Who Decides to Shut Down a City for a Snowstorm?
There's no hard-and-fast rule for when a city shuts down due to snow.
Boston received more snow than New York City or Washington, D.C.—the storm dumped over a foot (0.3 meter) of snow on Boston—yet mayors in New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency. So why the difference in response to the same storm?
Different departments handle that responsibility depending on which city you're in. In the nation's capital, that responsibility falls to the public works director. (See "Editor’s Picks: Our Favorite Pictures of the U.S. Snowstorm.")
The main responsibility of a city or state government is to keep the major roadways clear, says Linda Grant, chief communications officer at the Department of Public Works in Washington, D.C. (See Washington’s snow plan.)
"The Public Works Department in D.C. makes recommendations to the
