国际英语新闻：New York continues to combat deep-piled snow after blizzard

NEW YORK, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- New Yorkers on Wednesday continued to shovel their ways out of one of the biggest snow storms in decades.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Wednesday that the city has hired 1,000 extra labors to help dig out snow, and there are far less stuck cars and emergency vehicles blocking the sanitation. Throughout the city, 99 percent of primary roads, 86 percent of secondary roads and 66 percent of tertiary roads have been cleared.

"My heart goes out to those who experienced trauma and tragedy, " said Bloomberg during a press conference in Bronx.

He acknowledged that the city's response was not as good as years past. "We did not do as good a job as we wanted to do or as the city has a right to expect," he said, adding that he was " dissatisfied" with the way emergency response system performed during and after the blizzard.

He said it will take until at least Wednesday night before plows reach all of the city's streets after the blizzard dumped 20 inches of snow on most of the city.

Meanwhile, suspended subway lines and bus delays caused by snowy street conditions are still slowing down New York commuters three days after the blizzard ended.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said over 200 flights were canceled Wednesday morning at Newark, JFK and LaGuardia Airports. It is expected to take several days for operations to return to normal at these airports.