiday for many New Yorkers who suffered terrible losses as a result of Hurricane Sandy,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “So many people have been donating their time, energy, and resources to helping families hit hard by the storm recover, and we hope that taking part in a tradition like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will make their holiday just a little brighter.”

Many residents of the city are still without electricity and heat, especially in hard-hit neighborhoods in southern Brooklyn, the Rockaway Peninsula, and Staten Island. Macy's hopes the tickets will help ease their suffering, however.

“A holiday tradition that brings together millions in reflection and celebration, it is our ultimate hope that we can provide some comfort to those most affected by Hurricane Sandy and that they leave the parade knowing that our 8,000 marchers, the City and the nation are behind them as they recover from this devastating storm.” Amy Kule, the executive producer of the parade, explained.

The move might be intended to ameliorate a public relations situation similar to the New York City Marathon controversy. Mr. Bloomberg had initially backed the marathon but wilted under a storm of public accusations that the race was insensitive while families were still suffering.

Mr. Bloomberg, along with President Barack Obama and Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, is currently touring the storm's damage. Local elected officials will help determine who will receive the free parade tickets.