In a tweet published on Monday, Bob Lonsberry, a talk show host at WHAM and WSYR radio stations in Mount Morris, New York, criticized the New York State Legislature for its lack of preparation for the blizzard of historic proportions and the special legislative session the group held on December 22nd in the New York State Senate Chamber, in which their salary was increased to $142,000 for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023), which will make them the highest-paid legislature in the nation.
“In the days before the deadly Blizzard of ’22, while the meteorologists were warning of a storm of historic proportion, the governor and legislature, instead of preparing, went into [a] rare special session to give NY politicians a 29% raise, making them the highest paid in America,” Lonsberry said.
In response, one Buffalo resident who suffers from arthritis asserted that the National Guard should have been in the City of Buffalo by Thursday night at the latest.
“I have severe rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve been trying to dig out since Friday. My body is hurting doing it myself. The National Guard should have been in Buffalo Thursday night. The governor thinks she doin things right. No, she waited too long!” Buffalonian McShay said in a tweet published on Monday.
“[Look at] my yard,” Lonsberry added.
You’re 100% right! I have severe rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve been trying to dig out since Friday. My body is hurting doing it myself. The national guard should have been in Buffalo Thursday night. The governor thinks she doin things right. No she waited too long! My yard pic.twitter.com/FF24KBj1iN
— McShay in Buffalo,NY (@runningwolf1978) December 26, 2022
“The blizzard was predicted on Monday and struck on Friday. Gov. Kathy Hochul sent the first 50 National Guardsmen on Saturday and 200 more on Sunday,” Lonsberry said. “No Guardsmen prepositioned before the storm, and none sent at all until 24 hours after the storm had [begun] and victims were already dead,” the New York-based radio host said.
The blizzard was predicted on Monday & struck on Friday. @GovKathyHochul sent the first 50 National Guardsmen on Saturday & 200 more on Sunday. No Guardsmen prepositioned before the storm, and none sent at all until 24 hours after the storm had began & victims were already dead.
— Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) December 27, 2022
“You’ve got to figure the National Guardsmen wish Gov. Hochul had called them out soon enough to do something other than dig bodies out of the snow,” Lonsberry said.
You've got to figure the National Guardsmen wish @GovKathyHochul had called them out soon enough to do something other than dig bodies out of the snow.
— Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) December 26, 2022
“Twenty-seven people dead, mostly stranded and frozen to death, after Gov. Hochul fails to preposition the National Guard in the lead up to the best-predicted blizzard of our lifetimes. Short staffed and under equipped, local first responders were immediately overwhelmed,” Lonsberry stated in a statement made on Monday.
“I saw more Troopers on the Thruway between Syracuse and Utica on Christmas Eve/Day on revenue collection duty than I typically see on a normal day. Why weren’t they in Buffalo?” one New Yorker asked in response to Lonsberry.
“Conversely, the State Police never seem to have problems staffing the New York State Fair overtime detail every summer,” he added. “I’m 100 percent pro-law enforcement, but public safety assets should be deployed where they’re needed most.”
Lonsberry even suggested that the Buffalo Bills NFL team get involved in the community rebuilding effort.
“Practice for the Buffalo Bills tomorrow should involve burly men with snow shovels descending on storm-bound neighborhoods,” he said.
Practice for the @BuffaloBills tomorrow should involve burly men with snow shovels descending on storm-bound neighborhoods.
— Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) December 27, 2022
